Michigan football player Jyaire Hill is expected to start as cornerback alongside Will Johnson

Michigan has arguably the best cornerback in all of college football in the first team All-American Will JohnsonBut one of the few question marks on the Wolverines’ defense for 2024 was who would start opposite Johnson at the second corner position.

It seems we have our answer as the “game week” has begun ahead of Michigan’s season opener against Fresno State next Saturday. At his weekly press conference on Monday, head coach Sherrone Moore said that the redshirt freshman Jyaire Hillsnicknamed “Sugar” because of his love of sweets, is expected to start for the Wolverines in the opening game.

“Yeah, right now it would be Jyaire,” Moore said. “Jyaire really takes that position and does a really good job. Sug, he’s been phenomenal, tough, just a combative guy. One of Kankakee’s best. And he’s been great. So I think he would face Will Johnson on Saturday.”

Hill appeared in four games for the Wolverines in 2023 to earn a redshirt year, totaling eight tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss in limited playing time. A former four-star prospect and top-175 recruit, the Kankakee, Illinois, native was one of Michigan’s most coveted prospects in the 2023 recruiting class. The Wolverines beat out the home-state Illinois Fighting Illini to secure Hill’s commitment this cycle. If Hill starts and performs well for Michigan this season, it will prove to be one of the program’s biggest recruiting successes in recent years.

This offseason, Michigan brought in two transfer cornerbacks from the portal, 2023 FCS All-American Aamir Hall (Albany) and UNLV starter Ricky JohnsonIt seems that the duo will provide more depth at the position behind Johnson and Hill, at least early in the season.

Moore also gave insight into the Wolverines’ prospects at the safety position. Michigan returns half of its starting duo at that position in senior Paige, Makaribut lost his older colleague Rod Moore suffered an ACL injury during spring training. Wolverines return rotation safety Quinton Johnson from last year’s squad, but also Tennessee Wesley Walker and Michigan State Jaden Mangham at the position, each of whom was a regular at his previous school. Redshirt sophomore Zeke Berry is expected to start at Nickelback.

“Right now, obviously, Makari is phenomenal,” Moore said. “Quinten Johnson has been great. But there’s Zeke Berry. There’s Wes Walker. There’s Jaden Mangham. There’s Brandyn Hillman, who has really taken his level of play to the next level because he has some outstanding traits and skills that people haven’t seen yet, and we’re super excited. He’s finally here. But him and a guy like Zeke Berry, where he really just needed the confidence. And you know, it would be funny because I talk to Rod, I talk to Will. I was like, who’s the guy in the back? And that was in the spring. So who are you most excited to see? They said, Zeke. Zeke. And to watch his development as a player, he made some plays in camp, just wild plays. And they say, yeah, that’s routine in his skill set. So he’s really stepped up. So the room is super full and ready for it.”

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