A leader, team captain, and outright playmaker. Rod Moore was supposed to be one of Michigan’s headliners by now. A 21-year-old captain, an All-Big Ten safety, and the emotional heart of a defense that just keeps turning out NFL-caliber talent like clockwork. Under head coach Sherrone Moore, Michigan is entering a new era, one where expectations haven’t dropped an inch after a national title run in 2023. But as the Wolverines begin prepping for the 2025 season, there’s a growing cloud over Schembechler Hall. And it’s shaped like No. 19.

Moore, once the unheralded three-star prospect from Clayton, Ohio, who snatched a starting job midway through his true freshman season, has now been out of action for more than a year. He tore his ACL during spring ball in 2024—an injury that usually puts players on the shelf for a season, but often sees them return within 8 to 10 months. Instead, Moore never took a snap last fall. And now, nearly 14 months later, his return still isn’t guaranteed. The concern isn’t just about when he’ll be back, but whether he’ll ever be back to the player he once was.

On Tuesday, Moore posted a short video of himself running on Instagram, giving fans a glimpse of his progress. But the sight of him still in a heavy brace raised alarm bells. Michigan Football Report’s James Yoder didn’t hold back. “Mason Curtis is coming back. Brandyn Hillman. Is Rod Moore not going to be available for the first game of the season, for the first month of the season? I think it’s something that Michigan fans should start readying themselves for,” Yoder said, continuing, “I don’t see a reasonable timeline, right? This is just me being reasonable—that if a guy has an ACL and it was so bad that he couldn’t return for… he could run for 14 months and he still has that massive brace.”

Yoder continued with a note of real concern that mirrored much of the fanbase’s anxiety. “We’ve seen players have ACLs and be back playing in 6, 7, 8 months. This must have been, you know, more severe. Took much more rehab than I think most Michigan fans, most Michigan media… were led to believe. And I was expecting an All-American performance out of Rod Moore in 2025. I was expecting that in 2024 for sure based on how well he came in as a three-star out of the state of Ohio. Stole the starting job midway through his true freshman year in 2021 and then was a part of three straight Big Ten Championship teams—a national championship team in 2023—as an All-Big Ten third-teamer.”

“And honestly, in 2025… but frankly, I’m not seeing it at this point. Maybe hopefully he could come back and play the second half of the season,” Yoder added. “Not saying I have any inside scores on that. I’m just kind of connecting the dots, reading the tea leaves, and you know, just using common sense based on all things we know about the human body and what athletes typically come back for.” He capped it with a dose of realism: “Sometimes people [are] a little bit tight-lipped on injuries because… you know, anybody outside the doctor and maybe Moore and a couple other people really probably know where exactly he is at.”

Adding to the uncertainty, Sherrone Moore recently revealed that Rod had to undergo another surgery on the same knee earlier this year, which forced him to sit out the entire spring practice schedule once again. That disclosure, more than anything, may confirm just how serious the original injury was. The second procedure extended his layoff well beyond the typical recovery arc for a torn ACL and threw yet another wrench into Michigan’s 2025 defensive plans.

Rod Moore’s comeback season? Michigan’s star safety is trending

Rod Moore’s return is starting to feel less like a hopeful ‘what if’ and more like a ‘when’. After a year of watching from the sidelines, the fifth-year Michigan safety is inching closer to strapping up again. Sherrone Moore couldn’t be more pumped.

“Rod’s trending in a super positive direction. Feels like he’s going to be in a great place just for summer workouts, and be working his way in the fall camp,” Moore said after spring ball. “So excited, man. I mean, a guy who’s went through so much, went through the whole year, sat out and watched him be a leader off the field, and what he did, and how he’s been now, and he’s felt the best he’s ever felt, because he had to have another surgery that really took care of the rest of it, and he’s felt the best he’s ever felt. He ran, and he’s in a good place.”

Moore’s return would supercharge Michigan’s already stacked safety rotation, joining Brandyn Hillman, Mason Curtis, TJ Metcalf, Jaden Mangham, Kainoa Winston, Jordan Young, and Elijah Dotson. Let’s not forget: Rod Moore sealed the 2023 win over Ohio State with that game-clinching pick. He’s been a quiet warrior since his freshman year.