Michigan football: On Amorion Walker not having a jersey number, Rod Moore's status and Jaden Mangham's spring
Michigan Wolverines football senior wide receiver Amorion Walker has had an interesting career. He played two seasons at U-M — one at wide receiver, the next at defensive back — before transferring to Ole Miss for spring 2024 and then coming back to the Wolverines just months later.
Walker wore the No. 1 jersey in 2024, which is prestigious among Michigan wide receivers, but saw action in just four games and caught 3 passes for 34 yards. This spring, he was listed on the roster but with no jersey number — the only player on the team in that situation.
Wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator Ron Bellamy was asked about that oddity Monday.
“He’s just working through something right now,” Bellamy replied. “Just trying to get healthy, working through something.”
Bellamy was hit with the question of whether or not Walker has been practicing.
“Working through something,” he said, declining to share any other information.
Rod Moore is ‘close’ to a return
Michigan graduate safety Rod Moore, already a program legend, hasn’t suited up in a contest since the national championship game against Washington Jan. 8, 2024. He tore his ACL in the spring and hasn’t returned to practice but is expected to be healthy this summer.
Position coach LaMar Morgan indicated that Moore is still more than engaged with his teammates as he works back to full health.
“Rod’s doing a good job,” Morgan said Monday. “Rod’s working. He does a lot of stuff down stairs in the training room, the athletic room. He does a lot of stuff with our guys, meeting extra. Rod’s really close.
“We just try to be fair to Rod and his family and all that stuff, just giving a guy time. You don’t want to rush a guy back. That’s a lot.
“He poured a lot into this program. There are a lot of seasons that, without Rod Moore, I don’t know if everybody here is excited as much without him. That dude made some big-time plays.
“He knows how important he is to our program, but we also don’t want to be the ones that are forcing him to do something before he’s ready to go. But we encourage him.
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“He’s here all the time. He lives in this building. He’s about to graduate, which is a credit to him. He’s all in. He’s gonna have a big-time year.”
Safety Jaden Mangham ready to impact
Michigan senior safety Jaden Mangham spent two seasons at Michigan State before transferring to the Wolverines. The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder saw time in just one game, dealing with injury, and redshirted in his first season in Ann Arbor in 2024.
While Mangham had solid college football experience before coming to Michigan, logging 20 appearances with 12 starts for the Spartans, playing at a championship program is different.
“I like Mangham,” Morgan said. “He kinda got a hard spot. Next time you all talk to him, you can ask him about the adjustment of coming to Michigan. I think you come to any school and you’re a starter at another school, you think you’re going to walk into a place and it’s just gonna come easy, whether you’re a freshman or not.
“Then he got hurt a little bit during fall camp, which that wasn’t good for him, and he ended up redshirting. There’s probably some added pressure on him. You’re a starter at another school, you come here and you redshirt, but I think he’s done a great job.”
Mangham has impressed during Michigan’s spring practices.
“This last scrimmage, he probably had 5 really good tackles, running the alley, being physical,” Morgan said. “He has range. His role will definitely be increased this year. We’re excited about Mangham. He’s smart, [graduated]. I’m excited about him. I think he can help us, for sure.”
Mangham was named honorable mention All-Big Ten in 2023, starting 10 games and totaling 53 tackles with 7 pass breakups and 4 interceptions for MSU.
