Attrition Monday continues with the exit of safety/sometimes linebacker RJ Moten.

[Talking about it after THE JUMP]

Like Henning, Moten is another 2020 freshman who became a key contributor to Michigan's 2021 run, then saw his playing time significantly reduced in 2022. Moten arrived as part of a touted three-man safety class, the most Harbaugh Guy of the trio, but also the most raw. He redshirted in 2020, but passed his classmates to start in 2021, proving largely boring until one giant rumspringa versus Northwestern.

Moten is unfortunately better known for the plays he didn't make, dropping the interception (on a great play to get there) that could have sealed the 2021 MSU game, and another dropped INT versus Ohio State that made everyone mutter "Metellus" prematurely. As 2022 dawned, the promise of his redshirt freshman season wore off as mistakes mounted, and classmate Makari Paige moved up to start along younger phenom Rod Moore. Moten remained a major part of the rotation, but as the UFR charting showed, his playing time was also becoming progressively less defensible.

Moten played a major role in getting by Illinois, but an all-Moten drive in the 2022 B10 Championship kept the game frustratingly competitive. He was moved to linebacker during bowl practices but didn't appear in the TCU game, with Quinten Johnson serving as Michigan's third safety.

Unfortunately that means, once again, we're only remembering the worst of Moten, and forgetting…like one of the best plays of the year:

While Johnson (also remembered for some doozies) shouldn't be too hard to pass again, a touted sophomore class of Zeke Berry, Keon Sabb, and Damani Dent appeared to be at various stages of pushing through this spring, especially Berry. Whereas Michigan was down to two playable linebackers last year, this year they appear to be at five. Moten still has the back half of his career to play, but the program is already moving quickly towards the future. Even the return of Chris Partridge, who recruited the Delran product to Michigan in the first place, wasn't going to be enough to keep a former starter if he thought he was going to be glued to the bench.

That was a concern as Moten lined up at both positions in the spring game, including this play at safety.

That's Moten in a nutshell—an excellent safety play, dodging and weaving through blockers like a linebacker, remembered mostly for the way he got leveled at the end, and not the fact that it brought up 3rd and 8.