Who is standing out at CB for Michigan football opposite Will Johnson?

With Josh Wallace — who came in late last offseason via the transfer portal — having moved on, one of the big question marks facing Michigan football this offseason is the cornerback who will be playing opposite Will Johnson.

The Wolverines have some younger options, but none are proven as Wallace was during his time at UMass. But there’s one second-year player who appears to be in the running before fall camp to take that big leap forward.

New defensive backs coach LaMar Morgan appeared on the In the Trenches podcast with Jon Jansen and he sung the praises of sophomore Jyaire Hill — who didn’t play much last year, but should have a big opportunity to see the field early and often this season.

“I think if you just focus on the guys that were here this spring that competed really well, it’s Jyaire,” Morgan said. “I think he’s a unique player. He loves football. I think he’s growing up. He has a silly personality, but it’s a good thing. He can have fun in the hallway, clown and stuff like that. His parents done a great job with them. And then all of a sudden, when it’s football, he’s gonna hook it up. He’s not playing around. So I think that’s a guy that’s took a big step this spring. And I’m excited this fall to see where he’s at.”

Now, there are two transfers coming in who could also compete for the starting role opposite Johnson in former Albany CB Aamir Hall, and UNLV CB Ricky Johnson. Morgan told Jansen he hopes to evaluate them more in fall before commenting on them, since neither has seen any live bullets flying in Ann Arbor as of yet.

But there are some other players who are already on the roster who may have played more inside that Michigan is cross-training to play outside, as well.

“We had a lot of young guys playing with Keshaun (Harris) played a lot last year. J. Mac (Ja’Den McBurrows) did play some outside last year, along with nickel,” Morgan said. “I think those guys did a really good job this spring, but we try to get guys playing left and right not just field and boundary. And then if you play this only nickel, like (McBurrows), we try to get him to play reps outside as well. A guy like Jacob Oden that came in this spring, he played all over.

“So I think we just got to hone in a little bit at corner to see what can these guys do to help us win games, and I think it’s gonna be a combination of a lot of different players. And I think that’ll be good for us.”