One of the more unexpected transfer portal additions Michigan made this offseason was when it landed former Oklahoma running back Taylor Tatum. He was a highly-touted four-star recruit coming out of high school
and played a role in the Sooner offense during his freshman year in 2024, but fell down the depth chart after dealing with injuries as a sophomore in 2025.
At the time he opted to transfer to Michigan, it appeared he would slot in as the No. 3 option on the depth chart behind Jordan Marshall and five-star freshman Savion Hiter. But it now appears he’ll be on the defensive side of the ball, as Tony Garcia of The Detroit Free Press reported on Wednesday that Tatum will be playing safety instead of running back, at least to start his career in Ann Arbor.
It’s always a bit of a surprise when a player changes positions, but perhaps this move makes sense for Michigan considering its running back depth was in a pretty good spot even after Justice Haynes transferred to Georgia Tech. The aforementioned Marshall and Hiter were always going to be there, but Bryson Kuzdzal is also back after withdrawing from the transfer portal on Tuesday, not to mention guys like Micah Ka’apana and Donovan Johnson as well.
As such, Kyle Whittingham and the coaching staff are making a bet on a good athlete to be able to transition to a different position, one that’s a bit thin on Michigan’s roster right now. Michigan has bodies in its safeties room, but any player you name has question marks. Rod Moore and Mason Curtis both battled injuries last year, while Jordan Young and Kainoa Winston will both need to prove themselves in their sophomore years. Chris Bracy was brought in after a breakout year at Memphis, but he can’t do it all by himself.
By switching Tatum to safety, it wouldn’t be the first time a Whittingham team has experimented with using a player on the other side of the ball. Utah famously featured safety Sione Vaki as a running back during the 2023 season and he was able to be successful on both sides of the ball. They might experiment again in the future with the addition of freshman Salesi Moa as well, as he could play wide receiver or defensive back in college after excelling at both as a high schooler.
Michigan has had its fair share of luck transitioning players as well. Mike Sainristil made his biggest contributions to the program as a nickel despite playing three years as a receiver. Meanwhile, Hassan Haskins and Kalel Mullings both switched back and forth between running back and linebacker during their Michigan careers.
Is there another way Michigan could approach things with Tatum? Perhaps there is.
Listed at 5-foot-10, 212 pounds, Tatum might be better sized to play safety right now, but it might behoove him to add some more weight and transition to linebacker, seeing as there are even more questions on that area of the depth chart right now as there are at safety.
Furthermore, playing close to the line of scrimmage and in tighter spaces as a linebacker might be an easier transition to make. However, as mentioned in Angelique Chengelis’ story about this report in The Detroit News, Tatum’s background as a baseball outfielder could help his transition to safety, as he likely possesses good ball tracking skills already and is comfortable running a long way to make plays.
Regardless, this positional change might be somewhat out of the blue, but it is definitely worth exploring as Whittingham attempts to make the most of his personnel.
