Michigan’s fall camp has barely arrived, and the roster is already suffering damage. Two players who were expected to be around this month are suddenly gone. Wide receiver C.J. Charleston and safety Taylor Tatum weren’t on UM’s fall camp roster after Kyle Whittingham announced them to the team a few months ago. Interestingly, neither departure happened because of injury or discipline.

According to reports, C.J. Charleston is out after losing his fight for another year of NCAA eligibility. In contrast, safety Taylor Tatum has stepped away from football to focus on baseball. “CJ did not receive an extra year of eligibility, and Taylor is focusing on baseball,” UM’s spokesperson Dave Ablauf said to Maiz and Brew.

Charleston’s case was the bigger surprise because it had been unresolved for months. Michigan hoped the veteran receiver would receive a seventh year from the NCAA. That approval never came. He had already used six seasons after beginning his career at Youngstown State. He lost the 2022 season to an Achilles injury and believed that year could help him qualify for another season.

Kyle Whittingham kept him on the roster while he waited for the ruling. Sadly, before fall camp began, the NCAA ultimately denied the request. The eligibility battle, moreover, was far from simple. This is because the NCAA has granted extra years in some injury- and COVID-era cases. But every request depends on an individual review.

Charleston’s injury gave him hope. Michigan clearly believed the appeal had a chance because he remained with the team through the offseason. In the end, the NCAA decided he had exhausted his eligibility. That decision closed the door immediately. There was no football option left for him in Ann Arbor. Tatum’s exit, however, shows a very different situation.

The former five-star recruit simply chose another sport. Tatum entered college as one of the nation’s highest-rated running backs in the 2024 recruiting class and signed with Oklahoma. After two seasons, he transferred to Michigan, where the coaching staff moved him from running back to safety.

The plan was never to give up baseball. In fact, he had already been part of Oklahoma’s baseball program and intended to play baseball at Michigan after football. Instead, he has decided to make baseball his full-time focus right away.

UM’s safeties coach was expecting a huge role for Taylor Tatum

Baseball has followed Tatum throughout his athletic career. Even as football recruiting services ranked him among the country’s elite running backs, professional scouts also viewed him as a legitimate baseball prospect. Michigan’s coaches liked that background because they believed it translated naturally to the secondary. Safeties coach Tyler Stockton pointed to Tatum’s ball skills and athletic ability when explaining the position switch.

“We thought that Taylor Tatum had a unique skill set from an explosive standpoint, a ball skills standpoint, because he’s also a baseball player, as well,” Stockton said on U-M’s In the Trenches podcast this offseason. “He’s just scratching the surface. … This was his first time ever backpedaling. It fires me up because you’ve got a piece of clay that you can just fine-tune and make him into a great player.”

Kyle Whittingham will not lose major production from either departure, but the depth chart will still change. Charleston was an experienced receiver who understood the offense, even if he rarely caught passes. Young receivers now lose a veteran voice in meetings and practice. Tatum’s exit affects the secondary more. Michigan entered the offseason, replacing starters Brandyn Hillman, TJ Metcalf, and Jaden Mangham.

That was one reason the Wolverines added transfers like Chris Bracy and moved Tatum to safety. Losing him removes another athletic option from a position that is still developing. Even so, Michigan’s safety room still has enough talent to compete. Rod Moore returns as the leader of the group. Chris Bracy is expected to start after transferring from Memphis. Mason Curtis and Jordan Young also earned praise during spring practice.