Don't forget about these five Michigan tight ends with bright futures

Michigan Wolverines football has three tight ends that will play major roles this coming season in senior Marlin Klein, sophomore Hogan Hansen and graduate Max Bredeson. Klein mostly plays in-line, Hansen can split out wide and Bredeson is featured as the team’s fullback / H-back.

However, the Wolverines played five different players at the position during important parts of games last season. Since Colston Loveland — the No. 10 overall pick to the Chicago Bears — in the NFL Draft has departed, one spot has opened up.

Junior Zack Marshall was actually in that aforementioned group. Remember, he was in on the game-winning touchdown against USC. He logged 33 offensive snaps and was in on a team-high 191 special teams plays, all while playing through a hand injury.

“Zack had a great spring,” Michigan tight ends coach and co-offensive coordinator Steve Casula said on the ‘In The Trenches’ podcast. “Zack is a guy that’s always taken tremendous care of his body and has played so much football here. I believe he played the most snaps on special teams for us a season ago.

“His season was unique, because I don’t know that many people realize this, I think for seven or eight weeks of the season, he had a broken hand. So, we had to be very thoughtful about how and when we played him, because we couldn’t throw him the ball. And he still went in there and played for us, so he was able to get back in the swing of things, in the groove of things.

“I do believe Zack is gonna play for us this year. There’s no job too big, no job too small — and Zack is a really gifted, talented guy. So the expectation for him now as a third-year player who has played in games — I think he played 15 snaps against Ohio State — is to play at that starter level. That’s kinda the expectation for him, so he’s gotta go do it, but I really believe in Zack and am excited about where he’s at.”

Junior Jalen Hoffman, who was listed at 6-foot-3, 235 pounds last season, saw time on special teams but earned only 6 offensive snaps. He broke out in the April 19 spring game at The Big House, though, collecting 7 catches for 148 yards, with 88 coming on the final play, a trick play touchdown.

Hoffman, who walked onto the program in 2023, has been Bredeson’s backup at the fullback spot, but the Michigan staff played him at traditional tight end this spring and was impressed.

“The day I got here, [Michigan head] Coach [Sherrone] Moore told me about Jalen Hoffman and was like, ‘Listen, this kid is really good. He’s really gifted,'” Casula revealed.

“I think going into last season, we were really fortunate to have another guy that could play fullback. Most people only have one. Most people don’t have one. We’re really fortunate — now we’ve got three guys that are trained to do it.

“But going through exit meetings at the end of last season, talking about our roster collectively with Coach Moore and once [offensive coordinator] Coach [Chip] Lindsey got here, we talked about Jalen. We kinda all agreed that we thought there was more to Jalen’s game, so we really went out of our way to let Jalen just play some more tight end this spring.

“And it’s hard when you’re getting ready for a game, and there’s Marlin, there’s Hogan, there’s Zack, there’s Colston — the traditional tight end bodies that are traveling to games and stuff. And really all Jalen would do is back up Max for our fullback snaps. Well, this spring, you don’t have a game plan. You’re not up against that. So, we let him play tight end this spring, and we still let him play fullback. And just kinda day by day, he kept making plays, making plays and winning routes.

“And Coach Lindsey, coming in with completely fresh eyes, is like, ‘This guy, 42, is really good, man. This guy, 42, is really good, man.’ We started playing Jalen some with the ones, and we weren’t crazy shocked about what he went and did in the spring game. Now, maybe the amount of yards he had.

“But Jalen can do some of the things that Max can do and Max can do some of the things that Jalen can do, but they’re not the same player. Different style, for sure.”

Brady Prieskorn and Deakon Tonielli could play a role down the line

Michigan has more tight ends with bright futures. Junior Deakon Tonielli hasn’t appeared in any games during his career but has been praised for his work in practice. Sophomore Brady Prieskorn didn’t play last season and suffered a leg injury in pregame warmups in the regular-season finale at Ohio State.

“It is a crowded room, and there are, shoot, five guys that have really played snaps for us on offense,” Casula mentioned. “I think carving out that exact role of how am I gonna make it so we have to play me? And being thoughtful and mindful about that, and the quickest way to do that as a tight end here, generally speaking, is being able to contribute in the run game, is being able to move people, being physical, playing with good fundamentals in the run game. So, continuing to figure out that exact role that they’re gonna carve and fill out for themselves.

“But both had a productive spring. I think Deakon really, down the stretch in spring, played well.

“Not everybody’s story is the same. Sometimes, when guys come here and, Deakon is going into his third year and hasn’t had the chance to play yet, people kinda forget about you and think there’s something wrong with you as a football player. And that’s not the case with Deakon.

“We’ve got a lot of good players here, and Deakon’s got the talent and the ability to do this. I was really pleased with the spring he had. But this fall camp, man, he’s gonna have the opportunity to make a move. I believe he’ll have a chance to do that.

“Brady — it’s not a matter of if he’s gonna play here, it’s a matter of when. Been pleased with his development.

“Playing tight end here or playing here period is not easy to do. I like where both of those guys are at, and believe we can count on both of them.”

Eli Owens had ‘interesting’ spring

Eli Owens was the only tight end addition in Michigan’s 2025 class, and he enrolled early. The Alcoa (Tenn.) High product was ranked as a three-star and the No. 622 overall prospect in the nation — not a highly publicized addition. However, not many at his position are, since he’s set to compete at the spot that Bredeson and Hoffman have played at.

While it took some time to ease in, Owens ascended as Michigan’s spring practices played out.

“Eli had an interesting spring,” Casula said of the Michigan early enrollee. “I think playing the position that he plays for us, getting off the plane or, in his case, his mom drove him up here, moved him from Tennessee. Getting out of the car and going out and playing fullback in the Big Ten is not easy to do.

“But I’ll tell you this: I think the first five practices for Eli, you saw some of those challenges — and they’re no different than the challenges that Hogan and Brady saw the year before or that Zack would’ve seen in the spring before or Deakon in the fall camp before, and I’m sure the other guys went through it. But he really turned it on, and he’s really good at football and has been really good at football for a long time.

“Getting comfortable in a new place, in a new position, in a new setting took some time for him. But when you go back and watch some of our other guys’ true freshman spring or true freshman fall camp, where he is, he’s in a good spot, and he belongs and is going to play here. He’s about all the right stuff, has a really good energy about him.

“He constantly gets compared to Max, or he constantly gets compared to Jalen. All three of them are a little bit different and have their own unique skill set. Eli Owens is really good. He has the opportunity to become a really good player here, so I’m happy with him.”