Kalel Mullings adds to 'embarrassment of riches' in Michigan football backfield
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football lost running back Hassan Haskins to the NFL but has plenty of talent returning at the position. Junior Blake Corum racked up 952 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground last season, while sophomore Donovan Edwards ran for 174 yards and three scores. The latter also caught 20 passes for 265 yards and one touchdown, flashing as a pass-catcher and adding another element to the Michigan offense.
The U-M backfield should be strong this fall, except there is one concern: picking up the tough yards. Haskins rushed for 1,327 yards and a program-record 20 touchdowns last season, with 825 yards after contact. His 103 first-down runs were 18 more than any other Power Five back. A lot of the time, he made the Michigan offense go, commanded attention and opened up other avenues for the Wolverines to attack opposing defenses.
Corum (5-foot-8, 210 pounds) and Edwards (6-foot-1, 204 pounds) can run between the tackles, but Michigan has taken steps this offseason to ensure it has a power back if the other two don’t get the job done. Junior linebacker Kalel Mullings repped at running back during the spring, splitting time between offense and defense, and has continued to do so through a handful of fall camp practices.
“He’s splitting his time with both sides of the ball,” Michigan co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss said Sunday. “I think he could be a really talented guy at really anything that he wanted to, but I think he could be a really, really high-level back if he committed himself to it.
“Right now, he’s doing everything we ask. Obviously, it’s hard when you’re splitting time to be kind of a master of both, but he’s finding a way to do that, and we’re spending extra time with him. We’re excited about what he can potentially add to an already talented backfield.”
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At 6-2, 232 pounds, Mullings, a former high school running back, showed off some of power running ability during Michigan’s April 2 spring game. He rushed four times for 36 yards, including a 21-yard gain in which he bounced it to the outside and displayed his speed.
There’s a drop-off between the top two Michigan backs and the next two, sophomore Tavierre Dunlap and freshman CJ Stokes, who just arrived to campus this summer, as evidenced by the Wolverines trying out Mullings at the position.
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Michigan has experimented with players switching positions or playing multiple spots on numerous occasions under head coach Jim Harbaugh, but this appears to be beyond the exploration phase. There’s still time to reverse course, but as it stands now, Mullings is expected to have a role in the Wolverines’ offense this fall. And, Weiss says, he fits as a contrast to what Corum and Edwards bring.
“He’s a bigger back,” Weiss said. “We have an embarrassment of riches in the backfield with Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards. Both guys who will likely be playing at the next level. But they’re not 200 and however many pounds Kalel is. He’s a really big, physical guy, so he gives you that presence.”
Haskins, of course, started his Michigan career as a linebacker. The Wolverines aren’t making the comparison between the two, and Haskins didn’t play both ways, but they’re hopeful another can make the switch and help the offense.
“Obviously, we had a lot of success with Hassan last year,” Weiss said. “We’re not saying that Kalel is going to be Hassan — we’re just asking him to be Kalel — but he adds an element that the other two really talented players … it’s a little bit different.”
