Michigan running backs: Jordan Marshall update, plan for Kalel Mullings, Donovan Edwards
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football has used only three running backs this season, with two receiving the bulk of the snaps. Senior Donovan Edwards (182 offensive plays) and graduate Kalel Mullings (175) have been featured heavily, while sophomore Benjamin Hall (26) is third on the depth chart.
Freshman Jordan Marshall — a four-star, top-100 recruit out of Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller — is one who running backs coach Tony Alford said earlier in the season he wanted to get more involved. The next week — in a 31-12 loss to Texas — the 5-foot-11, 210-pounder returned 3 kicks for 51 yards in his collegiate debut.
He hasn’t played since.
Marshall has been listed as ‘out’ in all of the last four games, but coming off Michigan’s first of two bye weeks, it appears he’s getting closer to a return.
“Yeah, so he had a lower extremity, lower body, extremity deal that was going on,” Alford said. “Continuing to rehab that. He’s gonna be fine. He’ll hopefully be cleared here pretty soon, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
Marshall was the 2023 winner of Mr. Ohio Football and the 2022 Gatorade Player of the Year in the state, and he came to Ann Arbor with a lot of fanfare. Michigan fanatics may get the chance to see him suit up soon.
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Tony Alford’s philosophy on rotating Michigan running backs
The rotation is fairly solidified, though. Mullings has started the last two games, replacing Edwards as the first back up despite the latter still maintaining a crucial role on the offense.
Mullings, a 6-foot-2, 233-pound bruiser, is fourth in the Big Ten with 98.2 rushing yards per game. Alford said the key has been for Mullings to take care of his body with an increased workload, since he’s averaging 15.2 carries per contest.
Alford will go with the hot hand, and he showed that in Michigan’s last game, a 27-17 setback at Washington. Edwards and Mullings had identical carry counts with 14.
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“I try to [go by rhythm],” Alford said of his substitution patterns with Michigan’s running backs. “When a guy starts getting hot and I can feel he’s kind of getting going, let him go.
“A lot of it is situational football. You get into a goal-line situation, it’s more likely to be Kalel or Ben or whomever. Different situations, we think, dictate certain guys [being in the game].”
The assistant coach is pleased that he has two top backs with different skill sets, as well. Edwards, for example, has been featured as a pass-catcher quite a bit throughout his career, with 77 receptions for 760 yards and 4 touchdowns. Mullings, meanwhile, is a former linebacker who averages 4.3 yards after contact per carry.
“I think Donovan is more of a guy you can put out in space and do some things, as far as running routes,” the Michigan coach said. “I think some of the more rugged, tougher-yard stuff is probably more attributed to things that Kalel might be more suited for in certain situations.
“But the whole objective is to make sure that we try to develop guys that are three-down players, to make sure that they can play every single down. Some guys are better at this or that than others, and the key is to put the best 11 guys on the field for that particular situation.
“But they do have a little bit different skill sets. Both of them are high-end skill set guys. They both do have some different skill sets, obviously.”
