2024 Michigan Football Fall Position Breakdown Tight End

For our Position Breakdown series, we will look at each position group for Michigan Football as we head toward fall camp.

How does the current depth chart shake out? What are the storylines or things you should watch heading into the spring and, eventually, the season? What's the X factor, whether it's a player, coach, or situation, that could change how the group looks?

Let's talk about the tight ends.

POSITION BREAKDOWN SERIES

Quarterback

Running Back

Wide Reciever

Tight End

Offensive Line

EDGE

Defensive Tackle

Linebacker

Cornerback

Safety

I have been on the Colston Loveland train since picking him as a breakout candidate as a freshman. Yet, every step of the way, I continue to underrate him. Is it possible, heading into a season where many say Loveland is the best tight end in the country, are we still underrating him?

The Jim Harbaugh era was bookended by the best with Jake Butt and Colston Loveland. Butt is already thought of as arguably the best tight end in Michigan history, but did you know Loveland had already matched Butt's best season of production?

Butt's 2016 senior season was similar, with 46 receptions, 546 yards, and 4 touchdowns. Loveland could go to another level this year. He is entering his junior year, which typically shows a bump. The 2016 team had a clear WR1, with Amara Darboh getting 57 receptions, 862 yards, and 7 touchdowns. With no clear WR1, is Loveland WR1 in 2024?

Marlin Klein will step into the TE2 role and has been one of the most hyped players of the offseason. We aren't sure what receiving threat he will be, but block inline and add another vertical threat to the offense. His rise gives more flexibility to how the coaches can use Loveland.

Deakon Tonielli and Zack Marshall enter their second seasons looking to carve out roles in the two-deep. Tonielli has the size to rotate with Klein as the inline tight end. Marshall is very much the wide receiver trapped in a tight end's body skillset that Loveland was, but he hasn't adjusted to his size like Loveland has. If Marshall can be a stronger version of his high school junior season, he can be a pass-catching threat.

Michigan landed two future stars in the 2024 class, and both will be early enrollees. Brady Prieskorn and Hogan Hansen are both way ahead of incoming freshmen when it comes to blocking. Both are all-around tight ends who could start to challenge upperclassmen in the spring. With so little experience ahead of them, either one or both rising up the depth chart would not be shocking.

The now, not-so-secret weapon of the Michigan offense is Max Bredeson.

Bredeson took a massive leap in the H-Back role and exceeded expectations last season. Not only was Bredeson the best run-blocking tight end in the country not named AJ Barner, but he showed he could stand in line and pass protect at times as well.

I thought Bredeson might find a bigger role as a receiver, but with Loveland, Barner, and then Donovan Edwards getting more targets, there wasn't much to go around for the fullback. That could change in 2024, and Bredeson has asked for a bigger role in the passing game.

Not only is Loveland the only tight end with real pass-catching experience, but many targets have also left the wide receiver room. Throw in an inexperienced new starting quarterback who may often look for checkdowns, and maybe Bredeson in the flat becomes a go-to a few times a game.

Bredeson's exact role is wide-ranging, but that's because of his versatility, effort, and experience—all things that contributed to Michigan's recent success.

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