Michigan Football: Wolverines land 2022 TE with huge upside

Michigan football added its third commitment of the 2022 class Tuesday morning and here’s what U-M is getting in Marlin Klein.

In the 2022 recruiting class, Michigan football had already nabbed a pair of commitments from defenders, but Tuesday, the Wolverines landed their first offensive player.

That came after 2022 tight end, Marlin Klein, announced his commitment to Michigan football Tuesday morning. Klein is a three-star tight end according to the 247 sports composite rankings.

He ranks 371st overall in the 2022 class and is No. 18 among tight ends. Klein is also ranked as a three-star by Rivals, which has the 6-foot-6 prospect listed as a wide receiver.

Here’s what Klein told Steve Lorenz of the Michigan Insider ($) about his visit to Ann Arbor, which was a self-guided tour that helped seal the deal.

"“Michigan made sure everything was set up for me as far as where to go and the places I needed to see. I didn’t get to go inside the facilities, the stadium or the classrooms, but I got a good enough feel for how life would be on their campus with the time I had. Michigan felt a lot like home for me.”"

Klein may just be a three-star recruit, which some fans always complain about, but he’s a prospect with big-time upside and has elite pass-catching skills. He’s also a big body that the staff thinks can become a solid in-line tight end. Here’s some tidbits from Lorenz ($) on his commitment:

"“Klein fits more of the inline tight end spot in Michigan’s offense. Matthew Hibner (2020) is more of your classic TE in Michigan’s system, so an inline was a key in this cycle for Sherrone Moore and staff. Staff has mentioned guys like Gronk and Travis Kelce as far as how they hope to utilize him in their offense.”"

Michigan always does a great job evaluating prospects and with a slew of recruits in 2021 such as Markus Allen, Rod Moore and Daymon David, their rankings shot up after U-M offered, so I would put Klein in that category and believe he will move up before it’s all said and done.

It sounds like Michigan will be looking to add another tight end in addition to Klein, and the top targets are Oscar Delp, Donovan Green and Jameel Skinner. Lorenz said Klein, despite his ranking, which coaches don’t care about, was No. 1 or No. 2 on the Wolverines tight end board.

With all that in mind, this is a really good get early in the 2022 cycle for the Wolverines, as they land a recruit with future NFL upside.