Colston Loveland and Max Bredeson lead Michigan’s tight ends into 2024

The calendar flips to July and excitement is building for the 2024 college football season. There are just two and a half weeks until Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis and about a month until fall camps begin across the country.

After arguably the best season in program history, Michigan brings another full squad into 2024 with “Team 145.” In preparation for next year, it’s a good time to break down each of the Wolverines’ position groups with “One thing I like”, “One thing I don’t do” And “One thing to keep an eye on”Next comes one of the most talented positions in Michigan’s offense — Close finish.

It’s pretty simple – Michigan has arguably the best junior tight end in the country back. Colston Lovelandwho totaled 45 catches for 649 yards and four touchdowns last season. After flashing his skills as a freshman in 2022, Loveland took on a larger role in the Wolverines’ offense last season. The 6’5″, 240-pound player is a big, reliable target, and I expect his numbers to improve again in 2024 as Michigan works through a new quarterback.

While Loveland is expected to do the most damage in the passing game, the Wolverines also return a redshirt junior Max Bredeson. The Wisconsin native has already made a name for himself by putting pressure on potential tacklers. We know Michigan wants to build its identity on the run game, and selfless, hardworking players like Bredeson are the reason it has been so successful in recent years.

Honestly, I’m hard-pressed to find anything I don’t like about this position group for Michigan. The program has done a great job of recruiting and developing this position throughout the Jim Harbaugh era and even before that. New Head Coach Sherron Moore was hired as the Wolverines’ tight ends coach in 2018 and played a major role in recruiting top-notch tight ends from the high school ranks. This only continued when Moore moved to offensive line coach and was replaced by Jay Harbaugh and finally Grant Newsome.

The only thing I don’t like is that this unit lacks proven depth behind Loveland and Bredeson, but I have full confidence in the younger tight ends who will take on bigger roles in 2024. Moore signed Steve Casula as Michigan’s next tight ends coach, tasked with continuing to develop this position group into one of the best in the program.

We’ve already mentioned the young guys, and we’ll be keeping an eye on them this season. We have a pretty good idea of ​​what Michigan will get out of Loveland and Bredeson, but the redshirt sophomore Marlin Klein was on everyone’s lips during spring training and is expected to be the Wolverines’ next great tight end. At 6’6″ and 250 pounds, Klein is another big target with excellent athleticism for his size. Loveland has said he expects Klein to end up being an even better player than he is, which is high praise.

Besides Klein, Michigan has other young talents in the redshirt freshman area Zach Marshall and real newbies Brady Prieskorn And Hogan Hansenamong others. This position group is in excellent shape.

This article is part of a series that examines each position group on Michigan Football’s 2024 roster. You can find the other position groups that Michigan Wolverines on SI has already been discussed here: (quarterback, Back Race, Offensive line, Close finish)

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