Marlin
Klein.
Marlin
Klein.
Michigan· 6'6"· 248 lb· 4.61s 40
"Late-blooming Y-TE with a 12-month developmental gap: German-born convert who only truly played after Colston Loveland left, backed by a 4.61 at 6'6'/248 and a top-3 combine 3-cone for the position."Pre-draft read
Inline Y-tight end with a large catch radius, not route craft. He aligns primarily on the line with occasional flex, using long strides to eat cushion. Enormous hands pluck outside the frame on seam and dig shots. Best trait is body control on middle-of-the-field targets; he turns shoulders late, plays through catch point contact, and rarely fumbles.
His route tree is thin: clean seams, hitches, and stick-outs off play-action, but top-of-route breaks are gathered, not snapped. He doesn't create separation on option or angle routes. As a blocker, he is willing and physical in-line, walls off the C-gap and finishes, though high hand placement causes him to lose leverage against heavier ends.
System that prioritizes an attacking Shanahan outside zone run game (wide zone, split zone, duo) with play-action passing off those concepts.
Rotational Y-TE Year 1, with a ceiling to develop into a high-volume lead blocker and red-zone threat as his route tree expands.
A pass-happy Air Raid or spread-RPO offense that asks him to run option routes, or manipulate leverage to create separation against zone.
Developmental Y-TE with the frame and athleticism to contribute inline or flexed, but his limited route tree and inconsistent blocking make him a high-upside project who will need time to develop.
2026 NFL Draft Highlights: TE Marlin Klein | Michigan Football
Official Big Ten highlight reel from Klein's 2025 senior year — seam wins, red-zone body control, and inline blocking reps against Big Ten fronts.
Bryce Underwood's first career TD pass to Marlin Klein
Signature moment from the 2025 opener vs New Mexico: Klein working the sideline seam for Bryce Underwood's first career touchdown in what became a 6-93-1 breakout day.
Marlin Klein | 2026 NFL Draft
Draft-cycle scouting reel breaking down Klein's route tree, catch radius, and translation questions from Michigan to the NFL.
This prospect projects as an inline Y-tight end, offering ideal size and athletic potential that suggests a high ceiling if his route running and blocking technique develop. Teams are drafting him for his physical traits and ability as a vertical threat, anticipating he can become a reliable blocker and a significant pass-catching option over the middle of the field.
He had an unusual path, playing in Germany before high school in Georgia. After three seasons buried on the depth chart, he started his fifth year, recording 24 catches for 248 yards and a touchdown in 11 games. A 6-93-1 opener cemented his role as a security blanket for the freshman QB. This single season of production, combined with his raw athletic ability, highlighted his potential despite limited prior playing time.
Evaluators considered him a developmental swing on traits, with his age (turning 24 during his rookie year) presenting a shorter development runway. Despite concerns about a thin sample size and basic route tree, his measurable 4.61 forty time and 7.42 three-cone moved him up boards. Consensus placed him as TE3 in the class, leading to a second-round selection.
- 01
Legitimate Y-TE frame
6'6"/248 with 32 3/8" arms and 9 1/4" hands, an inline build required to pair with lighter movement tight ends.
- 02
Vertical seam speed
4.61 forty time shows up as strides that stack safeties, providing the quarterback a crucial bailout target down the seam.
- 03
Elite catch radius
Plucks outside the frame on high, wide, and back-shoulder throws, converting contested catches at a high rate among Power-Five TEs.
- 04
Three-cone agility
A 7.42 three-cone at 248 pounds points to redirection ability not yet fully utilized in his route tree but effective against zone triggers.
- 05
Football maturity
A 23-year-old fifth-year senior who learned behind veteran tight ends, understanding protection IDs and option route adjustments.
- 01
One-year starter
Only 12 career starts and 38 lifetime catches, offering a thin sample size that could limit his second contract prospects.
- 02
Basic route tree
Primarily relies on seams, hitches, and play-action digs, with rounded breaks and limited manipulation of leverage on option routes.
- 03
Blocking inconsistency
Willing blocker, but high hand placement causes him to lose leverage battles against heavier defensive linemen more often than desired.
- 04
Late release vs press
Takes an extra step to build into his route after being jammed at the line of scrimmage, a flaw slot alignments mask at college.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.61sp50
- Vertical
- 36inp50
- Broad jump
- 117inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.42sp50
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Michigan | 11 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| 2024 | Michigan | 9 | 13 | 108 | 0 |
| 2025 | Michigan | 11 | 24 | 248 | 1 |
| Career | — | 31 | 38 | 364 | 1 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
- Bryce UnderwoodQB23%
- Justice HaynesRB16%
- Andrew MarshWR11%
#10 of 18 tracked contributors · Production leaned on volume · Offense explosiveness 1.14 (p5) · CFBD — usage x PPA per tracked player
Reliable inline TE2/1b who lives on quick-game and play-action seams; steady rather than explosive, exactly Klein's realistic 2027 outcome.
Same big-target Y-TE who took a year of NFL reps to translate contested-catch and seam production into a real target share.
Big-frame Y with a narrow route menu who tops out as a blocking TE2 running short-area concepts if the finer route work never sharpens.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context: Klein's evaluation was always going to be less about a body of work and more about believing in a runway. Four years buried behind AJ Barner and Colston Loveland at Michigan meant scouts were grading a fifth-year senior with 12 career starts, 38 catches, and one real season of feature tape. What that season offered was exactly what was wanted: a 6'6', 248-pound inline Y with 4.61 speed and a 7.42 three-cone, catching everything thrown near him from a true freshman quarterback in Bryce Underwood, opening the year with 6-93-1 against New Mexico and finishing as PFF's top-graded TE in Week 1 nationally. The book was written as traits over production, TE3 in a thin class, and a fringe Day 2 grade dependent on how much a squad trusted a converted German import who did not play American football until he was 17.
NFL fit — Houston Texans: Houston had been openly hunting a bigger, in-line body to pair with Dalton Schultz and give C.J. Stroud a legitimate two-TE package. Klein checks the size and route-tree overlap that lets an offensive scheme use 12 personnel without tipping run — he can block the C-gap, split out to the slot on play-action, and run the seam and dig combos that Schultz already anchors underneath. The rookie season projection is a rotational Y who plays 30–40 percent of snaps early, handles inline blocking downs, and works into the passing game as a red-zone and seam target while the finer route detail catches up.
Retrospective: Too early to grade — Klein is a July 2026 rookie, so the retrospective section will be filled in after his first NFL season. The evaluation lens to watch: does the route tree expand past seams and hitches, and does the blocking hand placement clean up enough to keep him on the field on early downs. If both answer yes by Year 2, Houston will have found a legitimate second contract TE1b in the middle of Round 2.