Name: Kalel Mullings
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 232 lbs.
High school: West Roxbury (MA) Milton Academy
Position: Running back/Linebacker
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #20
Last year: I ranked Mullings #40 and said he would be a backup linebacker (LINK). He made 11 tackles.
TTB Rating: 78
Mullings had a lot of potential coming out of high school as a multi-faceted player who could be a linebacker or running back. He was an All-American Game participant and immediately earned playing time in 2020, getting snaps in four out of six games at linebacker. That seemed promising, but then in 2021, a hand injury seemed to slow down his progression. He seemed to be a possible #3 inside linebacker who could rotate in, but he got passed up by Junior Colson and ended up as the #4 inside linebacker.
With Josh Ross out of the way in 2022, that gives Mullings a chance to move up to the #3 guy again. But he also could potentially be the #3 running back. Mullings pulled double duty in the spring as Michigan's staff looked for an answer to replace Hassan Haskins as a short yardage/power running back, and he looked decent in that role. Can he handle playing both sides of the ball? And is Tavierre Dunlap going to answer the bell to beat out Mullings for the #3 running back role? It will be interesting to see how much Mullings plays on both sides of the ball, and he could be Michigan's version of Owen Marecic, the Stanford fullback/linebacker who ran for 5 touchdowns and made 51 tackles with 2 sacks playing for Jim Harbaugh in 2010. Michigan has tried somewhat similar things with Ben Mason and Ben Van Sumeren during the Harbaugh era, but Mullings is the most talented dual-threat player of the three.
Prediction: Special teamer and backup running back/linebacker
Mullings is listed as a LB on the roster. This is a notable contrast to fellow spring-flipper Sainristil who is now a WR/DB. Dunno if that means anything but it might.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit dubious that Mullings is needed at RB. But I can understand the concerns with the size of the RB room, with weights: 196, 200, 204, 210, 217. And Michigan did try land a bigger back via the portal.
So maybe it happens and Mullings does a Khalid Hill impersonation in short yardage situations and runs for 10 TDs - but I'd be a little surprised if it's an impactful thing. I think backup LB is a more likely role to evaluate Mullings for, but acknowledge the uncertainty at both backup RB and backup ILB.
So I don't have a big disagreement with this rank even though I don't share Thunder's optimism of Mullings abilities. The HS stuff is all but irrelevant for a Junior and the bigger issue seems to be getting passed by multiple younger players. Mullings might just be a depth guy. Or I suppose he might step up his ability to read opposing offenses as he gets more experience.
A big year for Mullings individually and a lot of uncertainty about his role. It'll be fun to watch.
"He's splitting his time with both sides of the ball. I think he could be a really talented guy at really anything that he wanted to, but I think he could be a really, really high-level back if he committed himself to it. Right now, he's doing everything we ask. Obviously it's hard when you're splitting time to be kind of a master of both, but he's finding a way to do that, and we're spending extra time with him. We're excited about what he can potentially add to an already talented backfield." - Matt Weiss on Kalel Mullings
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