Name: Kalel Mullings
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 239 lbs.
High school: West Roxbury (MA) Milton Academy
Position: Running back
Class: Senior
Jersey number: #20
Last year: I ranked Mullings #39 and said he would be a backup linebacker and special teamer (LINK). He made 12 tackles, ran the ball 14 times for 31 yards and 3 touchdowns, and completed 1/1 pass for 15 yards.
TTB Rating: 78
It's not often that Michigan running backs average 2-point-something yards per carry, but when they do, it's because they're scoring touchdowns. Yes, Jim Harbaugh hearkened back to the old, old, old days of . . .
. . . 2016.
He made Khalid Hill the "Hammering Panda" by giving him the ball 25 times for 39 yards and 10 touchdowns. Hill scored 3 the next year and then left, only to be replaced by Ben Mason, who averaged 2.4 yards/carry on his way to scoring 7 touchdowns.
Those are unfair comparisons, because Mullings is speedier and more athletic than both of those guys. Mullings could probably be a starting tailback at a number of FBS schools, but at Michigan, he's maybe the third-best guy.
The only reason Mullings got a chance to play running back last year is because Blake Corum hurt his knee and Donovan Edwards hurt his hand. Mullings didn't notch any carries until the final three games, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention that a 15th rushing opportunity was botched on the goal line against TCU, resulting in a fumble and then a 99-yard drive by the Horned Frogs that resulted in a touchdown. Michigan tried to surprise TCU with a handoff to Mullings, who was lined up at fullback with Edwards behind him, but Michigan surprised itself. Ouch.
To end last year's recap on a high note, Mullings also lined up in a short yardage situation and then threw a halfback pass to Colston Loveland in the win against Ohio State, which was a little bit fun.
This year I have Mullings ranked here at #38 because I think Jim Harbaugh will be loyal to a guy who has stuck around for four years without any guarantees of a starting role. Whether it's as a short yardage back or as a legitimate backup option, I think Mullings will play. There's less need for a goal line back when the tough, slippery Corum is available, but Michigan may try to keep Corum healthy for the stretch run by taking some of the load off of him.
Prediction: Backup running back
Don't you think the blocking of Hill & Mason make them a different threat? I'm not sure if without it, Mullings is the same short yardage back
ReplyDeleteWell, perhaps ten of those games don't matter much ... what's our third toughest, @Minnesota or @Nebraska?
DeleteNo disrespect but having Mullings or not having him makes no real difference. Michigan has many other options at 3rd string RB.
ReplyDeleteAside from not having a significant role, I also don't agree with thunder that he'd be starting for anyone else. He only moved to RB when Michigan had their top 2 options dealing with injury and while meanwhile the LB rotation had solidified and Mullings want needed there.
Even if he was to step into Hill or Mason type of role, which remains unclear, as JE points out, he wouldn't be a critical play anyway.
Unfortunately I agree here. Would certainly have Jyaire Hill and Jaden McBurrows above him as they'll almost certainly be playing critical snaps against OSU / PSU / playoff team TBD. I'm not sure it matters who's taking those 3rd string snaps.
DeleteDidn't Mullings play critical snaps against OSU and TCU last year? The third running back takes critical snaps in those important games every year. Not only is he on the field, but the third running back handles the most important thing on the field, which is the football.
DeleteThe fourth or fifth cornerback didn't hurt Michigan in 2022. It didn't really matter who that was.
What did matter is that the #3 running back fumbled on the goal line against TCU.
People keep talking about running backs being de-emphasized and not being important, but C.J. Stokes and Tavi Dunlap weren't out there in the CFP game, presumably because the coaches didn't trust them in that moment. And the guy they did trust literally dropped the ball, which resulted in Michigan losing out on 7 points.
I'm going to make an analogy here to an airplane crew. The flight attendant might be important. Maybe they'll have to deliver some food or perform the Heimlich on a passenger or stop a random drunk person from attacking another passenger. That stuff is important.
And the pilot is important, too, of course, because he's flying the plane.
But the #2 person I'm worried about hiring is the co-pilot. He might not be The Guy - that's the pilot - and he might not even do as much work as other people - like the flight attendants - but when it comes down to crunch time, he might have to land the plane.
*I* could get a job as a flight attendant, but nobody's hiring me to be a pilot or a co-pilot, because it takes years of training and practice.
STOP. The coaches just saw one RB as 'different' than others
DeleteAlso...you don't think Mullings could be starting somewhere else? The 2019 Gatorade Player of the Year in Massachusetts? A guy who had 27 offers coming out of high school where he was a two-way player and was getting snaps against TCU and Ohio State? He couldn't be starting somewhere in the MAC or the Sun Belt or Conference USA or maybe a lower tier Power 5 school? Sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree there.
DeleteHe got as fewer snaps than the #7 TE and the #7 db and The #6 edge... After the top 2 RB were hurt!
DeleteMullings was the #2rb going into tcu. He still saw single digit snaps. He saw no meaningful snaps against osu.
He wasn't an important player last year and the RB room is much stronger now.
"The fourth or fifth cornerback didn't hurt Michigan in 2022. It didn't really matter who that was"
DeleteFalse. Four started Turner Johnson Green Sainristil and a 5th johnson was in making a critical error against tcu. With everyone healthy!
3rd RB is like 6th cb in other words
Mullings wasn't copiloting anything. He was playing fullback on the fumble. It's like the alternate steward, filling in for the guy who was sick, spilling a drink on the pilot in the cockpit.
DeleteI wrote 7th db but meant 8th. My bad. Q Johnson was behind the 5 starters, green and moten. But for tcu he was 7th
DeleteNo thunder he wouldn't start anywhere else. Just like Derrick Green didn't start at TCU and countless other examples of guys whose recruiting rankings stopped mattering the second they got to college.
DeleteOh wait that's every player.
@ Lank 5:08 p.m.
DeleteI guess we're just going to have to agree to disagree. If you're asking a guy to carry the ball in critical situations, he must be pretty important and trusted by the coaches. They could have tried to hand the ball to Edwards or Bredeson or Gash or Dunlap or Honigford, but they designed and installed and ran that play for Mullings.
I think this is where playing & coaching the game matters
DeleteI can slide guys in at DE and hope the ball doesn't come his way or that he doesn't get tricked. At Corner, I can again hope the ball doesn't come his way or that the QB doesn't get to his 3d, 4th or 5th read ... but who am I trusting with the ball, on the goal line, in a playoff game? Unless we're up by a bunch, who touches the dang ball is critical (see handoff to Sean McKeon in the Gator Bowl)
*hope is not a thing, but you know what I mean 😉
@ je93 10:36 a.m.
DeleteYes, this is my point. You can put in a backup CB and give him help with a safety. You can put in a run-stopping DE and blitz to get to the QB. Or you can just play your CB in off coverage to prevent him from getting beaten deep, or put a slower CB to the boundary so he doesn't have as much space to cover. These are all ways to cover up guys you don't really trust, or who just have limitations.
There's no way to cover up a RB. The RB in the game is probably going to get the ball 40% of the time, and once he does, he's exposed. The ball is exposed to being fumbled, and his vision/knowledge/athleticism is exposed for the defense to tackle him in the backfield or before he gets much of a gain.
and at MICHIGAN, we're running 60% of the time. Run first, run often
Delete*interestingly, I've heard & read that the offense is really trying to pass more this year. Should be something to look out for
You're saying it's important because it's important. I disagree. I don't think they designed that play for Mullings at all. They've run the same play with other guys.
DeleteSomebody has to carry the ball. That someone isn't important necessarily. In a run play the QB handles the ball and isn't important.
Who carries the ball beyond that is not critical unless they create a different outcome. They generally don't, especially in short yardage which is why they let guys like Mason McKeon and houma do it. They're not running backs by training or difference makers or even all that reliable necessarily but the coaches trust themvto carry the ball This is counter to your point.
You need some rotation at RB to manage fatigue. Someone has to do the job. Doesn't mean the who matters.
If your argument is that Mullings valuable because the coaches have great trust in him, well he didn't hold up his end. So he isn't.
Altering your defense entirely to swing safety help to a weak link at CB is a much bigger impact than difference between handing off to Mullings vs Gash or Stokes or Hill or Cabana.
DeleteYou don't ever have to "cover up" a RB. This doesn't happen. A weak link at RB doesn't change outcomes, as we saw with the chiefs starting a 7th round rookie and the Titans being completely unaffected by losing Henry.
DeleteThe Titans were completely unaffected by losing Henry?
DeleteThey averaged 28.4 points per game with him in the lineup in 2021. After he got hurt, they averaged 21.3, and that doesn't include a 19-16 loss in the first round of the playoffs.
I would say scoring 25% fewer points counts as "affected."
They went from 11-5 and losing in the wildcard round with Henry healthy to 12-5 and losing in the division round without Henry healthy. As for RB position specifically the ypc did not change in 2021 with Henry or the collection of replacement level replacements that took his carries.
DeleteThe current fake controversy about RB salary has an obvious explanation.
I'll go back to my usual refrain on this subject, which is that RB only matters if you have a real difference maker. Otherwise it's pretty much plug and play. Even if Corum and Edwards went down, I'd be stunned if it mattered if it was Stokes / Mullings / Gash / Hall / random walk-on running the ball. Similarly, it's not obvious to me that OSU's offense would be impacted if Henderson and / or Williams were to go down.
DeleteOn the other hand, if Michigan is going to have a chance to win the NC this year, they're going to need Corum and Edwards healthy and available. I put both in that "difference maker" category.
Probably 2 of the best backs we've had in the last 30 years
DeleteThe pass was to Schoonmaker, but the point stands!
ReplyDeleteAh, yes, you're right. I was thinking about the wheel route from McCarthy to Loveland.
Delete