Previously: Last year’s profiles. S Damani Dent, S/Nk Zeke Berry, S/HSP Keon Sabb, CB Myles Pollard, CB/Nk Kody Jones, CB Will Johnson, LB Deuce Spurlock, LB Jimmy Rolder, DE/LB Micah Pollard, DE Derrick Moore, DT Mason Graham, DT Kenneth Grant, DT Cam Goode, T Andrew Gentry, T/G Connor Jones, G Alessandro Lorenzetti, C Olu Oluwatimi.

Cologne, Germany via Rabun Gap (Nacoochee), GA – 6'6”, 215
[via Twitter]		247: 6'6/215          3.69*	3*, 88, NR overall #22 TE, #37 GA
		Rivals: 6'6/220          3.69*	3*, 5.7, NR overall #28 TE, #51 GA
		ESPN: 6'6/220          3.59*	3*, 78, #324 SE #18 TE-Y, #80 GA
		On3: 6'6/215          3.83*	4*, 90, NR overall #31 TE, #49 GA
		Composite:          3.82*	3*, 0.8815, #545 ovr #29 TE, #57 GA
		Other Suitors	Purdue, FSU, Georgia?
		YMRMFSPA	Zach Gentry
Previously On MGoBlog	Hallo aus der Zukunft by Ace
Notes	Twitter.
Film:
Senior Highlights: Hudl (only goes up to Jr year). Sr vs Providence Day.

If there's one sure thing about Harbaugh, you really just have to take his word when it comes to tight ends. He had scores of them at Stanford. The first guy he recruited to Michigan was a dual-threat from Albuquerque. He pulled an unranked athlete out of Dudley, Massachusetts. He took a kid who was the third-best receiver on his team in Florida, the quarterback of Hamden Hall in Hamden, Connecticut, a camp offer from Ohio that Ohio State didn't want, an offensive tackle in Ohio, and a kid from Burke, VA, because he looked athletic at a Rivals camp. By 2020 the sites finally learned if there's a jump-baller in Massachusetts with a Michigan offer, that dude should be a 4-star. While Rivals was moving Lou Hansen into their top-100 on principle, Harbaugh had his people embedded with a German recently relocated to Rabun Gap-Nacoochee, Georgia.

Marlin Klein started watching football at 11, but didn't play it until 2016. He quickly discovered he was better at it than the other kids from the suburbs of Cologne, Germany, and came to Rabun Gap-Nacoochee in time to put up over 300 yards as a sophomore. The pandemic caught up to him a month later, and he was back in Cologne waiting it out while his Rabun Gap-Nacoochee coach emailed tape. Via the Daily's (and sometimes our) Ethan Sears, Michigan offered without seeing more. Klein made it to Ann Arbor in early fall, and committed a few weeks later, at which time this was his class:

Klein is M's third commit for 2022, joining four-star DT Alex VanSumeren and four-star ILB Tyler Martin.

That's about the last time there was any scouting on Klein. Then again, Michigan never wavered either.

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Undiscovered Athlete

From September 2020 to Signing Day, Klein never wavered, despite Michigan changing his position coach twice since. Lacking any recruitment drama, playing in a lower division of private schools for a team that doesn't pass, and thereafter staying away from most camps, he gave the sites no reason to update their blind takes beyond a couple of projective highlight reels. The two Rivals articles on him since his commitment date to April and August 2021, and neither contains more information than the standard response to a "Hey, are we still on?" text. Prior to that, Rivals' Rob Cassidy and Chad Simmons included him in their "five southeast prospects who are tough to rate," citing low competition, but were very intrigued:

"His film jumps out though due to his size, athleticism and ability to make plays."

On3's Tim Verghese and Charles Power tried to look at Michigan's sleepers later in the cycle, and liked the measurements, with Verghese projecting Klein to be "a versatile piece … who can line up in line or out wide." Word out of Harbaugh's ranks came via Steve Lorenz, who believes the "ranking/rating stayed stagnant because he plays for a team that almost exclusively runs the football," but still seems convinced they pulled in another of Those:

I would legitimately argue that Klein is either #1 or #2 on Michigan's tight end recruiting board in 2022. We've said this continuously throughout his recruitment but it's worth reiterating now that he's on board.

24/7 dispatched Josh Newkirk to Rabun Gap-Nacoochee only to see Klein targeted once. His take from that target:

…you still saw why Michigan would take his commitment. He's long, athletic and could a be goal-line matchup problem for opposing defenses if used correctly.

Upside is up there

TMI's Brice Marich went to Rabun Gap-Nacoochee as well, seeing "a few clutch catches" but cautioned Klein is "still fairly new to the game" and "continues to make strides," which is recruiting for "still has to..."

Even the most positive couch their scouting in das Futur. German former pro Bjorn Werner built the pipeline for athletes from his home country to get on an NFL track, and claims as soon as he saw his latest shipment he "knew right away":

Werner was amazed. There were a lot of prospects on the field but few had Klein’s length and natural ball skills. … it’s a potential the 6-foot-6, 215-pound Klein is still tapping into. "[Klein] didn’t even scratch the surface yet. It’s all pure natural ability and once he gets in the right scheme, he will explode!”

Touch the Banner also spoke of potential at the time of Klein's commitment:

From a technique standpoint, he’s kind of a blank canvas because he is relatively new to the sport and doesn’t really play the position he will in college, so there is lots of room to improve and develop good habits.

By that he means Klein was still mostly lining up as a receiver. On3's Verghese called Klein a "big receiver [whose frame] can hold a lot more weight." 24/7's Collin Kennedy included Michigan among schools that did the best at hauling in TEs because Loveland plus Klein's "untapped potential." Rivals' Chad Simmons spoke of a "very intriguing prospect" they still had ranked as a receiver at the time of his commitment whose "best football is ahead of him."

Klein is also the rarest thing in modern Michigan recruiting: a guy ESPN had a take on:

TE Marlin Klein is a commit to keep an eye on. Originally from Germany but now playing his high school football in Georgia, he is a 6-foot-6, 220-pound prospect with promising upside and the tools to grow into a versatile and physical offensive weapon.

That's Craig Haubert writing why he ranked Michigan's class #8, and probably doesn't mean much more than that ESPN doesn't scout outside of Georgia and Florida when they don't have to. But it's a take! On a Michigan 3-star recruit! From ESPN! That must be some incredible upside.

One possible damper on the talk of development: unless MGoBlue.com is mistaken, Klein is quite old for a freshman; he'll turn 20 a few weeks into this season, a day ahead of Keon Sabb for oldest non-transfer in his class. By contrast, classmate Colston Loveland, who's considered much closer to the field despite playing in Idaho, just turned 18 a couple months ago. People develop at different rates, but major body changes are exponentially less likely the further an athlete gets from their teenage years.

A very large object moving at receiver speed

They all agree very much on what Klein could become if he does become, because what he's already is very very fast for how big he is. Via Brice Marich in March 2021, the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee athlete qualified for states on the first run of his first track meet with a 10.9 on the 100m at 6'6"/228.

That weight didn't make it past the articles, but the height/speed combination caught the eye of Touch the Banner, who noted a 4.5 forty claim, and that "klein" means small in German:

At 6’6″ and 215 pounds, Klein ist nicht so klein. He has a great frame for adding weight while still maintaining his athleticism. Tight ends coach Sherrone Moore has mentioned previously that he wants tight ends who look like basketball players and can play wide receiver. Klein looks like a basketball player and plays wide receiver, so check and check.

TTB praised Klein's good speed and soft hands, but called his routes merely "adequate." On3's Verhese was considerably more hype when discussing this 1.5 years later, describing a "solid route runner who shows explosiveness out of his breaks."

Ethan Sears shared that it was this speed that initially attracted Michigan, which according to Rabun Gap-Nacoochie coach Sturdivant was the point:

Sturdivant edited a highlight video to better show off his abilities. He wanted coaches to see him running. “Sometimes you get those big guys, they don’t see how fast you are,” Sturdivant said. “So I just put the first one of him catching it and taking off and accelerating. Making a couple big time catches over the shoulder. What I would want to see when I was recruiting.”

Brandon Brown said Klein "shows a lot of natural ability when it comes to running routes and catching the ball cleanly," and the athleticism "really flashes":

He's in the 11-second range in the 100-meter dash and appears to have an above average vertical leap as well. There are random video clips out there showing him going through workouts and even doing backflips with relative ease. He moves extremely well for a young man his size and looks like the kind of prospect who could explode at the next level.

Rabun Gap-Nacoochie coach Joe Sturdivant told Rivals' Chad Simmons they were moving Klein around to hunt matchups:

…really give the coaches a lot of flexibility. Marlin is one who can stretch the field and run like a wide receiver, then line up and big physical like a tight end. He is a unique kid, a unique player and a very versatile athlete."

And Simmons saw it for himself:

He is ranked as a wide receiver now, but after seeing him twice in the last six weeks, he is likely to move to tight end when we update the 2022 rankings. Regardless of his position, with his size and athleticism, he is a mis-match. He has strong hands, he has flashed good body control and he can win the 50-50 ball with his length. He is going to add weight, he will get stronger and he will expand his route tree in time in time.

Werner was the first to mention the Chiefs' Travis Kelce, suggesting Klein is the same kind of "natural runner, natural catching the ball" who consistently breaks outside or downfield too quickly for linebackers, but overwhelms safeties.

The On3 guys agreed this was a special kind of athlete. Charles Power:

…just from a measurable perspective, is one that that we like. He’s 6-foot-6, 210-15lbs, Big, fast. I mean he ran, I want to say he ran a low 11.1 (100 meter dash) or something like that, so like you know that’s pretty pretty doggone good for a tight end so he’s a four star outside of us. Almost kind of like a big receiver, has that ability to stretch the field and run.

Verghese agreed "big receiver is the best way to describe Klein." Lorenz however, shared that Michigan sees Klein growing into the in-line role Schoonmaker played last year, as opposed to the "classic TE" coming across the formation for kickouts. Or in other words:

Staff has mentioned guys like Gronk and Travis Kelce as far as how they hope to utilize him in their offense.

Blocking…is a college-level course

Considering Rabun Gap-Nacoochee runs so often that Michigan fans find it excessive, and Klein's been ticketed to play tight end for Jim frikkin' Harbaugh for two years, you would think his junior and senior tape would be filled with blocking. It is not. Klein was still mostly at receiver for Rabun Gap-Nacoochee even as a senior, and his downfield blocking looked at best "willing."

TTB agreed "he will need to get in the weight room" and was manifestly disappointed that Klein was "not as physically dominant as one would expect" considering whom Klein was blocking:

He also does not have very much film blocking anyone other than cornerbacks on bubble screens, so the technique involved in playing more of an in-line position, taking on linebackers, kicking out defensive ends, etc. is going to be a work in progress.

Rabun Gap-Nacoochee's head coach isn't going to trash a Rabun Gap-Nacoochee player's blocking, but Sturdivant had to use the polite language when talking about Klein's, like "has come a long way" and "is not scared to put a hand in the dirt."

Verghese also spoke politically regarding Klein's junior film, which "shows he needs some tweaking to his leverage." Even Brandon Brown, trained in the Tao of trusting Harbaugh tight end recruiting on these very pages, could only muster an "everybody does it" argument:

The biggest thing for him is going to be blocking, which is the case with most high school tight ends.

How thicc can he gett?

Of course, Brown hasn't forgotten everything I taught him:

Klein currently checks in at 6-7, 220 pounds and really looks like the kind of prospect who will blossom in a college strength and conditioning program. He's quite lean right now but getting to 245-255 pounds should be very easy for him. He's got great length, a terrific frame and obviously really good size for the tight end position.

Newkirk addressed this as well, suggesting Klein "will need to add some weight" before he sees the field, and even Werner added a caveat of "put him in the weight program in college" to his Kelce comp. As to that, however, Marich shared that Klein was up to 230 as of last October.

I tend to side with our former writer, considering Klein clearly doesn't even know a certain block on State Street even exists:

“It just felt like Germany,” Klein said. “It was really clean, the people there were really nice and the weather."

Right? I was 210 pounds too before I made my first Mr. Spots run in a blizzard with however much Captain Morgan $10 buys you at Campus Corner under my arm. And that was when Big Ten Burrito was a still a ketchup-on-cold-noodles Italian restaurant we told people was a front for the mob, and Pizza Bob's floor was still so spotless I served all of you pizzas that I'd dropped on it and none of you have ever said a word.

THAT Georgia offered?

They were certainly more than just in touch:

"It’s kind of hard because of the NCAA rules. They can’t call me, so they have to text my coach, my coach has to text me, and then I have to call them. The tight ends coach [Todd Hartley] talked to my coach, so I called UGA a couple times," Klein said. "We’ve built a really good relationship, and then, he offered me. He’s a really great person. He has a family, and he’s always asking how my family is doing when we talk. I just like him."

But Klein had yet to visit at that point. I think this falls in the category of "offer", especially since we heard nothing of Georgia swinging back around after beating out Michigan for Oscar "Go Michigan!" Delp. Ole Miss and Vandy poked around last year, however.

Out of curiosity, what *IS* the most Germany-like Big Ten campus?

I've only seen 65% of the Big Ten and less than 5% of Westphalia, but I'm going to have to say Purdue. They both have post-War main streets designed for chain stores, a frighteningly large per capita of knee-high takeout-delivery robots, and are the only two places on Earth that seem to think that brown squares are the epitome of good architecture.

Etc. Also a capable kicker and punter.

Why Zach Gentry? I haven't had enough film yet to convert you all to the Church of Luke Schoonmaker, let alone get you hyped up for Louis Hansen, we didn't get enough of Nick Eubanks, and Sean McKeon would be a great comp except Michigan had him playing the off tight end position, which was never really his style. Michigan does too good of a job of developing that aspect of their guys' games, however, which takes away from our ability to discuss nuanced differences.

Gentry is our extreme version of what's envisioned for Klein, a tall, lean, loping speedster who can be devastating on a mesh route (yes, also like Erick All!) and needed many years to become barely passable as a blocker (not at all like All). Gentry didn't do it by leaping super high, and his hands were merely good, but he used that natural athleticism to run great routes, and that incredible speed to torture defenses that were usually happy to get a 4.5 guy at cornerback, let alone hybrid safety.

Guru Reliability: Extremely low. Last look was after some wanting junior film, last serious look was at a recently expatriated German who'd been playing football for four years. All of it was against Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School's schedule of Georgian and Carolingian private boarding schools.

Variance: All of it. Could be German Gronk. Could get stuck behind Hibner-Hansen-Loveland-whoever's next and never see the field, could Eubanks his way onto the field for a couple of years as a solid upperclassman.

Ceiling: High Gothic (but may take awhile to get there).

General Excitement Level: B+. That amounts to a "7" on Mathlete's scale, or a 4.00 on my 5-star scale, or prospect #300 in a typical recruiting class, thus fulfilling my contractual obligation to rate any tight end this program recruits at least a 4-star. I won't go higher because he has to learn everything about blocking.

Projection: Such a holy lock for a redshirt you could build a cathedral around it. A humongous late Gothic one with gigantic spires. I mean, it's probably not going to take 640 years, but we're talking about the most raw prospect in the class, and a position where, at least at Harbaugh's Michigan, immediate utility is far less important than constructing an edifice whose ultimate splendor is a worthy exclamation of God's glory. Since that's about how seriously we take tight end around here, Klein will probably need two or three years of stonecutting and shaping by master craftsmen before emerging a buttressed Butt clone like all the rest.