We're circling back on the guys who committed during football season. Marshall jumped in way back on August 13th, but that's when we went into preseason mode. It was also a few months after the commitment of fellow TE Deakon Tonielli, and the decommitment of TE Andrew Rappleyea a few months before that.

Marshall was a guy Matt Weiss discovered while out in San Diego, and things moved quickly from there, with Marshall visiting for the barbecue, reporting an offer on July 31, and pledging shortly thereafter. He had a 1000+yard junior year as a receiver at lower-division Santa Fe Christian before switching to TE and moving up to local power Carlsbad, where he was just one of many targets of 5-star 2024 Alabama commit Julian Sayin.

GURU RATINGS 

Rivals: 6'4/210	ESPN: 6'4/215	247: 6'4/220	On3: 6'4/220	247 Comp
3*, 5.7, NR Ovr #27 TE, #37 CA	3*, 78, #103 West #23 TE-H, #63 CA	3*, 87, NR Ovr #74 ATH, #97 CA	3*, 89, NR Ovr #27 TE, #31 CA	3*, 0.8811, #567 Ovr #35 ATH, #44 CA
3.79	3.65	3.53	3.86	3.81

Last row is my conversion to five-star scales. Links are to profiles

Rivals recently moved Marshall up to a 5.7 and inside the top-40 in California. On3 has him on the cusp of 4 stars. The skeptics are 247, who has him ranked as an Athlete, and ESPN, who has him ranked as not going to the SEC. 247 hasn't really put a scout's eyes on him since before that junior season except when he was visiting Michigan for the MSU game, at which point Biggens noted Marshall's gotten way bigger. He might be a candidate for a re-rank but I doubt it.

[AFTER THE JUMP: Athletic athlete who athletes]

SCOUTING

Most of the talk is about his thousand-yard season and his 7v7 play, when his team (Team Makasi) reached the Elite 11 Finals last summer. Rivals' Adam Gorney called him a "physically-gifted but more athletic tight end who has speed and great hands." 24/7's Blair Angula caught Marshall at a camp last summer($) and got eyes

…looked very good at tight end. He’s a well rounded pass catcher who doesn’t fight the ball and does a nice job of setting up defenders to break free.

Angula's colleague Greg Biggens compared Marshall to when they saw him a year before:

…made a nice physical jump over the last year and continues to trend up in our rankings as well. We saw him recently at the Team Makasi Camp in San Diego and he earned MVP honors for all positions. He measured in at a solid 6-4, 218 pounds -- 25 pounds heavier than a year ago -- clocked a 4.69 40 (Zybec timing), 4.49 shuttle, and jumped 31 inches in the vertical. … A year ago, we thought he was a bit of a tweener, hybrid receiver/tight end but he now looks like he can definitely play tight end and be a downfield threat.

I should note they loved him back in spring 2021 as well, naming Marshall offensive MVP of the camp and "this year's Jayden Virgin":

A year ago, Virgin was an under the radar athlete who shined at this camp and went on to commit to Boise State in June. Marshall has a similar frame, athleticism and positional versatility as Virgin. He’s not as thick but probably a smoother athlete and he had a strong day catching the football. He could grow in to a hybrid h-back/tight end or even play outside ‘backer in college.

On3's Charles Power liked Marshall's receiver attributes while also commenting on his growth toward his future position.

….looks to be among the more refined pass catchers among 2023 tight ends. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder has spent much of his high school career to date split out as a wide receiver. Marshall is advanced with his route-running and ability to win of the line and create separation with change of direction. He’s coordinated and is a ball-winner in contested catch situations.

Power also noted that Marshall is young for his class, turning 17 in July. The Wolverine's Michigan reporter EJ Holland also weighed in before Marshall's senior season at Carlsbad:

… natural receiving skills. He will need time to develop in the strength and conditioning program, but his upside is sky high. … Right now, my evaluation of Marshall is incomplete. He checks a lot of boxes from an athletic profile standpoint as he moves well for his size and is a natural pass catcher. Marshall also has a nice frame with plenty of room to add weight. Still, he played extremely subpar competition and is a guy I would need to see live to give a full grade.

Rivals's new Michigan site, Maize & Blue Review, has Lucas Reimink doing full "Chalk Talk" scouting posts. His take on Marshall echo Holland's, listing Foot Speed, Ball Skills, and Route Running as strengths and In-Line Blocking, Physical Strength, and Contested Catches as weaknesses.

… very good athlete for the TE position. Marshall has good foot speed, good ball skills, good body control, solid agility, and marginal physical strength. .. will need to work on embracing all aspects of the TE position, most notably blocking. He doesn’t showcase the mentality nor the physicality you’d like to see from an all-around TE at the next level.

Marshall told an Arizona reporter he thinks he's plenty physical at the point of attack, and maybe too handsy in routes:

“I physically can dominate the point of attack in the run game despite being a somewhat undersized tight end. I can also line up outside and beat a corner with my route running. … I am still working on getting in and out of long developing routes and I have a tendency to be overly physical in my routes when I could keep hands off.

That perspective too came from before his move up to high California ball, so Marshall might be a bit further along now towards understanding what physicality means on the next level. Brice Marich talked to Marshall about where he fits:

…they see me as the move guy, the guy who can like up as a wing, in the backfield, as the second inline tight end in ace sets, and also win in open space on route matchups.”

Holland's assessment of Michigan's interest in Marshall is that they wanted to stop at Tonielli unless they were really enamored with another guy—and so. Lorenz adds that Michigan was "blown away"$ during their one-on-one workout. Whatever this program sees in tight ends they apparently saw it here.

OFFERS

Cal and Utah were the teams Marshall was considering before the Michigan thing happened. Arizona, WSU and Boise State were in the mix earlier. UCLA was always poking around in the periphery.

HIGH SCHOOL

As mentioned, Carlsbad is a mega-school (2400+ students) for the large northern San Diego suburb. This year Carlsbad won the Avocado League, which includes programs you might have heard of like Mission Hills, El Camino, La Costa Canyon (Erik Magnuson), and Torrey Pines (Hayden Epstein). These aren't national powers but they're each usually good for a solid 3-star or two per year. A guy like 2024 5* QB Julian Sayin is rare, but Carlsbad produced Washington's Asa Turner, Stanford's Jordan Perez, and a ton of guys who've played for Brady Hoke at SDSU, as well as plenty of baseball players. If you have a good memory for music history, back in 2001 the students of Carlsbad were treated to a surprise No Doubt concert as they were leaving school. 

Santa Fe Christian is a private school in Solana Beach, about a half hour closer to San Diego proper. It's Kinda BS that they made him sit out for a quarter of his senior season after transferring since the family never moved, and Carlsbad was Marshall's home school in San Diego. This has been Seth hollers at state high school sport associations (don't get me started on MHSAA).

STATS 

Marshall wracked up 1,012 yards on 44 catches and 9 TDs as a junior at Santa Fe Christian. After sitting out four games at Carlsbad for transfer rules he picked up 284 yards and 5 TDs on 23 catches and also threw a TD pass.

FAKE 40 TIME

247 claims a 4.69 in Zybec timing, which I am just going to assume means it comes from the Planet Zybec. That gets three FAKES out of five since exoplanets are a real thing. They also reported a 4.49 shuttle and 31-inch vertical. Marshall himself claims a 4.79 and 4.41 shuttle on his Hudl page.

VIDEO

This is from his first four games at Carlsbad:

Mirror Jake Butt v Northwestern:

He made Rivals' top plays of the week in September for this TD catch:

…and flashed the M.

ETC 

Enrolling early. 4.3 GPA. Plans to study law.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Michigan likes its athletes at tight end. I know I said this about Colston Loveland last year but you gotta believe me it's rare that these guys pop immediately. Marshall has the athleticism but not the contested ball skills that Loveland showed (against much weaker competition yes, but those were also triple-teams). "Not Colston Loveland" is fine.

So: expect a few years of blocking class and weight training, and then see what you've got. Marshall's not listed more that 6'4" anywhere so what they've probably got is a guy they're planning for Erick All's role that Max Bredeson was playing this season. He'll be much more All than Bredeson (who was a high school QB) as a receiver—there doesn't seem to be much fullback in his makeup. Since this program spits out tight ends like nobody's business, I'm gonna have to predict Marshall comes out the other end an effective kickout specialist with a solid role in the passing game, not a #1 mismatch receiver. All was just-a-receiver out of high school too, remember. Sean McKeon is another comp.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

With two tight ends already they've been done at the position unless top-15 athlete Nyckoles Harbor wants in.

THE CLASS AS IT STANDS

OFFENSE
Pos	Player	State	Stars	In a nutshell
RB	Cole Cabana	MI	4.3	Speedy receiver back
RB	Benjamin Hall	GA	3.5	Battering ram with vision
SL	Semaj Morgan	MI	3.8	Homegrown Gattis-ian slot
WR	Fredrick Moore	MO	3.7	Crafty, Roundtree 2.0
WR	Kendrick Bell	MO	3.5	Ronnie's little brother
TE	Deakon Tonielli	IL	3.9	Catchy bouncy bballer
TE	Zack Marshall	CA	3.7	1,000-yard receiver in Cali league
OG	Amir Herring	MI	4.0	West Bloomfield's interior mauler
OG	Nathan Efobi	GA	3.8	Big teddy bear
OT	Evan Link	DC	4.1	Agile OT with a Wisconsin offer
OT	LaDarius Henderson	TX	3.7
DEFENSE
Pos	Player	State	Stars	In a nutshell
DT	Brooks Bahr	IL	3.7	Lengthy grow-a-3-tech
SDE	Enow Etta	TX	4.4	Poor man's Rashan Gary
WDE	Aymeric Koumba	FRA	3.7	Long/French athletic freak
OLB	Jason Hewlett	OH	3.8	Hybrid S/OLB/DE
MLB	Semaj Bridgeman	PA	4.1	Formerly elite, WLBish
MLB	Breeon Ishmail	OH	3.5	LB/Edge tweener
CB	Cameron Calhoun	OH	3.9	Gritty not-fast playmaker
PK	Adam Samaha	MI	3.2	Local #1 kicker