Michigan tight end Zack Marshall looks like a built-in answer after a breakout role in 2025

Michigan is heading into 2026 with a key question answered in part by one of its own. Tight end Zack Marshall, a junior who became more reliable as the 2025 season progressed, is emerging as a candidate to lead the next wave of Michigan’s tight end rotation after major turnover at the position.

The immediate backdrop is that Michigan lost Colston Loveland to the NFL, and the team also had to adjust its personnel during 2025 with sophomore Hogan Hansen dealing with injury for much of the year. With fewer stable options available, Michigan leaned on different pieces, and Marshall’s growth became one of those solutions.

According to Yahoo Sports, Marshall’s role increased gradually through 2025 as Michigan searched for dependable pass-catching production in its tight end group. The premise of the outlook is straightforward: when a tight end shows competence across multiple packages, coaches tend to keep expanding the opportunities. In Marshall’s case, the reported takeaway is that he went from an emerging option to a more consistent one.

Marshall’s path at Michigan has also been framed as deliberate, not sudden. The reporting characterizes him as someone who built trust over time rather than arriving as an immediate centerpiece. That matters because tight ends in modern offenses are asked to do more than one thing, from working seams and intermediate routes to executing as inline blockers. A player who earns a bigger share of targets late in the season is often doing so because he can handle assignments more cleanly.

Looking ahead to 2026, the central expectation outlined by Yahoo Sports is that Marshall could be in position to start for the first time in his career. That is a significant step, since starting at tight end affects everything from weekly game-plan design to how often defenses have to account for him in the passing game. If he becomes a primary, it also changes what Michigan can ask of the rest of the group, including how often other personnel are used as specialists.

The broader tight end storyline for Michigan is about continuity after an offseason reset. With Loveland gone, Michigan must replace both production and the specific match-up problems he created. The challenge for Marshall is to scale from “reliable option” to “every-week focal point,” something that typically requires strong execution at every snap, not just in the early downs or in isolated matchups.

Still, the move from increased role to starting job is rarely automatic. Even if a player is ready in terms of development, starting responsibilities usually come down to the total tight end room, including how quickly other players absorb the system and whether the coaching staff wants more personnel flexibility. For Michigan, the tight end room has been shaped by who is available, and 2026 will be about turning that availability into a defined identity.

What to watch next is how Michigan staffs the position in camp and the types of route concepts it leans on early in the season. If Marshall is truly treated as a starting tight end, the play-calling will reflect that through more frequent targets, more involvement across packages, and a tighter integration into the offense’s intermediate passing structure. The other storyline will be whether Michigan can maintain the offense’s passing efficiency after a year of adjustment caused by turnover and injuries at the position.