When people talk about the Michigan football backfield, they are usually talking about Donovan Edwards. This will be his first year as the starting running back for the Wolverines, but he is one of the faces of college football right now. He had a huge game in the national championship last year, and he is also on the cover of EA Sports College Football 2025. Because of that, Kalel Mullings is flying under the radar a bit.
Kalel Mullings started off his Michigan football career as a linebacker, but he ended up converting to running back. The 2022 season was his first year getting touches in the backfield, but his carries increased in 2o23. He ended up having a solid year last season as he ran the ball 36 times for 222 yards and one touchdown. He averaged over six yards per carry.
This season, Mullings is expected to be behind Donovan Edwards on the totem pole, but a lot of people outside of Ann Arbor don't realize how talented he is. He could surprise a lot of people this year.
Mullings recently appeared on the In The Trenches podcast, and he revealed what he has been focusing on this offseason.
“Definitely, it's been that last third of my runs,” Mullings said. “Being able to break the long ones, being mobile, agile. That's been my biggest area of focus, while still maintaining my size. The biggest thing that kind of separates me. For me this off season, it's been finding that balance of being a big, powerful back, but at the same time, being able to take it, take it the distance and get those house calls.”
RB coach Tony Alford discusses his backs
This offseason, the Michigan football team snagged Tony Alford away from Ohio State to be their running backs coach. He also appeared on the podcast, and he noted that the Wolverines' RBs are in a bit of an unfamiliar spot.
“We're going to be depending on a lot of guys that really haven't been in those roles before, but also that is college football as we know it,” Alford said. “And so I'm really anxious. Anxious to coach them, anxious to watch them play. The one thing I will say is they are eager to learn and they're hungry. They're hungry to learn and get better and improve. And thus far, I've loved the work ethic that they've shown and the work that they're putting in.”
Donovan Edwards and Kalel Mullings will lead the way this year for Michigan. Blake Corum is off to the NFL, and now others will have to pick up the slack.
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