{"id":267872,"date":"2026-03-03T16:30:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T21:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=267872"},"modified":"2026-03-03T16:23:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T21:23:05","slug":"marlin-klein-2026-nfl-draft-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/03\/03\/marlin-klein-2026-nfl-draft-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"Marlin Klein 2026 NFL Draft Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Marlin Klein is another tough and athletic tight end coming out of Michigan. While he may not be threatening to be an early selection in April, he is an unfinished product with potential to be a high-end rotational backup. This article will highlight Marlin Klein and his <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/02\/25\/joshua-josephs-2026-nfl-draft-profile\/\" target=\"_self\">2026 NFL Draft<\/a> Profile.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/02\/11\/2026-nfl-draft-big-board-version-one\/\" target=\"_self\">2026 NFL Draft Big Board (Version One)<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>2026 NFL Draft Profile of Michigan TE Marlin Klein<\/h2>\n<h3>Measurables<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Height: 6\u20196\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Weight: 248 lbs<\/li>\n<li>Arm Length: 32 3\/8\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Hand Size: 9 1\/4\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>NFL Combine Results:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>40-Yard Dash: 4.61 seconds<\/li>\n<li>10-Yard Split: 1.64 seconds<\/li>\n<li>Vertical Jump: 36\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Broad Jump: 9\u20199\u201d<\/li>\n<li>3-Cone Drill: 7.42 seconds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Player Background<\/h3>\n<p>After two years of playing American football in his home country of Germany, Marlin Klein moved to the United States in hopes of pursuing an NFL career. As a <a  href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/player\/marlin-klein-46098636\/high-school-247133\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">three-star recruit<\/a> out of Rabun Gap-Nacoochee High School, Klein was the 31st-ranked tight end in the country and considered the 49th-best player within the state of Georgia. He committed to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?s=Michigan+Wolverines\" target=\"_self\">University of Michigan<\/a> during the 2022 recruiting cycle, despite receiving offers from <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2026\/02\/23\/what-are-the-2026-sec-quarterback-origins-stories\/\" target=\"_self\">Georgia<\/a>, Mississippi, and Arizona State.<\/p>\n<p>Klein didn\u2019t make much of an impact until the 2024 season when he stepped into the starting role. After <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/24\/2025-nfl-draft-scouting-report-colston-loveland-michigan\/\" target=\"_self\">Colston Loveland<\/a> went down with a significant injury, Klein flashed his tools while filling in nicely for the former tenth overall pick. Despite recording just 108 receiving yards in 13 games, he did enough to lock down a starting role and become a team captain in 2025. Bryce Underwood\u2019s inconsistency hurt Klein\u2019s overall production, but he found the end zone for his only career touchdown against New Mexico in the season opener.<\/p>\n<h3>Accolades<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Team Captain (2025)<\/li>\n<li>All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (2025)<\/li>\n<li>Voted Michigan\u2019s Most Improved Player (2024)<\/li>\n<li>Academic All-Big Ten (2023 &#8211; 2025)<\/li>\n<li>CFP National Championship (2023)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Best Tools<\/h3>\n<p>Marlin Klein possesses elite athleticism with the prototypical build of a flex tight end. He has explosive acceleration to help him separate and attack on seam\/vertical routes. After the catch, his long strides allow him to split defenders when working in space. With a big frame, Klein can stay on his feet and pinball off defenders when facing contact. His transition from receiver to runner is incredibly smooth for such a raw prospect.<\/p>\n<p>Klein is the classic Big Ten tight end prospect. He is reliable and known for his toughness in the trenches. His 77.3 pass block grade (<a  href=\"https:\/\/premium.pff.com\/ncaa\/players\/2025\/REGPO\/marlin-klein\/162818\/offense-pass-blocking\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pro Football Focus<\/a>) across 75 pass blocking snaps is incredibly promising for his future as an in-line pass protector at the next level. He has a good understanding of how to gain leverage on bigger defensive linemen with strong enough hands to maintain blocks.<\/p>\n<h3>Tools to Improve<\/h3>\n<p>Marlin Klein has limited starting experience, and his lack of production will scare some teams away. As mentioned, he only has one career touchdown and failed to accumulate over 50 receptions. His lingering lower-body issues in 2025 appeared on tape and probably limited his overall ability. Unfortunately for Klein, when he was allowed to produce, he didn\u2019t light up the box score at the college level.<\/p>\n<p>Klein needs to develop in two important aspects of his game. As a run blocker, he plays with too much forward lean and tends to miss wide with his hands when initiating contact. As a route runner, Klein lacks fluidity and nuance. He will likely be limited to basic designs like seam or crossing routes. If he can work on deceiving defensive backs with a change of tempo throughout his route, NFL offensive coordinators could move him all over the line of scrimmage.<\/p>\n<h3>NFL Projection<\/h3>\n<p>Marlin Klein has the blocking framework to bring value as a late-day two or early-day three selection. If a team can tap into his potential as a receiver, he could be a mainstay on an NFL roster as the second tight end on the depth chart. Klein may have the same projection as <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/04\/23\/aj-barner-2024-nfl-draft-profile\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">AJ Barner,<\/a> a fellow Michigan graduate. Both had limited production in college but impressed with their performances at the NFL Combine. Barner gave the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/seahawks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Seattle Seahawks<\/a> incredible value in the fourth round and was a late riser in the draft process, much like Klein. The potential is there for this prospect to make an impact at the NFL, especially given the fact that he is still hammering out the nuances of football.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marlin Klein will bring value to the later rounds of the NFL Draft in April. Here is his 2026 NFL Draft Profile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5437,"featured_media":267944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33760,1647],"tags":[34212],"class_list":["post-267872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-profiles","category-nfl-draft","tag-marlin-klein"],"modified_by":"Sue Levine","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5437"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267872"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":267942,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267872\/revisions\/267942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}