Colston Loveland was sent out wide one play. Then he flipped to the opposite side the next. He later posted up in the slot, moving well off the line of scrimmage in one formation before setting his feet almost parallel to the ball in another. On multiple occasions, the junior tight end was sent across the field on pre-snap motions. And yes, he caught a pair of short passes, picking up a total of 14 yards.

All of this happened within a seven-minute span at the beginning of the second quarter during Michigan football’s spring game last month, when in a brief, but intriguing cameo Loveland showed why he will be the key figure in a reconstituted offense that may need to rely on him and his position group as a principal source of passing production.

“I love throwing to the tight ends,” offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell said afterward. “It’s my job to get the ball to the best players on the team, and right now, Colston Loveland is one of those guys.”

Since he set foot on campus two years ago, Loveland has been viewed as one of the program’s most valued members. Former coach Jim Harbaugh raved about his potential, calling the former four-star prospect from small-town Idaho a “freak athlete.”

“He doesn’t know how good he can be,” Harbaugh said in September. “He doesn’t know how good he is.”

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There were flashes that suggested he had the makings of a star, of course. His breakout performances against Ohio State and Purdue toward the end of his 2022 season, when the freshman made a pair of eye-popping touchdown catches, tantalized fans. His steady statistical output last fall, when he compiled the second-most receiving yards on the Wolverines, demonstrated his dependability. But Michigan never needed Loveland to be its catalyst during his first two years in Ann Arbor.

That was especially true last fall, when quarterback J.J. McCarthy, running back Blake Corum, receiver Roman Wilson and an experienced offensive line powered the Wolverines during their undefeated run to a national championship. The abundance of talent across the board helps explain why Loveland, to this point, has never surpassed 90 receiving yards or five catches in a game with the Wolverines. But so much has changed since U-M hoisted the College Football Playoff trophy in January. A massive exodus spearheaded by McCarthy, Corum and Wilson left Loveland as the only returning offensive starter.

“You can look out there and see it’s different,” he observed in March.

The blocking front has been completely overhauled. There is no seasoned quarterback among the five competing to be McCarthy’s successor. The receiving corps is bereft of proven playmakers. But there is still Loveland and 6-foot-6, 250-pound tight end Marlin Klein, whose blend of size and athleticism has made him one of the Wolverines’ most fascinating players. In the spring game, Klein became one of Alex Orji’s preferred options, snagging three of his 13 completions. Like Loveland, Klein could emerge as one of Michigan’s key cogs because of his versatility. He has the ability to provide support for a rebuilt offensive line and simultaneously serve as a bigger target than Semaj Morgan, Tyler Morris and Fredrick Moore — Michigan’s top three returning wideouts, whose average height is slightly under 6 feet.

Klein’s position coach, Steve Casula, told reporters he viewed him as a starter; Campbell said he expected the German-born player to develop into a significant contributor.

“Marlin Klein is going to be one of those guys,” Campbell said.

There is reason to believe Campbell may speak it into existence. After all, he has a track record of featuring players like Loveland and Klein. In Campbell's lone season calling plays in the Football Bowl Subdivision, 2021 for Old Dominion, tight end Zack Kuntz led the Monarchs with 73 catches.

As Klein said, “Coach Campbell has been doing a great job, especially during spring, utilizing us and just being able to give us the ball.”

That’s especially true for the 6-foot-5, 245-pound Loveland, whose production last year exceeded the combined output of Morgan, Morris and Moore. Campbell sees Loveland as a major asset, which is why he already started the process of maneuvering him like a powerful chess piece in the spring game. As he rationalized, “We’ve got to move him around because teams are going to game plan how to stop him.”

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Last season, Loveland was deployed almost everywhere — in the slot, out wide, along the line and even in the backfield. Still, he was targeted a mere four times per game. Big Ten Network analyst Jake Butt, the former Michigan tight end who was on the call for Fox's telecast of the spring game, envisions that number ballooning this fall.

“I don’t think anything will really change about their offense from a scheme and playbook standpoint,” he told the Free Press. “But you might see more targets go to that position group, and I’m of the belief Colston Loveland is their best offensive weapon in the pass game. He’s the most reliable. In the biggest moments, he shows up. I think he’s a first-round pick next year. So, if I was them, I would treat him — I don’t want this to be taken out of context — as if he’s your Marvin Harrison Jr.”

Harrison, the former Ohio State star who went fourth overall in April's NFL draft, led the Big Ten in receiving yards last year as a wideout.

Within an Ohio State offense that prioritized its outside skill players, Harrison was the primary option. Butt projects Loveland, by serving as a counterweight to the team’s featured ground attack, making a similar impact within the framework of a rugged Michigan scheme that relies on heavier personnel packages.

“That’s the beauty of this,” Butt said. “They’re going to have some options to build off what they’re trying to do.”

The question is whether Michigan can score at a high rate if Loveland is the team’s most productive pass-catcher. In 2023, only four of the 68 Power Five programs — Auburn, Georgia, Iowa and Kansas State — had a tight end lead their roster in receiving yards. While the Bulldogs and Wildcats ranked in the FBS' top 30 in offensive points per drive, the Tigers and Hawkeyes were among the least efficient teams in the same category. The disparate results suggest there is no clear answer about whether Michigan can thrive if Loveland becomes the centerpiece in the passing game.

But Campbell seems determined to utilize him as much as possible. Then again, he may have no other choice while designing an offense that has few other sure bets.

“He’s the best tight end in the country,” Campbell said. “We will be creative in making sure he gets open."

Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him @RainerSabin.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Michigan football's lone returning offensive starter could be key