More Good Comments on Braden
I know that Ben Braden has received some praise for his performance this summer and he gets some more from Trieu in a free article on Scout that talks about how kids from Michigan did during the camp season http://recruiting.scout.com/2/1083231.html
Regarding Braden, he writes:
When Braden committed to Michigan earlier in the year, he was still somewhat of an unknown. He had a good camp in Ann Arbor last year, and we had seen him twice in the fall, and he had earned offers from Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Syracuse. So we knew he was good, but he has proven to be even better. He dedicated himself in the weight room this offseason, adding good weight and getting up to 319-lbs. Even at that size, he was moving well enough to be considered a left tackle prospect. He's strong, technique is improving and he's more athletic than previously thought. He has a chance to move into the top 7-8 in-state and the four-star range when rankings are updated.
While the commitment of Magnuson and thoughts of Kalis, Diamond, Peat, Banner and Garnett have gotten a lot of attention, Braden is looking like an initially under-the-radar kid that could end up being a great prospect.
Rockford Woo party!
319 pounds? That ought to buy some more throwing time in the pocket.
Well. If he gets that fourth star, I will commend Hoke on the pickup. If he doesn't get that star, what the hell were we doing recruiting him anyway? He'd just in the way of another four star recruit. Unacceptable.
When I read the first line of your post, I was ready to launch into a whole "rankings don't matter, coaches know best, I hate you and your kind" response. Then I realized that you were being sarcastic (well done) and laughed.
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319 lbs is very big for a kid listed at 6-6. I hope he can still move well as this article states
Braden is listed at 6'7" by at least one of the services, so him growing an inch might be part of how he put on good weight. And if you're going to believe the part about him being 319lbs, we might as well believe the part about him being able to move well.
And even if he can't move all that well at 319, he's got a couple years to get that all taken care of before he'll see the field. He can spend his RS year doing more of what Chris Bryant will be doing instead of what Taylor Lewan was doing.
I trust Trieu's analysis and Hoke's judgment but just for the record...
319 = objective
"still moves well" = subjective
I'm likely to believe a scale over any scout... Science be damned!
Dang, he did put on some weight. Of course it depends if his Scout profile (listed as 280 lbs.) and this article (at 319 lbs.) are accurate.
And it's apparently good weight. I sincerely hope this is accurate, because that's an incredible improvement from the 'hello' post.
This article is from Scout. He's 319, Scout just hasn't updated their profile for him yet.
I know, I am just saying that if both are accurate numbers (at the time of recording them), that is a decent amount of weight gain right there.
Wow 319-thats a 35 pound difference from what is reported on Rivals and other sites...Now that he is moving into 4 star range I will like him even more....
s/
Now I'm waiting to hear that Caleb Stacey gained 20 pounds of muscle, has been dominating the summer camps and will soon be a 4*. It's obvious we only recruit 4* lineman, so the rating services need to catch up!
All you guys who are pretending you don't care about the fourth star are lying.
No sugarcoat.
I completely agree. Even without the overwhelming statistics supporting the correlation between star rankings and collegiate/NFL success, you know that we all sort our commitment list by "stars" on rivals/scout.
Not pretending...I was serious about the recruiting services being worse at evaluating OL talent then our current staff.
I'll take more stars all day long.
Manball.
Manball, indeed. Not only are these linemen good, but they're big.
IMO, an O-lineman with an offer from Wisconsin is a good sign. They know their linemen up there. That being said, I'm very excited about this OL class, especially with Kalis and Diamond (probably/maybe?) in the fold. One of the best we've had in a while.
I think Michigan knows linemen more...
How cool would it be for some of our 3-stars to earn higher rankings *after* providing verbal commits to UM. I thought Rivals has an automated algorithm that causes UM recruits to universally stagnate after declaring their intentions to play in Ann Arbor.
In addition to pooping gold nuggets for the benefit of our athletic department budget, Hoke has also successfully hacked into Rivals' ranking system. Well done, coach.
Literally every fanbase thinks that their recruits stagnate in the rankings once they've signed, and that prospects signed to other schools get an automatic boost.
It's conformation bias at its finest.
Tom Beaver was comparing him to Jake Long. That might be a bit of an exaggeration. But the point is he likes him a lot.
Take that as you'd like.
Just as CBs will always be compared to Woodson, OL will be compared to Jake Long. That is now the way of the world.
tom beaver should stick to relaying information, not evaluating talent. he's not good at the latter.
Who is Tom Beaver?
He throws Jake Long comparisons around very loosely.
He even said Drew Dileo was the "Jake Long" of slot receivers.
Do we trust him more? He was with Trieu when they were evaluating Braden. He called him a "stone cold beast", said he's put on good weight, that it's muscle. Also mentioned the footwork and how he moves, said he can definitely be a left tackle.
Do we trust him [Sam Webb] more?
Depends on whether or not the prospect is from Flint.
(Note: Sam, on the off chance you read this, I love you man but you ARE an unabashed Flint homer.)
This years OL class has a chance to U of M's best EVER!
pound linemen, with a 250 lb FB behind him and a 225 lb RB behind him TIME TO POUND THE ROCK!
McColgan's only 231. GET THE BOY A FUCKING SANDWICH.
Pizza every night and chocolate milk
You forgot the raw eggs and wild animals
HOKEDIET
ROCKS AND FIRE
Someone's excited.
I know this article came from a scouting expert from the midwest, but can anyone confirm that Braden is truly 319 lbs? Scout has him at 280 lbs, Rivals has him at 285 lbs, 247 has him at 295 lbs and ESPN has him at 285 lbs. How much "good" weight can someone garner adding around 35 lbs when that person is around 280 lbs to begin with?
He weighed in at 319 at Michigan's camp. I'm not sure what other kind of verification you want
It was a simple question. I just wanted verification on his weight by more than one source. I am guessing that the writer of this scout article got his weight from Michigan's camp. Although I am somewhat convinced, I will be 100% convinced if many scouting experts had him at or around that 319 lbs instead of just one.
Thanks, I was wondering how reliable this report was too. I think we all know that athletes, especially fb and bb players, have a tendency to exaggerate their dimensions. If this info came from a Michigan camp, thats good enough for me.
Anyway wow, 6-6 319 and he's not even out of high school? Sheesh.
Can we borrow the scale from the "Biggest Loser" and broadcast a weigh in?
No matter what he currently weighs, this kid sounds really promising.
Why would you choose not to believe the article specifically on Braden while at the same time assuming the generic profile numbers are accurate?
A couple reasons for the discrepancy:
1) 16ish year old boys grow, sometimes a lot. It's not crazy for a kid his age to put on a lot of weight as his body changes. As I said above, it's also been reported he's grown an inch, this can help.
2) These sites are often notorious for putting a weight down for a kid when the make his profile (often before or during his junior year season) and then not updating it often or at all. Braden's weight could be over a year old on a lot of these sites, meaning they're from when he was 15 or 16.
I am more so questioning the "good" weight the article is referencing to. 30 or so lbs in a matter of a few months? I hope I am wrong, and there is a good chance I am wrong because I have not seen him in person from what he was back last fall until now, but this is what I think.
The point I was making is that it's not a matter of a few months. That weight gain is likely over the course of a full year or so. I think most of the services' weight numbers are from his junior season or before, making them about 12 months old.
It's possible for a kid his age to put on that kind of good weight over the course of a full year, considering he also grew an inch or so taller as well.
So, the weight on the scout, rivals, etc pages were prior to his junior season and not after? I can understand nearly 12 months of weight change. That is accurate enough time to gain muscle by adding weight.
Didn't mean to come off as rude. But yes, what WolvinLA2 is saying. Scout's first article on Braden is from June of 2010. That's likely when his height/weight was first put up on the site. 40 pounds over a year isn't something I'm concerned about.