Mason Cole impressing

Submitted by dnak438 on

Those of you on twitter will have seen this:

Another early enrollee opening eyes at Michigan is OL Mason Cole. Competing for starting LT job. Funk says Cole has great chance to play.

— ESPN Big Ten (@ESPN_BigTen) March 31, 2014

And Brian's response:

can it be basketball season again RT @ESPN_BigTen Another EE opening eyes at UM is OL Mason Cole. Competing for starting LT job.

— mgoblog (@mgoblog) March 31, 2014

Good news, bad news. Competition is good. True freshman starting at LT: generally speaking, not so good. I choose to believe that Cole's emergence is good news and will create competition on the OL. Let's really hope that we don't have a true freshman starting at LT. Even Jake Long took a redshirt.

redhousewolverine

March 31st, 2014 at 10:17 PM ^

Fox tore his acl about halfway(ish) through his senior season. Came in weighing around 340 and still rehabbing his knee. I would imagine that limits your ability to participate in weight lifting and conditioning. He is going to probably need another year before he is ready to play much at all, besides garbage time.

Wolverine 73

March 31st, 2014 at 2:22 PM ^

I recall he was a very highly touted member of that very highly touted OL class, then had knee surgery, I believe, from a HS injury, and was rehabbing.  But have not heard a word about him in a long time.  Anyone know his status, whether he is healthy, in shape, etc. or if he is going to need more time to recover?

Space Coyote

March 31st, 2014 at 2:25 PM ^

Shhhh, settle down, it's ok, everyone breathe. Have someone pet your head. If I've learned anything from my dog it's that petting on the head is relaxing. I've learned a lot of things from my dog. That was an aside.

But remember, it's spring; every EE is impressing and pressing for PT, every young guy is improving and is going to be the best come fall. These are just media quotes, and the media always asked about how "Freshman X is doing?" and then takes a quote and runs with it.

If Cole sees playing time this fall I would be quite shocked. Also, 

Space Coyote

March 31st, 2014 at 2:37 PM ^

But I thought "Also," really kept the suspense going. It's as if I was saying "Everyone calm down. I SAID CALL THE FUCK DOWN!" and then I started shooting a gun in the air. That "Also," just stops mid-sentence.

that's either some

     serioussuspense; or

          some e e cummings

sort of --

                thing

just working on my: offseas-

                on writing

 

eth2

March 31st, 2014 at 5:50 PM ^

I've always felt the "Hold Me" meme belonged to TomVH and another era of the blog. So instead of trying to reuse that, how about this which uses the very same language Space Coyote offered in his advice to all in this very thread.  (someone with more skills could greatly improve).

rob f

April 1st, 2014 at 4:20 AM ^

Fido got up off the floor an' he rolled over

An' he looked me straight in the eye

An' you know what he said?

"Once upon a time

Somebody say to me

(This is a dog talkin' now)

"What is your Conceptual Continuity?

Well, I told him right then

(Fido said)

"It should be easy to see

The crux of the biscuit

Is the Apostrophe(') " 

taistreetsmyhero

March 31st, 2014 at 2:25 PM ^

do you even want to play first year? Isn't the standard protocol of redshirting better for your progression as a player and better for molding you into a possible NFL player?

Space Coyote

March 31st, 2014 at 2:29 PM ^

You better hope they want to play their first year. Now, you don't want a guy throwing a hissy fit because he isn't playing right away, but you certainly don't want someone that isn't going out there working to play on Saturdays, regardless of age or position.

Now, if you're a coach, no, you really never want to see an OL playing right away, because the draw backs aren't necessarily that he's just bad, but it may ruin his confidence going forward. It's like throwing Joey Harrington out there and saying "Hey, good luck kid, sorry we ruined your promising career without even giving you a chance!"

LSAClassOf2000

March 31st, 2014 at 2:50 PM ^

To be fair, of course, he is still third all-time in total offense at Oregon, as I recall, but one major contributing factor might have been being drafted by the Lions at precisely the wrong moment in history - front office chaos, coaching change which put Harrington perhaps in an offense he wasn't going to do well in, not much promise on the OL, scant on skill position players. Then again, there were always a fair number of stories that the problem might have been, well, Joey Harrington. 

Everyone Murders

March 31st, 2014 at 6:14 PM ^

I disagree.  Joey Harrington came in second in the Heisman Trophy voting, and was uniformly regarded as a high draft pick.  Maybe not as high as Ford/Millen took him, but really high.

And the O-Line they put Joey behind was frequently porous.  So I think it's fair to say that Harrington had a promising career, until he was drafted by the Lions.

m83econ

March 31st, 2014 at 8:49 PM ^

Besides being terribly inaccurate (please check out his completion percentage at Oregon and with the Lions), Harrington failed because he couldn't read defenses. After giving Harrington the rookie blitz treatment, teams figured out dropping back in coverage was far more effective against Joey.  Bad decisions man!

taistreetsmyhero

March 31st, 2014 at 2:41 PM ^

an 18 year-old may be young, but with all the information available to kids these days in terms of hyper-involved parents, recruiting camps, etc. etc. etc. you'd have to think that they are very cognisant of the path they should be taking to get the most out of their playing experience. I don't think it is that hard to imagine a kid who busts his ass in practice but also has the mental fortitude to know that playing a position as a true freshman might not put him in the best position to succeed down the line. I don't think that requires profound levels of personal insight and restraint.

MaximusBlue

March 31st, 2014 at 2:28 PM ^

If true that this is great for Cole. Not so great as far as confidence in our o lineman who have been here the last 2-3 years. Don't know what to believe coming from Michigan football practice reports there days after the last few seasons. I just wanna see results.

getsome

April 1st, 2014 at 12:43 PM ^

didnt hoke say he really loved last years team and was pleased with their physical play and competition and effort, etc??  i also recall OL and teammates praising frank clark in offseason as likely all american candidate.  thats what theyre supposed to do.  i know at bc we had to meet with media relations people every so often to discuss dos and donts and expectations and i didnt play at the fort...guessing if its not overly positive the coaches do not want it out there.  very rare for coach or teammate to tell the media so and so is really struggling.  id question most news prior to opening weekend

Leaders And Best

March 31st, 2014 at 2:34 PM ^

PSU probably just lost 5th yr Sr OL Miles Dieffenbach to a knee injury. RS Jr Donovan Smith is the only OL left with any starting experience.

Yeah, still doesn't make me feel any better.

Shakey Jake

March 31st, 2014 at 2:39 PM ^

come in and plug a hole on the OL and play like he's a college senior. When was the last time we've seen that?