More Good Comments on Braden

Submitted by detrocks on

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.

wlubd

June 29th, 2011 at 12:24 PM ^

Not to mention that Trieu's evaluations from camp are that he feels Braden is actually more athletic then he thought previously WITH the extra 30-40 pounds. 320's a little big for a high school kid but it sounds as if there isn't very much bad weight there.

animals77

June 29th, 2011 at 12:40 PM ^

If the original weight is based on last June, then it is understandable.  Gaining that amount of weight with muscle could happen within 12 months.  If he dedicated himself to getting bigger and putting on weight, I commend him, but does that make him a OG now instead of an OT?  He has the bigger frame then Stacey and could be a better blocker against the larger DT then the DE. 

WolvinLA2

June 29th, 2011 at 12:59 PM ^

I don't think it makes him an OG, since he's also 6'7" which is a little tall for a guard.  Stacey is only 280 right now, but he'll be over 300lbs by the time he's done with a RS year.  Actually, who knows how big Stacey is right now since an hour ago I thought Braden was 285.  I would imagine Stacey is over 290 by the time he gets to campus and over 300 by the time his RS year is finished.

Based on who we have committed and who we expect, I think Stacey, Kalis and Bars are the OGs and Diamond, Magnuson and Braden are the OTs.  Kalis, Bars are guards who can play tackle if necessary. 

Holy God, if we can't put together a dynamite offensive line out of those guys, we're screwed.

cigol

June 29th, 2011 at 2:20 PM ^

Either way, that's completely doable for a 16-17 year old male.  Sometimes your body just decides to kick it up a gear.  Mix that with some weight lifting and one year can show somebody completely different.

2010 Wisconsin-like manball, coupled with a Denard Robinson 4.3 speed bootleg, or a Shane Morris cannon, and we're going to be watching some pretty potent offenses over the next few years.  Borges offenses dropped 40 per game at UCLA with less talent than he's going to have here.  It should be fun to watch.

D.C. Dave

June 29th, 2011 at 12:00 PM ^

... if you look at photos of Braden from last season until now, he definitely has put on substantial muscle. He looks great.

I really like Braden and Caleb Stacey, another guy with a nasty approach to the game who has been hitting the workouts hard since committing.

One of the common threads in the Hoke recruiting evaluation is that he looks for guys who are highly self-motivated and do the work because they want to, not because they're supposed to. Particularly with high school linemen, that's an attribute that ends up meaning a lot as they transition to college.

These two guys committed early and got the express rolling, and they clearly are not resting now that they've got a scholarship. They're working hard, trying to get better, reaching out to other members of the class. Great stuff.

It's already a strong offensive line class and it can move to superior with a few more key commitments.

3rdGenerationBlue

June 29th, 2011 at 1:04 PM ^

Michigan had starting bookend tackles named Bubba Paris and Ed Muransky. They were considered huge at the time - IIRC around 6'7" & 280 lbs. Just a generation later high school kids are making those guys seem undersized.....wow.

BigTenBurrito

June 29th, 2011 at 3:03 PM ^

I have a feeling that Braden could end up being the guy in this class that we look back on and just smile.

 

Really expecting big, Big, BIG things out of him

gsquared2123

June 30th, 2011 at 2:19 AM ^

At 6'7 he would probably hold that weight well.  I think the scale at camp is better than the calibrated eyeball.  However, that does seem to indicate that he isn't overloaded with excess fat...good weight.