Ben Bredeson (image via Rivals)
Name: Ben Bredeson
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 293 lbs.
High school: Hartland (WI) Arrowhead
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Bredeson was a senior in high school (LINK). He was chosen for the Under Armour All-American Game.
Final TTB Rating: 88
Bredeson eventually surprised a lot of people. Most big-time offensive linemen in the state of Wisconsin go to Wisconsin because, well, the Badgers have done an excellent job of producing hogs over the years. It wouldn’t be a bad choice at all. But he ended up looking more at Michigan and Notre Dame, eventually choosing the Wolverines in June of 2015. By the end of his senior year, he was a USA Today All-American, an Under Armour All-American, and a Maxpreps First Team All-American. He also won Gatorade Player of the Year in Wiconsin.
Michigan has had a three-year run of playing a true freshman offensive lineman. Last year it was Grant Newsome, before that it was Mason Cole, and in 2013 it was Kyle Bosch. Bredeson seems the most likely to carry on that tradition. The coaching staff said they wanted him to start off his career at offensive guard. He won’t pass Ben Braden or Kyle Kalis to start this year, but he could press for playing time behind them. The next guard has been David Dawson, but Dawson has struggled and had an upper body injury this spring that caused him to miss some time. Jim Harbaugh likes to use an extra lineman or two in certain personnel packages, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Bredeson is one of those guys this season. He’s the most polished incoming lineman, and the staff could be grooming him for a starting job in 2017 when there will be at least three new starters on the line.
Prediction: Backup offensive guard
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I think pretty highly of Bredeson. His highlight tape looks like he’s pushing children over. I think he’ll be on the 2 deep for the offensive line. The end of the 2 deep, but still makes it. The only linemen I feel comfortable rating higher are Newsome, Cole, Kalis, Braden, Magnuson. Dawson and Owenu could be better. Verdict is out on the others. For that reason I aggressively penciled him in around 40.
Next year’s line (excluding freshmen) could be scary. 9-10 bodies that aren’t true freshmen. Depth:
Cole (Sr.)*
Newsome (Jr.)**
Dawson (Rs Sr.)**
Kugler (Rs. Sr.)**
Runyan (Rs. So.)
Bredeson (So.)**
Ulizio (Rs. So.)
Onwenu (Rs. Fr.)**
Spanelis (Rs. Fr.)
Bushell-Beatty (Rs. Jr.)
*Guessing he declares for the draft.
**Wild guess as to who starts.
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Not sure I see the “scary” in there. We may have more bodies than this year, but Cole is the only proven starting quality player in that list. He’s a quality player, but not anywhere near good enough for early departure to the NFL.
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Having only 1 proven player is scary. Hopefully it looks a lot better than that by the end of the season.
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More unknown bodies.
If Cole lights it up at center this year and believes he’ll be taken in the first 3 rounds of the draft, he might leave.
Having to replace 3-4 starters on the OL is scary. When you only have 4-5 juniors or seniors on the team, and only 1-2 has seen meaningful playing time, that’s scary. Range are based on Cole staying or leaving.
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I agree that if he gets a high draft grade, he might leave. I just have a hard time believing Cole will be a top-level center in year one of playing the position. It happens sometimes (like with Barrett Jones), but I’m expecting Cole to be here four years.
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Toughest player to rank on the entire team IMO. He could red-shirt and be totally irrelevant (rank somewhere in the 70s) or he could start on a critical unit for the O to be successful (rank somewhere in the teens). He could also be a 6th OLmen who we regret not red-shirting Who knows?
It’s one of the more interesting personnel/roster situations to watch heading into the fall. If I had to guess I would agree that he is likely to play. Particularly since odds are that there will be an OL injury at some point and depth there is so uncertain.
I do hope that Bredeson gets to red-shirt while Dawson and other older players step up. Have to find at least 3 new starters within the next 13 months.
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