Grant Newsome (image via Detroit News)
Hi Thunder,
Could you address the offensive line situation and how likely you think it is to take a step forward next year? I find it hard to be confident unless one of the redshirts turns out to be a special player or Grant Newsome comes back 100%.
Thanks to Julian for the mailbag question.
My response is after the jump.
Patrick Surtain (image via Palm Beach Post)
A yearly tradition here at TTB is to look at 2018 prospects with famous fathers. If you’re interested in past editions, you can click on this (LINK). If you’re only interested in the here and now, below you will find 14 prospects in the 2018 class with famous dads.
Mayan Ahanotu – DE – Tampa (FL) Berkely Prep: Ahonatu is a 6’3″, 246 lb. prospect who signed with Minnesota in December; he also had offers from Arizona, Cal, Maryland, Oklahoma, UCF, and USF, among others. He’s a 3-star, the #51 strongside end, and #1017 overall. Mayan is the son of Chidi Ahonatu, who played at Cal and was a 6th round pick (#145 overall) of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in in 1993. He posted 436 tackles and 46.5 sacks from 1993-2004 with the Bucs, Rams, Bills, 49ers, and Dolphins.
Drake Anderson – RB – Chandler (AZ) Chandler: Anderson is a 5’11”, 180 lb. prospect who’s following in his dad’s footsteps to Northwestern; he also had offers from Illinois, Nevada, and New Mexico State. He’s a 3-star, the #91 running back, and #1446 overall. He was wildly productive as a senior, running 218 times for 2,009 yards and 32 touchdowns, along with 23 catches for 310 yards and 5 more scores. His father, Damien Anderson, was First Team All-Big Ten and a consensus All-American in 2000, when he had an uncharacteristically outstanding year. Prior to that season, he averaged 3.3 and 3.7 yards per carry, and in 2001 he averaged 4.4; but in 2000, he averaged 6.6 yards per rush (311 carries for 2,063 yards and 23 touchdowns). He went undrafted in 2002 and ran 45 times for 142 yards (3.2 yards/carry) over four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals.
Hit the jump for several more well known father-son (and one grandfather-son) combos.
Mason Cole
Thank you very much to Keith for the generous Paypal donation to help with hosting!
HIGH SCHOOL
Cole attended Tarpon Springs (FL) East Lake and was a part of the 2014 class. Originally, it looked like he would bring teammate George Campbell with him in the 2015 class, but Campbell eventually decommitted in favor of Florida State. You can check out the scouting report I put together on Cole prior to his commitment (LINK). I gave him an 87 as a Final TTB Rating (LINK).
COLLEGE
There’s really not much to be said here. Cole started every game at left tackle for his first two years on campus (2014, 2015), and then he moved to center for 2016, when he started every game at center in the wake of Graham Glasgow’s departure. With Patrick Kugler available to play center in 2017, Cole moved back to left tackle and started every game there this past season. Overall, he started 51 games out of 51 possible games throughout his career, with 38 starts at left tackle and 13 at center.
CAREER STATS
N/A
AWARDS
Second Team All-Big Ten (2016, 2017)
SUMMARY
At the risk of being chastised for tooting my own horn, the scouting report linked above was pretty spot-on. I said that Cole had the agility to play left tackle, but he could play tackle, guard, or even center. While he never played guard in college, he spent most of his career at left tackle. He measured in at the Senior Bowl with short arms for a tackle, and his lack of length and bulk gave him some issues with being an effective drive blocker at Michigan. He could latch on to a guy and move his feet, but he couldn’t collapse down a whole side of the defensive line. During his one year at center in 2016, he didn’t have a lot of busted assignments but struggled to get a ton of movement. He was a solid offensive lineman, but it’s not a fluke that he topped out at 2nd team all-conference.
I WILL REMEMBER HIM FOR . . .
. . . doing whatever the team needed from him, and doing it well. You need a starter at left tackle during my true freshman year? Done. You need me to move from tackle all the way to center? Done. You’ve got a center you trust and a void at left tackle? I’m on it.
PROJECTION
The NFL is looking at Cole as an interior lineman, most likely a center. The aforementioned short arms will preclude him from playing tackle, and he’s probably not an ideal drive blocker to play the guard position. When NFL coaches had a chance to slot him in somewhere, they made him play center at the Senior Bowl, even though he hadn’t played the position in a game since 2016. Centers aren’t viewed as being extremely valuable in the NFL Draft, so I think we will probably see Cole drafted somewhere around the 4th round.
West Bloomfield (MI) West Bloomfield LB Lance Dixon
Karsen Barnhart – OT – Paw Paw (MI) Paw Paw: Barnhart is a 6’4″, 282 lb. prospect with offers from Arizona State, Indiana, Michigan, and Michigan State, among others. He’s a 3-star, the #43 offensive tackle, and #361 overall.
Adam Berghorst – DE – Zeeland (MI) East: Berghorst is a 6’7″, 245 lb. prospect with offers from Kentucky, Michigan, and Michigan State, among others. He’s a 247 Sports 3-star, the #40 strongside end, and #550 overall. Right now the Crystal Balls are 86% in favor of Michigan State, but he has visited Michigan three times in the last month.
Spencer Brown – OT – Walled Lake (MI) Western: Brown is a 6’6″, 295 lb. prospect who has been committed to Michigan State since July of 2017. He’s a 4-star, the #39 offensive tackle, and #342 overall.
Hit the jump for several more visitors.
Elle Johnson
If you have any other pictures of good looking women wearing Michigan gear, drop me an e-mail. Go Blue!
