In Depth Breakdown of Cole Carson
As a recruit OL commit Cole Carson boasts a solid offer list. In comparison to the coaching regime’s in between having Coach Sam Pittman on campus, Cole has one of the better lists of kids to commit however it’s not currently as impressive as the signees last year. Arkansas was also early on the boat as his first P5 offer and forth overall only behind UTSA, Dartmouth, and ULM. He does boasts other P5 offers from Ole Miss, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Baylor, Mississippi State, Arizona, Iowa State, Texas Tech, TCU, Duke, Utah, and Colorado. 13 P5 offers in total without receiving another would be 4th on the team when he reported only behind Marcus Henderson (22), Ray Curry Jr. (20), and Jalen St. John (16). Which would mean the most sought-after players in that room are all Brad Davis/Sam Pittman guys.
I’ll admit he might be the hardest eval/breakdown I’ve done and a player that I just really, really like. His impact when he reports has a chance to be solid in year two and maybe even year one. He’s got a nice natural bend and for 6’5”-6’6” actually plays with really good pad level which is a rarity in most high school offensive linemen (even the great ones). That indicates flexibility in his knees, hips, and ankles and he should be able to add to his frame once he gets on campus. He brings a lot of pop in his hands, meaning he strikes with his hands vs his shoulder’s or forearms and gets movement, which is great! He seems to redirect well and does track to the second level on film. His bend and physicality could allow him to fit in as a tackle or guard and probably either side. One of my favorite things about him is how intelligent the kid really is. Drawing scholarship offers from Dartmouth, Penn, Vanderbilt, and Duke are just as impressive as any other in that regard. That translates on the football field to understanding schemes, defensive fronts, how coverage rotations effect possible pressures, and overall player and team tendencies. The issue I expect out of him early is pass protection, specifically being on an island in one on one pass pro vs SEC DE’s. Right now, he hasn’t had that and without camps this spring and summer and his high school seeming to be much more run oriented, he wouldn’t get that experience. How long does it take for him to be able to hold Mataio Soli and Zach Williams for 3 seconds 35 times? That’s the big question for me. He also has some technical issues to fix, mainly false stepping when base blocking and a slight lean when down blocking on 3 techs. He does have pretty clean footwork down blocking on 2i’s and 2’s but with 3’s it gets a tad sloppy.
As a high school player, he is a dominant T in the run game. His highlights legit only are him getting pancakes in the run game. He plays with great pad level and hand placement and has a bit of nasty to him. He’s comfortable in space as he tracks to the second level under control and strikes with loaded hips and hands repeatedly so there’s reason to believe he could be successful as a tackle because of the space they normally operate with in pass protection. He’s either got outstanding coaching that he’s been receptive to or he studies a ton of film, most likely a combination of both, because he seems to understand fronts and movement very well. Understandably the tape I’ve seen on him is in highlights, he still is rarely out of position from a target point perspective. For example, some inside zone schemes will put you on a track to put your playside eye on a defenders weakside eye to create a slight horizontal push frontside and create a natural cutback lane for a running back (usually on the weakside of the second double team). He doesn’t miss on that small of a detail once from where he’s aiming on 3:30 minutes of film. It does concern me that there isn’t pass pro film on him out there. He’s plenty athletic though as the few clips out there of him as a DT show and even there, he seems to be very intelligent and aware of his responsibilities instead of stat chasing.
My player comp (for him maxing out his potential, best he could be, etc.) is a tad to be determined. It’s tough to know what all he’s capable of when I’ve only seen him do one part of offensive line play. The player his frame, noted intelligence, physicality, bend, position versatility all really remind me of is TCU signee Garrett Hayes (which would have been SO interesting to see him here along with Cole and Ricky Stromberg who also shares a lot of those traits). He might be even more flexible that Garrett.
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