Trent Cole?

[Whur CHad At?]

from nfl.com

ANALYSIS

Cole is a fine athlete who lacks bulk and size to play as a down lineman at the pro level. He added over 15 pounds to his frame during the 2004 offseason and the increased strength was evident in his play. Still, he gets engulfed by the bigger offensive tackles when working in-line and is best when being allowed to roam the field or coming off the edge through a clear lane. He can run down plays from the backside and shows good hand usage on the perimeter to gain separation and make the play. He lacks the ideal strength needed to take on and shed working inside and is slow to disengage and make the play at the point of attack.

He is more effective working in space, where Cole has the lateral agility to pursue and shows the burst and ability to change direction and wrap as a tackler. Cole is a decent drag-down tackler with the ability to drop back in the short zone. He is active with his hands in attempts to reroute the tight ends and backs. He has the ability to turn and run working down the line. He is soft while engaging the bigger blockers when operating in trash, as he knows his opponent will stonewall him.

As an edge rusher, he has that quick burst off the ball to accelerate and close on the quarterback. He takes good angles in pursuit and shows urgency getting to the ball. However, Cole is going to be a work in progress as a pass defender, as the Bearcats did not use him much in pass coverage. He lacks a good feel for the pass, and while he has the hip snap to gain acceleration out of his backpedal, he lacks experience in man coverage. At the line of scrimmage, he does a very good job of timing his leaps to get a fair share of pass deflections.

Cole is not stout against the inside run, as his lack of size sees him get washed out too much. He gets better leverage coming off the corner and shows the lateral agility to string plays out. He does show good explosion coming off the snap, and once he gains penetration into the backfield, he can be a disruptive force (48 tackles behind the line of scrimmage). Cole does possess an explosive first step and flashes the ability to disrupt running plays in the backfield. However, he needs to play with better control, as his momentum sometimes takes him too far up field, causing a creating of running lanes.

The best way to get value out of Cole against the run is to use him in a one-gap system in which he can be very effective while slipping blocks. For now, he is a situational player that is better suited for a 3-4 defense, where he can line up as either an edge rusher or weakside linebacker.

While his speed is good for a down lineman, he will need to show better acceleration and foot quickness to pursue the ball off the line of scrimmage if he is to shift to linebacker. Considering the lack of quality linebackers in this draft and that several teams are now incorporating the 3-4 defensive alignment, later in the draft this could be a decent value pick.

INJURY REPORT

2003 -- Bothered by a slight knee sprain in the final three games of the season.

2004 -- Left the Ohio State game in the third quarter with a knee sprain, but returned to action in the fourth quarter (9/04).

AGILITY

4.74 in the 40-yard dash (wind-aided) … 4.86 in the 40-yard dash … 360-pound bench press … 520-pound squat … 300-pound power clean … 35½-inch vertical jump … 10-foor-2 broad jump … 32 7/8-inch arm length … 9 3/8-inch hands … Right-handed.

This guy is a solid OLB, who I feel is being overlooked. He is better suited for a 3-4 scheme, but he can handle ours as well. If you have seen him play, you would see the potential in this guy. I say we take him in the 5 or 6 rounds.

[schweinhart]

Cole might fit w/ Bengals. Most likley it'd have to be SSLB, though.

He does have some coverage skills but their pretty much limited to slower, blocking TEs. He could improve on that if given the chance.

I'm guessing Coles goes in 6th rd to Chargers. He's better suited for a 3-4 but other college DEs who would also make switch to 3-4 LB like Vincent Burns, Jonathan Goddard, and Khari Long look like better prospects than Coles.