Wolverine247 Board

Agree, he will definitely see the field next year and finally have more than just Frank Clark getting a pass rush. Mario will be a lot better next year as well.

You and knee bend haha.

I think you've done it before, but can you give a quick rundown on knee bend again?

I agree with Ducks he should redshirt, he needs it so he can bulk up a little bit and learn proper technique, like Fursty said. But his potential is off the charts and I am REAL excited to watch Taco here in a couple years. Taco is my 3rd favorite commit in this class behind Dymonte and Shane.

He doesn't need to bulk up at all he is already 255-260 and Mario plays at 235. Agree on technique, but we don't know how much he was taught so far in high school and he might be a quick learner.

No problem. Especially with offensive and defensive linemen, this is one of the most important factors in evaluating a player.

Basically, the low man wins in football. Whichever player is able to get consistently lower will generally win his matchup. There are two ways to get vertical leverage - by bending at the waist or by bending your knees. If you hear someone referred to as a waist-bender, that's not at all a good thing. While you can temporarily gain vertical leverage by bending at the waist, it makes it nearly impossible to actually sustain it and drive your opponent off the ball, because your face is way out in front of your toes, so you're off balance.

The clear preference is to be able to bend at the knees, as that will enable you to maintain a proper base while being lower than your opponent. There aren't a lot of big guys that are natural benders, so the ones that can do it really stick out.

So, what would you consider Jake Long to be? Seems like he bends a lot at the waist and the knees.

Oh, alright, I see what you mean now haha. Byrne looks like he's going to need a good couple years of coaching, plays really top heavy too.

Another question about knee bend, does it change from position to position? Like a center or guard seems like they would need a lot more knee bend than a tackle.

You can watch pickerington centrals game against reynoldsburg on YouTube. It's obvious where he is on the field just by his stature and his athleticism shows. But he also plays straight up, looks a bit lackadaisical, and doesn't play with his hand down. He will need a ton of grooming.

agreed, I would love to see him rs and get a full year to fill out his massive frame and get coached up on technique. Also with the logjam we have a wde like you mentioned it would be good to get him another year of seperation from those guys.

thats a good point, with Mattison and Hoke both former DL coaches and Hoke especially making them his personal project DL at Michigan get alot of top notch coaching.

Have to think the goal is to let all 3 DL redshirt with the numbers they took in '12 and not losing much on the DL (Roh and Campbell) numbers-wise... The OL is a diff story... Lose Barnum, Omameh and Melaer on a unit where no scholarship players are on the 2nd unit...Bars being able to learn C would be nice but you have to think Kugler gets a least a look with Miller being the only viable option today... UNless Glasgow, Gunderson, Gibbs or Burzynski show up, we may need a true frosh in an emergency... Bosch will be interesting to follow along with Dawson if the EE