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Name: Trente Jones
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 305 lbs.
High school: Loganville (GA) Grayson
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #53
Last year: I ranked Jones #72 and said he would be a backup offensive tackle (LINK). He played in one game.
TTB Rating: 88
Jones seems to have been lost in the shuffle over the past years, so some may have forgotten that he was an Under Armour All-American and the #108 overall player in the country. After redshirting as a freshman and then playing in just one game last season, it's understandable that he might have been forgotten. Scuttlebutt out of practice is that he and former offensive line coach Ed Warinner did not quite see eye to eye. While Warinner has proven to be a very good offensive line coach, sometimes people just don't mesh.
According to that same scuttlebutt, Jones and new offensive line coach (former tight ends coach) Sherrone Moore get along much better. And it doesn't hurt that a couple starting-caliber offensive linemen moved on in Zach Carpenter (transfer to Indiana) and Jalen Mayfield (drafted by the Falcons), the latter being more significant for Jones's case. With the right tackle position open, it appears to be coming down to Jones and classmate Karsen Barnhart to see who will start. I'll give the edge to Barnhart, who started four games at left tackle in 2020 when Ryan Hayes was injured. But injuries always happen, and Jones should be one of the first guys off the bench.
Prediction: Backup offensive tackle
Good to see Jones seeming to progress and develop though we won't tell for sure till he is out there.
ReplyDeleteDecent chance he steps into the starting lineup at some point, even if he doesn't win a job in camp. Normally a guy who could be starting and playing every snap against OSU could be higher than this but Michigan seems to have options and depth on the OL.
I think sometimes people get hung up on the skill position guys that show up on the stat sheet and lose sight of the fact that injuries are likely to happen along the OL. Our offense really struggled last year after Mayfield went down.
-LANK
That's a much better situation for backup tackle than we had a few years ago
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