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Name: Cole Cabana
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 180 lbs.
High school: Dexter (MI) Dexter
Position: Running back
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #24
Last year: Cabana was a senior in high school (LINK). He ran for 1,518 yards and 27 touchdowns, caught passes for 472 yards and 6 touchdowns, and had 444 return yards and 3 return touchdowns.
TTB Rating: 73
Cabana was Michigan's highest rated recruit for much of the cycle. One of the fastest players in the recruiting cycle, he was explosive with the ball in his hands for the past few years. Whether it was running the ball, catching the ball, or returning kicks, he had a chance to take it to the house every time. He ended up ranked as a 4-star, the #10 running back, and #172 overall in the 247 Composite ranking.
Cabana's best chance to play in 2023, in my opinion, is on kickoff returns. Michigan has the best backfield duo in the country in Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, and I think the coaching staff will focus on getting those guys the ball as often as necessary to win games comfortable and impressive the College Football Playoff selection committee. Fellow freshman Benjamin Hall made a case in the spring to be the third-string running back, but sophomore C.J. Stokes may also be a factor. The point is that Cabana isn't really needed on offense; this backfield is the same as 2022 when Michigan ran roughshod over almost everyone.
What Michigan lost, however, is punt returner and part-time kickoff returner A.J. Henning. And as part-time kickoff returner Roman Wilson becomes more important on offense after the departure of Ronnie Bell, I'm not sure if the coaching staff will want Wilson returning kicks anymore. So if Cabana wants to see the field in 2023 and doesn't mind burning his redshirt, I think Michigan should give him a shot to handle kickoffs.
Prediction: Backup running back and part-time kickoff returner
Fun player that I would love to see make a contribution - be it as a backup RB or an AJ Hennings like role. Doesn't seem like a key piece but you never know - there's that chance that he's a difference maker. Skill positions are a place where freshman can sometimes make plays without having the full package of skills dialed in yet.
ReplyDeleteHoly skinny. Get this kid to the training table
ReplyDeleteKR, if that
He probably needs to add some weight but I think you are overboard with "holy skinny." He looks wiry strong to me and has the arms of a junior. He's not going to be a workhorse back but I think he could hold up just fine as a returner or a third-down back.
DeleteArms? For a RB? He needs legs: thighs & @ss ... I don't recall a RB on a Harbaugh team this thin on the bottom, at least not carrying the ball
DeleteCabana weighs more than Corum and Edwards did as recruits. I'm sure he'll add weight and strength, but I agree with Anon here. There's room in the rotation for a skinnier back who isn't built for running 300 times a year. We don't need, or even want really, a single back who will run 300 times.
DeleteCertainly need some guys who are thick, can hold up to a pounding on days when we need it (like Deveon Smith in the snowglobe game against Indiana). We want a back who can drive through traffic with power (like Smith and Hassan Haskins). But having some taller/lighter/skinnier backs in the rotation is fine too.
Some of the assertions about Harbaugh needing big power backs have been repeatedly proved wrong. People act like we want Ron Dayne back there, but recruiting sub 6 feet and sub 200 pounds is the Harbaugh norm. Of course we build them up to add weight (which is naturally what happens to most college kids and the expected path for pretty much any position) but meanwhile you can use freshman to contribute - as Edwards, Corum, Charbonnet, and Evans have done among others. Most of the time if you're good you play - no matter how big you are.
Cabana should be in the mix for backup RB duties immediately. He just has to be better than Stokes, Hall, etc. With Corum and Edwards, there's only so many other snaps to hand out. so TBD if it happens.
Cabana will add weight, just like most CBs, WRs, QBs will add weight. But his weight/strength isn't going to be preventing him from playing RB at Michigan IMO. That's about the guys around him.
Corum is listed at 5'8 200lb on the 2020 roster
DeleteEdwards was at 6' 202lb on the 2021
Cabana at 6 and 20lb less is quite the difference, especially since his it's his arms w/the muscle
But yes, we agree on the need to gain weight (hopefully in the lower body)
Cabana is listed at 6'0" and 180 lbs. on MGoBlue, which I believe gets its heights/weights from 247 Sports. So his size is probably the same as whenever 247 last updated the height/weight, which could go all the way back to his junior year or so.
DeleteHudl has him at 6'0" and 185 lbs. The Dexter coaching staff may have updated it most recently. But then again, Cabana enrolled in January, so maybe he has already added 5-10 pounds. Maybe that's even 5-10 pounds added from the 185 that the Dexter coaching staff listed.
So maybe he's 190. Or 195. Or maybe those numbers were all exaggerated, and he added 5 pounds but he's still only 180. You never know.
My main point is that I don't put much stock in heights/weights for true freshmen.
We should get new roster data before the season. I agree that the high school stuff (via 247 or whatever) is whatever - who knows when that stuff was pulled. The more relevant thing is official weight in the fall which we all expect to be higher because these kids are 17 or 18 and that's how it goes.
DeleteBut we don't have that data yet. So let's talk apples to apples - incoming freshman RB posts in the summer on TTB.
This guy shown at 190 pounds had over 400 yards and was running iso up the middle against OSU in the 1st quarter.
https://touch-the-banner.com/2021-season-countdown-36b-donovan-edwards/
This guy shown at 193 pounds ended up ahead of two older and bigger NFL-bound RBs on the depth chart during the COVID shortened 2020 season.
https://touch-the-banner.com/2020-season-countdown-58-blake-corum/
This guy shown at 190 had over 700 yards as a freshman.
https://touch-the-banner.com/2016-season-countdown-70-chris-evans/
This guy listed at 168 had over 600 yards as a freshman (albeit in a different offense).
https://touch-the-banner.com/2009-countdown-71-vincent-smi/
So again I would submit that the concern about size and strength for freshman RB is dramatically overstated based on what we have seen during, and before, the Harbaugh era. Guys who are sometimes dismissed or still reportedly have "a ways to go" supposedly on size/strength issues seem to be underestimated consistently.
@Thunder, that's interesting. I was under the assumption that the HT/WT came from the spring practice session ... I checked Cabana's recruiting profile, and all but one have him at 180 (one is at 175lb)
Delete@Lank, I didn't use TTB HT/WT, I used the MGoBlue site for ea FR year, assuming that was closed to what the program reports. As for numbers you're throwing out, height is important context: Corum packing that size into 5'8 gives us the action figure build we all enjoy watching. I did notice Evans, but again the program data is higher, and Evans had both thighs & booty. Again, body composition.akes a difference
On3, not "one"
DeleteThat makes sense but the weights are set in fall not spring. Since it's not fall yet we can't compare Fall Cabana to Fall Corum. It's gotta be apples to apples.
Deletehttps://mgoblog.com/content/fall-roster-overanalysis-2022
You can see that chart as an example that illustrates that weight gain from recruiting profile to fall roster is almost universal. Even at positions where weight doesn't much matter (QB, Kicker, WR) these guys are going to get stronger in a college weight program and gain weight naturally due to the age they are at. There are exceptions of course.
@JE
DeleteCabana might be 180 or he might be 200 this fall, but either way chances are he will get some touches at RB. Bottomline is that we don't NEED Cabana to do anything at RB. He's not in the conversation to start when we have 2 established stars and a stable of backup options beyond those 2. But he probably will get a real opportunity to contribute at RB.
We're talking about a top 200 recruit who was highly productive in high school - kid can probably play right away, even if he's not in peak physical form yet. Because he's fast and skilled. We absolutely do not need him to be a bellcow primary power back. If that was the role being discussed - I might agree with you - but it isn't.
He shouldn't be dismissed so easily due to size/strength when when we know for a fact that guys who have been classified as "too small" (picture Hunter Dickinson taunting) tend to do stuff as freshman pretty regularly.
We had the same convo about Edwards midway through his freshman year. Edwards gained all of 2 pounds between freshman and soph year when he became the feature back.
I mean, the MGoBlue roster reads "2023 Spring Football Roster" so I thought it was safe to assume that was current, and not relying on 247, Rivals & ESPN ... not the first time I've been wrong
DeleteI haven't said he won't get touches, or that he shouldn't. I said he's thin, very thin. By the team website, he's easily the lightest RB of the Harbaugh era (or Hoke). By Google images, he looks like a Roman Wilson WR, not a RB. I think he needs to gain weight, specifically in the lower body. You agree, but that's not enough ...
We've got to veer from the topic, and bring up Ron Dayne or conflate this kid's small legs & no @ss to a dated preference for Mac Truck RBs of the 80s ... also, we never had this convo regarding Edwards. I said he needed to work on leg strength & balance (while complimenting his contributions catching the ball). According to Edwards, that was his focus last off-season. He's still no BC, but has definitely improved as a college RB & a potential NFL draft pick
The truth is lost, so I'm out of this thread. RBs don't matter, but I'm sure JH, Moore & Mike Hart will recognize the 'differences' in this one, and employ him accordingly
GO BLUE
@JE
Delete"KR, if that"
"For a RB? He needs legs: thighs & @ss ... I don't recall a RB on a Harbaugh team this thin on the bottom, at least not carrying the ball"
I'm responding to your statements. Your concern is that he is too light in the lower body, and thus he will be a KR at most and not see action at RB.
"I haven't said he won't get touches, or that he shouldn't."
You are contradicting yourself now but all you have to do is scroll up.
Also:
Vincent Smith (who played RB for Hoke) was smaller. Giles Jackson who played RB and WR for Harbaugh was smaller.
You can go back through and read what you wrote about Edwards in 2021. I'll give you one:
"je93November 14, 2021 at 10:38 PM
No one is giving up on him. But at this point in his career, there's work to do, and a lot of it"
He had 170 yards the following week and the week after that he was the 2nd RB in running ISO between the tackles against OSU. Maybe not so much work.
You are free to ignore my response. But if you make things up I'll point that out.
See ya.
Remember when we would go back & forth, weeks at a time? I stopped because you would throw a tantrum & leave the site for months at a time, and that meant I would conduct myself in a matter beneath me. This does not mean I am okay w/your lies, but that I choose to ignore them. On this one post, we have:
Delete- this is the 2023 Countdown; my prediction & input on Cabrana is about this year. KR if he can get on the 2deep, and maybe some
blowout touches (mostly catching the ball). You know this, but choose to make it into something fitting your narrative
- VSmith had thunder thighs & a butt. You know my thoughts on cabana had to more w/body composition, but a false equivalence is one of your strategies at skewing what could be honest conversion
- the take you quoted on Edward has nothing to do with his size. This lie is typical, as is you knowingly referring to his SINGLE carry in The Game, as if suddenly it means he has the same legs & @ss as Cabana
Unless you can have a civil exchange, void of misinformation & blatant lies, I'll just wish you well. GO BLUE
@JE. I think you should consider who is being civil and who isn't. You're accusing me of lying, and veering of course, and throwing tantrums, and so on. I roll my eyes and counter your points, with quotes, and evidence. Receipts above. I'll leave that there.
DeleteTo your points:
We are talking about Cabana in 2023 and discussing his freshman season and expectations for that, relative to other freshman. This is very explicit. Who said otherwise? Where is the lie?
You wrote about Cabana above. "he's easily the lightest RB of the Harbaugh era" and I pointed out a couple guys who were lighter. You can move the goalposts if you want - but no lies told.
No lies told on Edwards either. I gave you the quote. You were wrong about him. He was ready as a freshman. Harbaugh is willing to lean on 1 back when he feels like he needs to (and has shown that repeatedly) but will use 2 or 3 if he trusts them to execute -- that's exactly what role Edwards played by the end of his freshman year when he closed the season averaging nearly 100 yards a game between Maryland and Georgia.
Check out mom. That woman is about as stout through the thighs as a fit woman is gonna get. Cabana will be fine. Besides the other freshman RB has thighs sufficient for three backs. Maybe four.
ReplyDeleteRoanman
Fall weights are in. Cole checks in at 198. Discuss.
ReplyDeleteBe careful what you wish for...
DeleteOne of two things:
ReplyDeleteCole & the coaches agree that he was way too light, and needed to bulk up. This is good
198 might be like jabrill being over 6'
Could be a combination of the two, which even a some progress on those legs is a win for the program
Magnus, pls elaborate on your cryptic "Be careful what you wish for ...." comment.
ReplyDeleteOh, don't read too much into it. It was about the lengthiness and intensity of a discussion between me, je93, and Lank about running back weights... There might be fireworks.
DeleteOr maybe even real fires.
Aaaah, you were referring to the "discuss" aspect of my email; whereas, I thought you were referring to the impact of Cabana's weight vis-a-vis his probabilities of success as a RB @ UM.
ReplyDelete