Today we take a look at one of the most highly rated recruits to sign with La Tech in recent years.
23 – S Jaiden Cole (RS JR) – Cole signed with Louisiana Tech in the 2017 recruiting cycle over the likes of Notre Dame, Tennessee, Washington, Mississippi State, Kansas State, and Arkansas. The Monroe, LA native even took an official visit to South Bend, but ultimately chose the Bulldogs in December of 2016. Cole was labeled as an “athlete” according to Rivals.com, the #53 athlete in the country, #22 prospect in the state of Louisiana. He was a HUGE GET.
He’s had an odd career to this point. He played as a true freshman in 2017 (mainly on ST), redshirted in 2018, and was back on the field in 9 games in 2019.
Throughout his first 3 years on campus, he obviously hasn’t played a big role. He’s played only 192 snaps on defense, with 143 of those coming in 2019. He saw 32 snaps against Grambling, 30 against Rice. In total, he saw double digit snaps in the first 7 games of the season before he got hurt against UTEP and never saw the field much from that point on.
He has played 273 more snaps on special teams. 138 of those snaps came in his TR FR season back in 2017.
In 2020, it’s his time to shine. He’ll step into L’Jarius Sneed’s safety spot as a redshirt junior and will be expected to contribute in a significant way immediately. In his first 3 years, he’s shown us a few things: he’s a sure tackler, he had coverage breakdowns in 2018 that didn’t happen in 2019, he’s had some really good veterans to learn under.
I think he’s going to be a really good safety, especially coming downhill. It will be interesting to see how Blackwell uses he and Beejay Williamson. We know Blackwell likes to be aggressive, Cole could fit this scheme pretty well, but he’s going to have to able to hold up in man coverage, much like Williamson.
We’ll find out in 2020 if Jaiden Cole was worth all of the hype coming out of HS.
23 – S Jaiden Cole (RS JR) – Cole signed with Louisiana Tech in the 2017 recruiting cycle over the likes of Notre Dame, Tennessee, Washington, Mississippi State, Kansas State, and Arkansas. The Monroe, LA native even took an official visit to South Bend, but ultimately chose the Bulldogs in December of 2016. Cole was labeled as an “athlete” according to Rivals.com, the #53 athlete in the country, #22 prospect in the state of Louisiana. He was a HUGE GET.
He’s had an odd career to this point. He played as a true freshman in 2017 (mainly on ST), redshirted in 2018, and was back on the field in 9 games in 2019.
Throughout his first 3 years on campus, he obviously hasn’t played a big role. He’s played only 192 snaps on defense, with 143 of those coming in 2019. He saw 32 snaps against Grambling, 30 against Rice. In total, he saw double digit snaps in the first 7 games of the season before he got hurt against UTEP and never saw the field much from that point on.
He has played 273 more snaps on special teams. 138 of those snaps came in his TR FR season back in 2017.
In 2020, it’s his time to shine. He’ll step into L’Jarius Sneed’s safety spot as a redshirt junior and will be expected to contribute in a significant way immediately. In his first 3 years, he’s shown us a few things: he’s a sure tackler, he had coverage breakdowns in 2018 that didn’t happen in 2019, he’s had some really good veterans to learn under.
I think he’s going to be a really good safety, especially coming downhill. It will be interesting to see how Blackwell uses he and Beejay Williamson. We know Blackwell likes to be aggressive, Cole could fit this scheme pretty well, but he’s going to have to able to hold up in man coverage, much like Williamson.
We’ll find out in 2020 if Jaiden Cole was worth all of the hype coming out of HS.
