This was a nice pick up for Mike Leach and his staff. Cody is a HUGE kid, he’s 6’8” and 350 pounds and is rated by Rivals as a 3 star but not rated at all so far by Scout.com. I don’t expect Cody to make an impact right away but will be a solid player for us, But there are some concerns… with Leach’s Offensive Line so far spread out, Cody is going to have to be able to be quick on his feet. We have yet to see this in high school, because he can just run people over with this size. Another thing that concerned me was, WSU did have another 6’8” guy on the team… but has left the team recently. I am a little concerned that if this just happened, could Cody do this too if Leach doesn’t think he’s doing very well and Cody doesn’t think it’s a good fit at WSU? We’ll have to wait and see but a solid pick up for WSU.
Jake Worthen of scout.com had this to say about Cody: ” What you wonder with a player like this is how can he develop? Or more will he continue to develop?
I share your concerns about his ability to move. Very similar to my thoughts on Walker Williams his junior year. Walker made huge strides heading into his senior year, through personal training etc.
The WSU coaches obviously believe that he can continue to develop. I am concerned. With the splits that Leach plays with I think he needs to improve his lateral quickness or he will have a hard time dealing with the edge rushers in the Pac-12. The good news is O’Connell isn’t one of those guys that needs to lose a ton of weight, he has a good frame and the strength and conditioning guys can focus on improving his foot speed and agility. Right now I could see him playing guard athletically, even though his size would indicate tackle.
To sum it up… I am happy if this is the 4/5 best OL that WSU lands. I am worried if he is the 1/2 rated OL they bring in. ”
Really hope he can make some big strides this summer and upcoming season and he could even bump up his ratings on scout & Rivals… I would expect him to be a Red shirt his first season and possibly make an impact his Sophomore year.
I’ll be sure to make another post on our recruits once they commit and give you my take on them.
Until then…
GO COUGS!