WSU Cougars Fall Camp: 5 Freshmen to Watch

1: OT Cole Madison

Madison has a ton of athletic ability and it was thought at one point in his career that he’d be an inside receiver in Mike Leach’s offense. Those days are long gone, thankfully, because Madison has taken a strangle-hold on the starting right tackle position.

Actually his experience at tight end has helped him transition into the position quite seamlessly. Madison has very good feet and has bulked up to a hefty 300 lbs on his 6’5″ frame. That is as big a deal (literally) as any for a Cougar offense that barely averaged 280 lbs last season, because it gives the Cougs four starters of at least three-bills protecting redshirt senior quarterback Connor Halliday.

I believe Cole has the ability to make the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team by the end of the season. Part of that is that he is talented enough, but the more impressive part is that there just aren’t that many freshmen starting at right tackle in the conference. He’s a pretty rare breed and hopefully he can gel with the rest of the unit to protect Halliday on a regular basis this Fall.