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Cantwell is not hurt

A team full of OGs where some play tackle I think would try very hard to hold onto a tackle assuming they are actually good enough to contribute at some point
 
The argument that he isn't 'ready' to see ANY snaps of late is peak cope. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to know he is either in the dog house or quitting the team.

The dude was 'ready' to play 34 snaps season opener against Stanford and was our highest rated pass blocker per PFF that game. His next highest snap count game (16 snaps), against central michigan, he was highest rated O Linemen per PFF , with caveat that its a small sample size at 16 snaps.

So he WAS ready to see the field in an off the bench role early one. Yet now, he doesn't even sniff the field - not even in a jumbo package, despite no egregious errors on the field during his 77 total snpas this year. So logic would tell you his lack of snaps of late is due to something unrelated to his ability to run or pass block.

EDIT: i didnt even factor in pre season and spring ball hype where we were told he was a future superstar, which only supports this argument
 
OriginalCanesCanesCanes said:
I don’t know what he’s being paid and neither do you. But more importantly, I don’t care. I don’t manage the payroll. I expect that that is being managed well enough by those in charge of it.

Bottom line, you can’t expect even a highly paid 17 year-old to come in and be a force as an offensive lineman - just not realistic, there’s only so many unicorns to go around.
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Sounds like the coaches made a big mistake, then.

You don't pay huge $ for a guy that isn't ready. If you can't expect him to be ready, then you can't pay him like he can.
 
Alot of takes I agree with...

*If you throw Cantwell out there...and he misses a block and gets Mensah injured indefintely along the lines of Julian Sayin..this entire site will crash. Posters will blame the staff for putting him out there...Cantwell for being a "bust"...and be on suicide watch because our dream season is over. Ohh..and Cantwell absolutely will transfer because he wont be able to deal with the guilt and fallout.

*Cici was indeed the definition of a generational OL talent for us. And that word "generational" gets used way too often but it absolutely fits for this situation at our program...Just look at what he is doing in the NFL as a rookie. We wont see anyone like him for awhile so lets stop using him as the measuring stick for any 5* OL coming in.

*This reminds me of the "DJ Williams is getting homesick so we need to do SOMETHING to make sure he doesnt transfer so put him at RB/FB" level of panic here. DJ actually spoke about this with Portis on his podcast and Portis STILL looked and acted salty that the staff did that. And DJ was trying his best to kind of play the "Hey man I was the #1 player in the nation..they had to keep me happy" and Portis was not having it. At all. That said, I am all for putting Cantwell in easy, simple blocking packages to get him involved and get his confidence up. That is the least we can do at least these last 3 games.
 
Cantwell works hard and has a good attitude.

The issue right now is athleticism. His athleticism is poor. Not quick enough. Looking like a bad eval right now unfortunately. Everyone in the industry got it wrong. Likely due to his level of competition. If he stays he will need to work on his quickness and athleticism before he is ready to play.
 
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Top OT/edge/DT will get paid a big bag regardless of if they’re ready to contribute or not. It’s the market value of those positions. It’s up to the staff to make those decisions and be able to evaluate thoroughly.
 
MiamiInvestor said:
Cantwell works hard and has a good attitude.

The issue right now is athleticism. His athleticism is poor. Not quick enough. Looking like a bad eval right now unfortunately. Everyone in the industry got it wrong. Likely due to his level of competition. If he stays he will need to work on his quickness and athleticism before he is ready to play.
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So if this is true, the reports of him in spring were false? Cantwell got here during Ohio st. So he had 2/3 weeks of practice in Jan against Bain and Mesi. Did well enough then and during spring workouts to earn LT1 for spring. Maintained LT1 for all of spring. Everyone spoke highly of him, even former all American Taylor lewan. And then is partial game one starter at guard. And now in Nov and he’s not even reliable enough to be apart of a jumbo package??

Not doubting you but something isn’t adding up to me. I’m hoping he’s hurt/ in the dog house and the eval wasn’t this bad.
 
MiamiInvestor said:
Cantwell works hard and has a good attitude.

The issue right now is athleticism. His athleticism is poor. Not quick enough. Looking like a bad eval right now unfortunately. Everyone in the industry got it wrong. Likely due to his level of competition. If he stays he will need to work on his quickness and athleticism before he is ready to play.
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Welp, bummer. Athleticism is God given. You got it, or you don’t. There are varying degrees. However, a person usually doesn't just become more athletic
 
Mnhurricane said:
A team full of OGs where some play tackle I think would try very hard to hold onto a tackle assuming they are actually good enough to contribute at some point
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Interesting - I think we have a team full of tackles. Wilkerson, Campbell, Hawks, Cantwell, Meriwether, Ervin are all tackles imo. Guard, otoh, is limited - SJA, Congdon, Max, Pickett.

MiamiInvestor said:
Cantwell works hard and has a good attitude.

The issue right now is athleticism. His athleticism is poor. Not quick enough. Looking like a bad eval right now unfortunately. Everyone in the industry got it wrong. Likely due to his level of competition. If he stays he will need to work on his quickness and athleticism before he is ready to play.
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100% He looks very slow out there and tbh, I think he's too big. Needs to cut 20 lbs, imo.
 
HurricanesR1 said:
Sounds like the coaches made a big mistake, then.

You don't pay huge $ for a guy that isn't ready. If you can't expect him to be ready, then you can't pay him like he can.
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Fair criticism, but that’s the game. You take swings and pay up for guys you believe in. No one is 1000% in this business and most importantly, the kid still has PLENTY OF TIME. If we didn’t land him last cycle, then it would have been even more ?’s/complaints about our “whiffing”.

I’ll say this, we must get something from him in 2027. When I say “something”, I mean ACC starter quality. If the top 1% of the 1% physical stature 19 year old kid cannot make a dent as a starter in Y2 as the #1 OL in America barring injury *knock on wood* then yes, probably time to ring the alarm. I don’t want us to assume that he will get the spot and not bring anyone in though. I want him to WIN one of the OT spots.

Will be plenty of time to discuss this. I just think everyone should hit the relax button for a second on the kid.
 
SpringsCane said:
So if this is true, the reports of him in spring were false? Cantwell got here during Ohio st. So he had 2/3 weeks of practice in Jan against Bain and Mesi. Did well enough then and during spring workouts to earn LT1 for spring. Maintained LT1 for all of spring. Everyone spoke highly of him, even former all American Taylor lewan. And then is partial game one starter at guard. And now in Nov and he’s not even reliable enough to be apart of a jumbo package??

Not doubting you but something isn’t adding up to me. I’m hoping he’s hurt/ in the dog house and the eval wasn’t this bad.
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No idea how all that hype got started bc I wasn’t there. But he isn’t quick enough or athletic enough to be a good starter at OT right now.
 
SpringsCane said:
MiamiInvestor said:
Cantwell works hard and has a good attitude.

The issue right now is athleticism. His athleticism is poor. Not quick enough. Looking like a bad eval right now unfortunately. Everyone in the industry got it wrong. Likely due to his level of competition. If he stays he will need to work on his quickness and athleticism before he is ready to play.
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So if this is true, the reports of him in spring were false? Cantwell got here during Ohio st. So he had 2/3 weeks of practice in Jan against Bain and Mesi. Did well enough then and during spring workouts to earn LT1 for spring. Maintained LT1 for all of spring. Everyone spoke highly of him, even former all American Taylor lewan. And then is partial game one starter at guard. And now in Nov and he’s not even reliable enough to be apart of a jumbo package??

Not doubting you but something isn’t adding up to me. I’m hoping he’s hurt/ in the dog house and the eval wasn’t this bad.
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That’s what I’m saying, the math doesn’t math. I think he’s in the dog house and not taking it well.
 
Elmer Leghorn said:
Welp, bummer. Athleticism is God given. You got it, or you don’t. There are varying degrees. However, a person usually doesn't just become more athletic
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I’m not giving up on him. He’s just got a lot of work to do to get quicker on his feet. He’s going to have to take a pay cut like Samson did if he stays. You can’t be taking 2 mil a year and not be on the field.
 
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