Michigan Football Early Signing Day: Wolverines land Cole Sullivan
According to reports, Michigan Football has officially landed one of the top players from Pennsylvania as Cole Sullivan has signed with the Wolverines. Sullivan, a 4-star linebacker from Pittsburgh, PA, is the No. 5 ranked player in the state and the No. 11 ranked linebacker in the nation for the Class of 2024, according to Rivals.com.
Scouting Report
Here is the scouting report on Cole Sullivan via Touch The Banner:
Sullivan is a long and lean linebacker. At 6’3″ or 6’4″ and listed everywhere at 200 lbs., he has a long way to go before his body is done developing. The first thing that stands out on his film is his quick-twitch change of direction ability, which is impressive for a fairly tall player. He plays with nice knee bend and a low center of gravity on both sides of the ball.
Speaking of both sides of the ball, Sullivan is a jack of all trades who plays inside linebacker, outside linebacker, edge rusher, tight end, slot receiver, and long snapper. He has good makeup speed coming off the edge and chasing down players in the backfield. I like the angles he takes to ball carriers, aiming for the outside shoulder to keep contain.
Versatility can also be a curse, at least in the short-term. Sullivan can be a little slow to make reads at inside linebacker and shows some indecision. From the edge position, he can get crossed up sometimes. There are a couple points in the film where he gets his feet crossed up so badly that he’s almost falling down when he makes plays, but he’s such a superior athlete at this juncture that he has the explosiveness to still succeed against high schoolers. While he does have some explosiveness and shows aggression, he’s going to need to eat and lift right to max out his lean body.
Overall, Sullivan is a great addition to Michigan’s class. If lean athletes are willing and able to wait out the process of adding healthy weight, I think they generally do pretty well. I think Sullivan is at his best coming off the edge as an outside linebacker who occasionally drops into coverage (a la Jaylen Harrell), but his body will need time to develop.
