Mason Cole exceeded all expectations this season in the NFL, starting all 16 games at center for the 3-13 Arizona Cardinals.
Granted, incumbent A.Q. Shipley's ACL tear on Aug. 6 — which caused him to miss the entire season — played a role, but the fact that Cole was still able to hold onto the starting job throughout the entire grind of the 16-week NFL season was impressive nonetheless.
The post-regular season NFL accolades have begun to role in, and Cole has landed on two significant publication's All-Rookie Teams — NFL Media senior analyst Gil Brandt's, and ESPN's.
First, here was Gil's explanation for naming Cole his All-Rookie center:
"Cole, who stepped up in the absence of injured veteran A.Q. Shipley, has started every game since his freshman year of high school, including all four years at Michigan. He's very smart and projects to be an impact player at the pros for many years."
Next, here's what ESPN's Jeff Legwold had to say about Cole:
"The Cardinals struggled in most facets of the offense, but this job comes with a high degree of difficulty for a rookie, and few first-year players got heaved into the deep end the way Cole did. A 51-game starter at Michigan, he showed the ability to adjust, fix mistakes on the fly and improve with each passing week."
It should also be noted, however, that the Pro Football Writers of America — whose list is considered to be 'official' — left Cole off their All-Rookie Team, instead placing Billy Price of the Cincinnati Bengals as their top center.
Rivals.com National Director of Recruiting Mike Farrell has also released his own countdown of the 15 best rookies in the NFL from the 2018 campaign — he has revealed all but his top three, and Cole has not yet been included (and may not be at all).
It's actually not surprising that no other former Wolverines were found on these lists, considering Michigan only had one other player drafted in the 2018 NFL draft — defensive tackle Maurice Hurst of the Oakland Raiders.
Hurst had a solid rookie campaign with Oakland, starting 10 of the 13 games he played in (missed three injury), racking up 31 tackles and four sacks.
He was tabbed as an honorable mention selection at defensive tackle on Legwold's ESPN list.
The number of Wolverines selected in this year's NFL draft will undoubtedly be much higher than it was last year.
In addition to the 11 total seniors and fifth-year seniors who will be vying for NFL futures, Michigan also saw four of its players declare early — tight end Zach Gentry, defensive end Rashan Gary, linebacker Devin Bush and cornerback David Long.
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