Minnesota Football Recruiting: Three-star OL Cade McConnell commits to the Gophers

With Early National Signing Day looming, P.J. Fleck and co. are hard at work wrapping up this current recruiting class. Cade McConnell, an offensive lineman out of Oklahoma, was on the Minnesota campus over the weekend for an official visit and made a verbal commitment to the Golden Gophers after heading home. He had previously been committed to TCU.

Get to know Cade McConnell

Height: 6’5”
Weight: 300

Power 5 Scholarship Offers: Iowa State, Kansas, TCU, Texas Tech, and Vanderbilt

247 Sports Composite Rating: .8688

247 Sports Scouting Report

In the 6-foot-5, 290-pound range, McConnell owns even length with a 6-5 wingspan and should have space to add some more mass in college. McConnell flashes encouraging close-quarters punch in the run game and shows that when he gets to the second level. He’s a natural run-game mauler with a mean streak as a block-finisher, and his strength and punch manifest in down-blocking situations as well.

McConnell shows awareness in pass protection situations that should help his continued development in that category. He’s relatively flat-backed when pass-blocking, which should also aid his bend and general fluidity. McConnell can still play with better pad level and leverage consistency, as well as lateral mobility, as evidenced by verified combine testing (shuttle time in the 5-flat range).

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