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Arizona Cardinals: Mason Cole gets opportunity at center

By Larry Brake

ANN ARBOR, MI - OCTOBER 17: Fullback Sione Houma #39 of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates with Mason Cole #52 after Houma scored a two yard rushing touchdown against the Michigan State Spartans during the second quarter of the college football game at Michigan Stadium on October 17, 2015 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MI - OCTOBER 17: Fullback Sione Houma #39 of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates with Mason Cole #52 after Houma scored a two yard rushing touchdown against the Michigan State Spartans during the second quarter of the college football game at Michigan Stadium on October 17, 2015 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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Due to a season-ending injury, rookie Mason Cole gets an opportunity to become the Arizona Cardinals‘ starting center in 2018.

The NFL preseason slate begins this week. Generally, the starters do not see much time in the first game. Currently, the Arizona Cardinals will use this time to make sure they have a starter at center.

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Training camp injuries are unfortunate and sometimes unavoidable. This week, the Cardinals lost A.Q. Shipley for the 2018 season due to injury. The veteran performer suffered a knee injury in Saturday’s practice and new head coach Steve Wilks had these thoughts (via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com):

“You have to quickly hit the reset button,” Wilks said. “You could tell on Saturday it took the (wind out of the) sail of the offense and the team as a whole. Not really knowing what happened but understanding he went off and it wasn’t good.

Hence rookie Mason Cole gets the first opportunity to win the job. He will be taking snaps with the first team offense but he will have to prove himself. The NFL game is much more different and complex from the college game. Cole was drafted in the third round in April following a stellar career at the University of Michigan. Many thought that he would push Shipley at center but this inuury has changed everything. “All the reasons we drafted him are the reasons he is here and he’s ready to step in and show he can play at this level,” added Wilks.

The Cardinals open the preseason with the Los Angeles Chargers. This will be a very good test for Cole. Los Angeles recorded 43 sacks this past season. Expect the Chargers to try to confuse the rookie with different slants, stunts and twists.

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These preseason games will be very instrumental in developing Cole at the center position. First of all, he will have to get acclimated to the speed of NFL defensive linemen. There is a stiff learning curve but Wilks has complete confidence in Cole. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out for a team that allowed a whopping 52 sacks in 2017.

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