Marcus Coleman

The first-team All-Big Ten Conference selection carried on the tradition of stellar performers at the center position for the Badgers. He followed the likes of other postseason award winners like Donovan Raiola, Casey Rabach and Corey Raymer. Coleman was rated one of the top 75 players in the Midwest and one of the top five players in Minnesota by Rivals.com as a senior at Waysata High School. He was rated among top 55 players in the Midwest by Super Prep and captained the football team his senior year, when he earned first-team All-Conference, All-Metro and All-State honors. Coleman was also an All-Conference pick in football as a junior. He lettered in wrestling, track and football as a prep, going undefeated in wrestling as a sophomore and won the ninth grade state wrestling title as freshman. Coleman enrolled at Wisconsin in 2003, spending the year playing offensive guard on the scout team. He appeared in five games as a reserve center for the Badgers in 2004, shifting to right guard in 2005, where he backed up Joey Clinkscale for 12 games. He also started at left guard vs. Iowa that season. In 2006, Coleman took over center duties, where he garnered All-Big Ten Conference honorable mention. He collected 52 knockdowns for an offense that generated 373.2 yards per game. He had seven touchdown-resulting blocks and was twice named the team's Offensive Player of the Week (vs. Penn State and Bowling Green). As a senior, the Wisconsin center earned first-team All-Big Ten Conference accolades. He started all 13 games, producing 71 knockdowns and nine touchdown-resulting blocks. The Badgers averaged 408.8 yards per game, including 200.8 yards on the ground.

positives

Better player than athlete, thanks to his field intelligence and ability to use his size to gain position...Has a thick frame that could carry at least another 20 pounds of bulk...Shows a wide waist, good upper body bone structure with large hands that he uses well to grab and control...Has adequate straight-line quickness to get out of his stance and into the defender right after the snap...Knows all of the linemen's blocking assignments and has a keen grasp of the playbook...Tough, aggressive blocker who battles until the whistle...Not explosive off the line, but can shock an opponent when he shoots his hands with force (needs to show better consistency using his hands)...Works hard to position and sustain...Better as a straight-line drive blocker than when having to trap, as he has a good concept for taking angles and using his frame to wall off...Has the long reach to get into defenders and his hand strength lets him drag and jerk his opponent to the ground with good regularity...Lacks lateral movement skills, but when he sets with a strong anchor, he does a good job of protecting the pocket from inside gap penetrators...Good at getting his hands under a defender's jersey to lock on without getting caught...Is very effective working in unison with his guards on double teams...Alert to the blitz, keeping his hands inside his frame to generate the punch needed to negate the defender's forward burst...Alert athlete who makes good pre-snap blocking adjustment calls.

compares to

EUGENE AMANO-Tennessee...Like Amano, Coleman is a stay-at-home type of drive blocker with good tenacity and field smarts, but lacks ideal balance and quickness to develop into a decent trap blocker. He has knee issues and poor change of direction agility and can give up inside penetration vs. the quicker bull rushers. He has some experience at guard and could battle for a roster spot as a backup at both positions, but there are several areas of his game that will prevent him from becoming a starter -- a lack of strength, speed or agility.

negatives

Has good upper body bone structure, but needs to improve his lower frame bulk and thickness...Will play with pain, but has issues with both knees that affect his overall quickness...Struggles with his flexibility and agility, limiting him to blocking roles at the line of scrimmage (marginal on pulls and traps)...Struggles to change direction, as his bad knees limit his lateral movement and balance...Does not have the natural strength to generate pop on contact or jolt a defender with a powerful hand punch...Must improve his balance, as he goes to the ground often...Must do a better job of making contact and driving the bull rushers out of the holes...Stiff in his hips, failing to get a good kick slide, which results in him allowing inside penetration...Slow to recover from counter moves...Has problems with speed moves from one-gap defenders...Sometimes will lunge and dive into his blocks, but is slow to recover when he over-extends...Lacks the foot speed and balance to take good angles in attempts to locate second-level defenders.

2003: Bothered in August camp with a left knee sublexed patella strain. 2007: Suffered a right knee patella subluxation vs. Arkansas in the Citrus Bowl (1/01/07).

Campus: 5.4 in the 40-yard dash

Bench pressed 225 pounds 18 times

31 1/2-inch arm length

9 7/8-inch hands

Right-handed

21/34 Wonderlic score. Combine: Did not receive an invitation.

Attended Waysata (Plymouth, Minn.) High School, playing football for head coach Brad Anderson

Rated one of the top 75 players in the Midwest and one of the top five players in Minnesota by Rivals.com as a senior

Rated among top 55 players in the Midwest by Super Prep and captained the football team his senior year, when he earned first-team All-Conference, All-Metro and All-State honors

All-Conference pick in football as a junior

Lettered in wrestling, track and football as a prep, going undefeated in wrestling as a sophomore

Won the ninth grade state wrestling title as freshman.

Sociology major

Son of Roger Coleman and Joan Grossman

Father played football at Illinois (1973-74)

Born 11/17/84

Resides in Plymouth, Minnesota.