Guards Into Centers

[mancl]

By signing Saturday the Packers can draft a center who they can develop to play in a year or two. There seem to be a few decent C prospects but the list is not real deep. What guards could be converted to center? I have seen Zeilter and Kelemente's names mentioned. Anyone else?

[Duffman57]

Originally Posted by mancl

By signing Saturday the Packers can draft a center who they can develop to play in a year or two. There seem to be a few decent C prospects but the list is not real deep. What guards could be converted to center? I have seen Zeilter and Kelemente's names mentioned. Anyone else?

Ive seen a few people mention Zeitlers name in the C catagory, but im not sure why? Anyone who saw a lot of Wiscy games tell me if he played C much if at all this year?

Im not sure why Kelemete would be in that discussion, he played OT every hear he was at UW, but he seems to have the right play style for it, so I could see him moving to C if he's comfortable with the change, which may be a lot harder than from OG to C.

I heard Decastro tried snapping the ball a little bit at the stanford pro day, but he didn't look very good doing it. Fine with me, he's an elite OG prospect reguardless of the ability to play C.

[phlysac]

I could see Troy's James Brown kickin' further inside.

[Matthew Jones]

As Duffman mentioned, David DeCastro looked awful snapping the ball.

[RWills]

Joe Looney out of Wake Forest

[Iamcanadian]

A lot of OG's could be tried at OC, it all depends on who drafts them and what their needs are. Decastro is viewed that way and you can bet there are others if they have some quickness. Injuries are a way of life in the NFL and it can be very useful if you have interior linemen who are versatile because a team may have a spare OG if they can move their starting OG to OC, if the staring OC gets injured or visa versa.

[mightytitan9]

I don't think DeCastro looked bad playing Center.

Amini Silatolu is another guy I've heard could be on the move. Versatility is key, that's why DeCastro, Glenn, Zeitler and Silatolu are all some of my favorite OL's in this class

The truly great players can play more than one position, like the great Bruce Matthews.

[PossibleCabbage]

Honestly, it's generally a waste to turn a good guard into a center, if you have good guards the center's job is largely to make the pre-snap read, snap the ball, then get out of the way of the real offensive linemen. Ultimately, being a "good enough" NFL center is a lot more mental than anything. Scott Wells signed a big deal with the Rams, and he's a guy who can't move anybody in the running game, but he's a functional pass blocker and he's ace at making the pre-snap reads.

So there aren't any top G's that I would look, right away, to move to center, having never played there before. G->C conversions are generally done with later round or undrafted guys who happen to be smart, and good football players but don't have high end tools, and you do them over a number of years.

[bitonti]

Lance Nix out of PITT was healthy at pro day. they say he could help at all 5 spots possibly.

[MaxV]

A prospect who no one is talking about and might be underrated is Penn State's Quinn Barham.

Out of necessity, he was forced to play as a LT his junior and senior seasons, but before that he was a backup OC. He was suppose to be an eventual starter at OC, but Penn State had no one else to play LT.

Most of his exposure came as a LT and at 6'-3" he isn't a prospect there, but he draft stock might have been MUCH higher if he played as OC.

He has solid size and good mobility for the position.

[phlysac]

Originally Posted by bitonti

Lance Nix out of PITT was healthy at pro day. they say he could help at all 5 spots possibly.

Lucas Nix.

Pitt had terrible turmoil along the O-Line in 2010 and 2011. They had no center on the roster in 2010. Nix was never given a look to my knowledge. It would be interesting to see that happen at the next level.

[villagewarrior]

Originally Posted by PossibleCabbage

Honestly, it's generally a waste to turn a good guard into a center, if you have good guards the center's job is largely to make the pre-snap read, snap the ball, then get out of the way of the real offensive linemen.

I completely disagree with that last bit. Being a center is extremely difficult and they can't just hide after snapping the ball.

You're general point is correct though, the skill set for a center is very specific. Its easy to kick someone from center to guard, or tackle to guard, but being able to identify a defense, snap the ball quickly, get the hands in position to strike while stepping at the same time, maybe even pulling, its tough.

I often find that the best offensive line's best player is the center.

[Babylon]

Originally Posted by Matthew Jones

As Duffman mentioned, David DeCastro looked awful snapping the ball.

He basically did it as a courtesy to Luck and the other players there. From what i saw of him he got the ball to where it was supposed to be.

When asked if he would be willing to long snap his response was a resounding no, as in #### no.

[niel89]

Yeah DeCastro to C would be a waste, but it would be a nice tool to have in case of injuries later on. He could do it in a pinch if the C & back up went down.