Centers

[Merlin]

Since it looks like Center will be an obvious need for us going into the draft, here's a game for some of the more recognizable draftable types:

POCIC (Senior Bowl practices: had by far best week of group)

View: https://youtu.be/E-LqmwjawfA


ELFLEIN (Senior Bowl practices: declined to compete)

View: https://youtu.be/w5N7TWoSchY


ORLOSKY (Senior Bowl practices: slow start finished week strong)

View: https://youtu.be/ZoLpOy7tMDU


TOTH (Senior Bowl practices: good first day then meh)

View: https://youtu.be/iMjoC1S7vPs


FULLER (Senior Bowl practices: struggled throughout)

View: https://youtu.be/gP22jgpXu2U

 

[OldSchool]

My guy is Chase Roullier. He started three years at LG for Wyoming and then this past year took over and started at Center. That gives him the flexibility that Kromer and McVay have talked about along the interior. The Rams visited with him already at the Shrine Game.

http://theramswire.usatoday.com/201...in-carr-chase-roullier-east-west-shrine-game/

For those of you interested in PFF they had him #9 player in college football in the trenches.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/the-10-best-players-in-the-trenches/

Unfortunately since he played for Wyoming there isn't much tape on him. There seems to be more of him in high school than college.

 

[Merlin]

Yeah gotta watch the entire games with the late rounder types. Wyoming's a good watch due to their QB, that dude looks like he's going somewhere and that offense is something. Here's a couple:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGxprMPJqJw



View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2y9hB_zYvo

 

[jrry32]

Honestly, I like Roullier's skill-set more than I like Pocic's and Elflein's. But Dan Feeney and Forrest Lamp are two names to watch at Center. Feeney played OG at Indiana. Lamp played LT at WKU. We'd likely have to trade up for Lamp, but I'd consider doing it. He's the type of guy who can completely change an OL. Adding Whitworth and Lamp could transform our unit.

 

[Merlin]

Honestly, I like Roullier's skill-set more than I like Pocic's and Elflein's. But Dan Feeney and Forrest Lamp are two names to watch at Center. Feeney played OG at Indiana. Lamp played LT at WKU. We'd likely have to trade up for Lamp, but I'd consider doing it. He's the type of guy who can completely change an OL. Adding Whitworth and Lamp could transform our unit.

Feeney in particular really grew on me in the Senior Bowl week. Lamp seems like a dude who could move over and do fine, who knows. I honestly don't know wtf to expect from Les this year in the draft since it will be his first one at the helm, but I suspect we're in for a wild ride.

 

[FrantikRam]

Stay away from Elflein. He played well prior to last year, but IMO got by on reputation and his measurables to be thought of so highly for this draft. Ohio State's offense allowed way too much pressure up the middle, and Elflein played well below what I expected of him

 

[jrry32]

Stay away from Elflein. He played well prior to last year, but IMO got by on reputation and his measurables to be thought of so highly for this draft. Ohio State's offense allowed way too much pressure up the middle, and Elflein played well below what I expected of him

Yea, Elflein scares me. Watch the Clemson game. It's brutal at times. You can tell that Elflein has a wrestling background. I love the way he competes, uses his hands, counters rush moves, maintains leverage, fights for position, and blocks straight ahead or down with power. However, he's brutal to watch when he's asked to pull or block in space/on the second level. And he has occasional issues in pass pro because he doesn't have great movement skills and is a tad undersized. Hyper athletic DLs can get the jump on him, and he gets manhandled at times by long and powerful DTs. Dexter Lawrence dominated him on back to back snaps in the Clemson game. He was throwing him around like a rag doll.

My fear with Elflein is that his competitiveness and wrestling background might not be able to compensate for his physical shortcomings at the next level. I don't think he'll be a bad player, but you run the risk of him having games where he's just completely overmatched by more dominant competition. I would be really worried about him being asked to block a guy like Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh, etc.

 

[LACHAMP46]

Toth is my first choice....hands down...

I also like JJ Dielman....played 6 games at center this year...before suffering an injury...

 

[Merlin]

My fear with Elflein is that his competitiveness and wrestling background might not be able to compensate for his physical shortcomings at the next level.

Honestly what I don't like about Elflein is he elected to skip the Senior Bowl. That just has all sorts of bad indicators with it for me.

 

[den-the-coach]

Stay away from Elflein. He played well prior to last year, but IMO got by on reputation and his measurables to be thought of so highly for this draft. Ohio State's offense allowed way too much pressure up the middle, and Elflein played well below what I expected of him

I somewhat agree with this evaluation, however, Elflein, does an excellent job making the adjustments and meets defensive tackles with aggressiveness and his hand placements are extraordinary too, keep in mind he played guard too and he might be the smartest center in the draft.

My concern is durability and he drops too early on the bull rush as well plus as I have posted before, he does not have the greatest feet and this is where I believe Jon Toth has a huge edge. IMHO I believe Elflein could start from day one, but if I could compare him to a former Ram, it would be Bern Brostek who lasted 7 years in the NFL, however, Toth reminds more of Rich Saul, you might post that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.

 

[ReddingRam]

As with the Spread QB's coming out of college ... can these Centers who have done nothing but shotgun snap handle the under Center snap? Mechanics are totally different

 

[den-the-coach]

As with the Spread QB's coming out of college ... can these Centers who have done nothing but shotgun snap handle the under Center snap? Mechanics are totally different

From a technical standpoint and I can only use myself (many years ago and coaching others) but as a center I preferred having the QB under center because I had a quicker jump of the ball and could control my guy at the point of attack, more drive blocking if you will, whereas when you snap in shotgun, you have to look back at the QB and at the last minute look up, make the snap and then your block.

So unlike some of the Quarterbacks the Center adjustment to this is minimal IMHO because it's far easier to make the snap and begin your blocking progressions, whereas the QB has to read things differently and be consignment of taking the snap while moving simultaneously.

 

[tomas]

Los Angeles Rams | Front Office: 2017 NFL Free Agent-Centers

 

[OldSchool]

Los Angeles Rams | Front Office: 2017 NFL Free Agent-Centers

Clearly a reason to panic so deep into the free agency period

 

[8to12]

FULLER (Senior Bowl practices: struggled throughout)

Struggled throughout? I am curious.... how did you arrive at this conclusion?

 

[tomas]

http://www.drafttek.com/2017-NFL-Draft-Prospect-Rankings/Top-College-Centers-2017-Draft.asp

2017 DRAFTTEK BIG BOARD - Ranked by Position
2017 Offensive Centers
Most Recent Revision: 3/18/2017



QB CENTER OG OT TE RBF RBC WRF WRS FB

EDGE DL 1-TECH DL 3-TECH DL 5-TECH OLB ILB S CB PK

BIG10 SEC PAC12 BIG12 ACC MWEST CUSA SBELT AAC MAC




Rnk O/A Rnk Change

Player/School Ht/Wt BIO S/R

1 56

+27

Ethan Pocic
LSU 6'6"
310 BIO --

2 70

-16

Pat Elflein
Ohio St 6'3"
303 BIO S/R

3 88

+43

J.J. Dielman
Utah 6'5"
309 BIO --

4 120

-21

Tyler Orlosky
West Virginia 6'3"
298 BIO --

5 182

-47

Kyle Fuller
Baylor 6'5"
306 BIO --

6 233

-39

Jon Toth
Kentucky 6'5"
307 BIO --

7 294

+27

Chase Roullier
Wyoming 6'4"
312 BIO --

8 313

-9

Jay Guillermo
Clemson 6'3"
301 BIO --

9 319

-87

Cameron Tom
Southern Miss 6'3"
291 BIO --

10 322

+25

Erik Austell
Charleston So 6'3"
301 BIO --

11 370

-26

Lucas Crowley
North Carolina 6'2"
297 BIO --

12 393

-34

Tobijah Hughley
Louisville 6'1"
289 BIO --

13 408

-20

Freddie Burden
Georgia Tech 6'3"
299 BIO --

14 418 --

Anthony McMeans
New Mexico St 6'1"
318 BIO --

15 420

+4

Max Halpin
W Kentucky 6'2"
295 BIO --

16 426

+6

Cam Keizur
Portland St 6'4"
322 BIO --

17 427 --

Deyshawn Bond
Cincinnati 6'1"
292 BIO --

18 428

+8

Alex Kelley
Colorado 6'1"
310 BIO --

19 429

+13

Brandon Kublanow
Georgia 6'2"
288 BIO --

20 431

+2

Jamaal Clayborn
Mississippi St 6'3"
316 BIO --

21 446

-9

Michael Coe
North Dakota 6'2"
300 BIO --

22 447

+1

Brian Gaia
Penn St 6'3"
295 BIO --

23 449

+2

Joseph Scelfo
North Carolina St 6'0"
294 BIO --

24 461

-5

Mark Spelman
Illinois St 6'2"
290 BIO --

25 462

-9

Austin Stephens
Utah St 6'3"
305 BIO --

26 463

-5

Riley Sorenson
Washington St 6'4"
327 BIO --

 

[jrry32]

I had an interesting thought on our Center problem. Forrest Lamp will likely be off the board by the second round. I was taking a look at the Packers' philosophy on the OL and noticed a guy who fits it (college LT + quality numbers in the agility drills). Dion Dawkins might be an option for us at C.

Kromer likes his OLs to be big and strong guys who can generate movement in the run game. Dawkins certainly fits that description. On top of that, he's an experienced LT who has the movement skills to stay outside in the NFL with the strength to move inside. That makes him a potentially highly effective player. To cap all of that off, Dawkins recently said that he's training at Center to make himself more valuable to NFL teams.

In McVay's scheme, the Center doesn't call protections. Thus, putting a rookie like Dawkins in there wouldn't be as problematic as it is in another scheme. It seems like an intriguing option considering Dawkins's talent, our need, and our OL Coach.

 

[OldSchool]

I had an interesting thought on our Center problem. Forrest Lamp will likely be off the board by the second round. I was taking a look at the Packers' philosophy on the OL and noticed a guy who fits it (college LT + quality numbers in the agility drills). Dion Dawkins might be an option for us at C.

Kromer likes his OLs to be big and strong guys who can generate movement in the run game. Dawkins certainly fits that description. On top of that, he's an experienced LT who has the movement skills to stay outside in the NFL with the strength to move inside. That makes him a potentially highly effective player. To cap all of that off, Dawkins recently said that he's training at Center to make himself more valuable to NFL teams.

In McVay's scheme, the Center doesn't call protections. Thus, putting a rookie like Dawkins in there wouldn't be as problematic as it is in another scheme. It seems like an intriguing option considering Dawkins's talent, our need, and our OL Coach.

Love Dawkins as a prospect but that's a big leap of faith in Kromer to make this happen.

 

[jrry32]

Love Dawkins as a prospect but that's a big leap of faith in Kromer to make this happen.

Is it any different than Forrest Lamp?

 

[OldSchool]

Is it any different than Forrest Lamp?

Different than making Lamp a center? No not really but I've mostly thought about him as a Guard in the NFL not a center.