FanPost

Still Bummed About Not Landing Jason Brown? Read This.

I know a lot of the regular Phinsider's here were pretty bummed to learn we didn't land Center Jason Brown.  His size enticed a lot of people, and many wanted to see a clear, tangible upgrade of Samson Satele if we were to replace him.  Some people became down right mad when we signed another center- Jake Grove - to a contract that didn't seem to be that much smaller than Brown's.  But is Jason Brown really as good as we thought he was?  To quote RZayo's boy Lee Corso - "Not so fast my friend."

Read this article over at PFT.  The title seems to be about the Ravens adding guys in Free Agency- who cares right?  But check out this bit at the end:

Gil Brandt of NFL.com gushes to Hensley about the short-term upgrade from Jason Brown to Birk.  “I think they got a really good player in Foxworth,” Brandt told Hensley.  “Brown is a guy everybody is hot on, but [Birk] is a Pro Bowl player.  I would say in the short term, Birk will be a better addition for the team than Brown.”

The Ravens agree; we’ve heard that the organization is blown away by Birk’s leadership skills and toughness, and they view Birk as a major upgrade from Brown — even though they realize that they’ll need to begin grooming someone to take over for Birk a few years down the road.

So a guy who is giving up 8 years and 11 lbs to Brown is not just a better leader (which would probably be a given) but is also lauded as being tougher?  The Ravens view him as a major upgrade DESPITE the fact that they will have to replace him in only a few short years at best?  Suddenly, I really don't mind missing out on Brown.

 

Just for you size-elitists out there- I did a compilation of the starting centers for the top 5 rushing teams in the league on a yards per carry basis- as well as the top 5 in Football Outsider's adjusted line yards for the Middle/Guard direction.

 

Centers for Best Rushing Teams by Yards per Carry
Rushing Rk  Team  Avg  Center Height Weight Age
1 New York Giants  5.0 Shaun O'Hara 6'-3" 303 lbs 31
2 Carolina Panthers  4.8 Ryan Kalil 6'-2" 295 lbs 23
2 Denver Broncos  4.8 Casey Wiegmann 6'-2" 285 lbs 35
2 Kansas City Chiefs  4.8 Rudy Niswanger 6'-5" 301 lbs 26
5 New York Jets 4.7 Nick Mangold 6'-4" 300 lbs 25
Average - - - 6'-3.2" 296.8 lbs 28

 

Centers for Best Rushing Teams by Adjusted Line Yards for Middle/Guard
Rushing Rk  Team  Avg  Center Height Weight Age
1 New York Giants  5.08 Shaun O'Hara 6'-3" 303 lbs 31
2 New England Patriots 5.01 Dan Koppen 6'-2" 296 lbs 29
3 New York Jets 4.78 Nick Mangold 6'-4" 300 lbs 25
4 Denver Broncos 4.69 Casey Wiegmann 6'-2" 285 lbs 35
5 Philidelphia Eagles 4.58 Jamaal Jackson 6'-4" 330 lbs 28
Average - - - 6'-3" 302.8 lbs 29.6

Only one guy up there is over even 305 lbs, the average height is 6'-3", and the average age is 28 or 29 years old.  The best rushing team in both cases, the Giants, have a center who is 31 years old, 6'-3", and 303 lbs.  Our own Jake Grove comes in at 6'-4", 300 lbs, and is 29 years old- just for the sake of comparison.

Sometimes guys- being the biggest isn't always the best.  Yes, a center has to have some size to him to be able to get push in the run game and hold up to big interior D-lineman.  But he also has to be one of the most athletic lineman of the group, and one of the most technically sound- maybe second only to the left tackle.  He has to be able to be bend properly at the knees, explode up once the ball has been snapped and get into his stance, have flexible hips to direct pass rushers away from the QB, and be able to pull on running plays to the outside.  Being a giant fatso can sometimes hamper a center's ability to do most of those things.  

Honestly, neither Grove nor Satele are far off from the most productive centers in the league last year.  Satele seems to be right on par with Pats starter Dan Koppen who is in the same division and plays (or at least practices against) the same monster NTs we do.  Grove can match up with any of these guys but Jamaal Jackson. 

All I'm saying here is, there is more to an elite center than just raw size- and the regime replacing Satele may have nothing to do with his height or weight.  Maybe they think his arms are too short, maybe they don't like his attitude, his toughness, or maybe he was constantly messing up line calls.  We will probably never know.  Likewise, we can't really say what they saw in Grove- but there could be any number of things they saw on tape that we haven't.

 

Also- before you accuse me of being a Jake Grove apologist or blind Trifecta follower - I was not a strong supporter of Brown OR Grove- I wanted to see us draft Mack if he fell to round 2, or Eric Wood out of Louisville as I feel either could have started out of camp, and would be viable for the next 10-15 years (and for a better price to boot).  The only reason I can think of that the regime didn't want to look at the draft is that they thought the D's we have to face next year are a bit too harsh to be breaking in a rookie Center (which does take some time to adjust to).

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Phinsider's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of The Phinsider writers or editors.