Don’t you need a center that does both well? Same for guard

Don’t you need a center that does both well? Same for guard
by Btd (2022-05-12 20:38:13)
Edited on 2022-05-12 20:41:11

In reply to: it depends on the types of fronts you play posted by jt

My theory is you are right - but then teams that have the ability do it will put a large NG on Zeke and drive him straight back off the ball a lot. This is similar to what happened to the Steelers last year with green at center. Except in the NFL they all can find a way to do it v in college only the elite teams can play either way if they see a hole to exploit.

Zeke might be able to handle whatever is thrown at him. We
Know Patterson can was my basic theory.

It remains true that if Rocco isn’t really ready to play at a high level that perhaps Patterson and Zeke plus Lugg/Kristoff are better than Patterson/Lugg/Kristoff. My sense is Rocco will get there and overall Zeke is the weakest link of the group at this instant - and that’s more because Patterson is a better center and we know the others already proved they are better guards than zeke.

teams are usually either even (4 man) or odd (3 man)

fronts. Sure, you can move a guy over to nose to play a 0 technique on the center, but then you have to change the LB responsibilities, etc. It's not as simple as just "hey, line up here."

Sure, some teams (like ND) can jump in and out of fronts, but that's the exception.

True - but across 12 games we have both

So do you need to be equally good against both? Even if only a Bama type team perhaps can be both to some extent - and for a bowl even more
So if they think we are weaker for one v other.

In any event - i guess I’m rooted in Holtz saying never move a star from
One spot to fill a different hole. You take one great and one weak spot and often create two weaker spots. But - OL does seem to be far more common for a player to shift spots across years. Bama had a center in 2012 that I think was AA at
More than one spot over his final two years, for example. We’ve also had LT that started at RT earlier, etc.

I don't think it is a 6/6 split

but maybe it is.

I don't know enough about the players to comment one way or the other. This is one of those areas where I trust the OL coach, at least until I see some game evidence one way or the other.