Friday, January 26, 2018

The 2018 XFL Mock Draft - Center

In anticipation of Vince McMahon bringing the fun back to football (more concussions, woohoo!), Lukewarm Jonah and I went back and forth to do an XFL Draft. Instead of breaking this down round by round, we are going to go by position groups. Today, we finish the offensive line with the men in the middle, the Centers.

Center
Jonah: Nick Mangold, Jeremy Zuttah

Joe: Barrett Jones, David Molk

Joe: Finally, we finish with the centers who are kind of boring but are definitely the most reliable guys I have on my offensive line. Barrett Jones probably deserves to one day be in the college football Hall of Fame. He was a two-time consensus All-American, won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy for best offensive lineman in the SEC, the Outland Trophy for best college interior lineman, the Rimington Trophy for best college center, and the Jim Parker Trophy for best collegeiate offensive lineman. And he won three national titles while at Alabama. It is nearly impossible to find a more decorated offensive lineman. What about his pro career? Eh, let’s not talk about that.

David Molk can’t quite compete as he was only a one-time consensus All-American, a Rimington Trophy award winner, and named Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year. No matter who wins the starting job, we will have excellent leadership in the middle of our offensive line.

Jonah: More old stars on my offensive line.  Nick Mangold is probably the best center in the past 10 years.  He’s 33, but is seemingly healthy.  He was a salary cap casualty, and for some reason didn’t find another team to latch onto.  His work really speaks for itself, he’s a multiple time Pro Bowler and All Pro.

Just in case something happens with Mangold, I have Jeremy Zuttah on the roster too.  He can also play guard, can’t have enough talented guys who can play multiple positions.  He’s still kind of old at 31, but at that age he’s still got a few more good years left in him.  He’s started over 100 games in the NFL, and made the Pro Bowl one year.

Joe: I like the Mangold pick, because even though he isn’t an Olympian, his sister is, and honestly, I might keep her number on speed dial if you need another backup center. 
He’s been declining the past several years, but for a secondary league, he’s a good get. Zuttah is another very good pick for this. Center is probably your strongest position among the offensive line. 

Jonah: Transfering from college to professional sports is important, but again, being a standout college player is probably good enough to play well at XFL level competition.

For all of you that have been patiently waiting, we get to the defense next time, starting with the sackmasters at defensive end.

No comments:

Post a Comment