Coach Carter Conversing Centers

Brandel:

• Pass-Blocking: Scored 67.6. This ranked 14th among centers who played a starter's threshold of snaps (at least 240), and 16th among all 40 qualified league centers.

• Run-Blocking: Scored 61.9. This ranked 28th out of the 40 qualified NFL centers.

purplefaithful wrote:

Brandel:
Pass-Blocking: Scored 67.6. This ranked 14th among centers who played a starter's threshold of snaps (at least 240), and 16th among all 40 qualified league centers.
Run-Blocking: Scored 61.9. This ranked 28th out of the 40 qualified NFL centers.

Since he'd never played the position before, I'd expect those grades to go up this year.

RS_Express wrote:

Since he'd never played the position before, I'd expect those grades to go up this year.

DJ will be going into yr2, lots more experienced than a rook and hopefully we get the $80m Fries we all hoped for. All of that will help a C.

purplefaithful wrote:

DJ will be going into yr2, lots more experienced than a rook and hopefully we get the $80m Fries we all hoped for. All of that will help a C.

Was just thinking about DJ when he covered at LT for Ohio State. Acquitted himself quite well.

🤔

JustInTime wrote:

Was just thinking about DJ when he covered at LT for Ohio State. Acquitted himself quite well.
🤔

That was one for the ages!

Yah, he did quite well and what an act of unselfishness too.

purplefaithful wrote:

Brandel:
Pass-Blocking: Scored 67.6. This ranked 14th among centers who played a starter's threshold of snaps (at least 240), and 16th among all 40 qualified league centers.
Run-Blocking: Scored 61.9. This ranked 28th out of the 40 qualified NFL centers.

Bradbury was probably a better run blocker, but in 6 seasons as the Vikings starting center, he never once had a pass blocking grade as high as Brandel's last year.

Before Preseason starts I'll take some time and drop a thread on what I've learned watching him play in the last 15 years..

Looking thru that lens might provide some optimism.

For a lotta reasons I can see where this whole set up is gonna work better than what fans are expecting. It's also going to look different.

I'm not saying he's going to be All-Pro HOFer, I'm saying Brandel, Fries and especially Jackson will the best IOL the vikings will have had since 2009.

purplefaithful wrote:

Brandel:
Pass-Blocking: Scored 67.6. This ranked 14th among centers who played a starter's threshold of snaps (at least 240), and 16th among all 40 qualified league centers.
Run-Blocking: Scored 61.9. This ranked 28th out of the 40 qualified NFL centers.

This was Brandel's average PFF score, I believe for six games he started at C?

His first three games (remember, he had never started before at C before last season), were much lower. But I believe, (if I am not mistaken) that his PFF grade the last three games were over 80.

Two things about Brandel. #1, he had never started at C before last season. He spelled Ryan Kelly when Kelly first was knocked out with his first concussion, right? His PFF grades were marginal, but when he came back for three more games, his PFF grades were significantly improved. #2, did you realize how many positions he played last season? And where he ranked league-wide when he played at those other positions?

Left Tackle: 22 snaps, ranked 2nd

Left Guard: 141 snaps, ranked 1st

Center: 363 snaps, ranked 35th

Right Guard: 0 snaps

Right Tackle: 76 snaps, ranked 1st

Tight End: 2 snaps, ranked 5th

This is probably the most telling about his versatility and growth...not bad for the kid from Portland, Oregon (right Matty?)