Cowboyszone Report Card... Andre Gurode...GPA = 2.21

[Hostile]

Oops. I forgot to make the votes public. Sorry folks.

Grade Andre.

 

[Everlastingxxx]

I can only go by what my eyes see. I am likely wrong because he continues to make the probowl (reputation?). He is the leader of an offensive line that always seemed confused on who to block.

 

[Hagman]

This is the greatest mystery to me as a fan. Andre repeatedly makes it to the Pro Bowl, and has been named All Pro several times. Yet I don't have a lot of respect for him as a center. The basic job of a center to me is to snap the damn ball. I don't know how many times I've seen him flub the snap, or cause a procedure call because he forgot the snap. Maybe because as a typical fan I follow the ball in the hands of the QB, running backs and wide receivers and don't pay attention to what the center does afterwards. Or, maybe, it's like a Roy Williams (31) situation who somehow conned the voters into selecting him to go to Pro Bowls long after he out and out sucked in the backfield and those Pro Bowl voters don't watch centers any more carefully than I do.

My heart says F for the fumbled snaps, empirical evidence seems to counter that.

Oh, heck, make it a C.

 

[5Stars]

:bang2:


This is another hard one. I give him a C...but, I still can picture the few times that Romo/Kitna were waving, whistling, sending him a text message, trying to call his cell phone...to..,snap the damn ball already!!

At least he's not in a band like the fools to his right!

 

[casmith07]

C. He's steady, but not special. Not anymore, at least.

 

[5Stars]

This is the greatest mystery to me as a fan. Andre repeatedly makes it to the Pro Bowl, and has been named All Pro several times. Yet I don't have a lot of respect for him as a center. The basic job of a center to me is to snap the damn ball. I don't know how many times I've seen him flub the snap, or cause a procedure call because he forgot the snap. Maybe because as a typical fan I follow the ball in the hands of the QB, running backs and wide receivers and don't pay attention to what the center does afterwards. Or, maybe, it's like a Roy Williams (31) situation who somehow conned the voters into selecting him to go to Pro Bowls long after he out and out sucked in the backfield and those Pro Bowl voters don't watch centers any more carefully than I do.

My heart says F for the fumbled snaps, empirical evidence seems to counter that.

Oh, heck, make it a C.

:laugh2: You read my mind....

 

[casmith07]

I can only go by what my eyes see. I am likely wrong because he continues to make the probowl (reputation?). He is the leader of an offensive line that always seemed confused on who to block.

This is the greatest mystery to me as a fan. Andre repeatedly makes it to the Pro Bowl, and has been named All Pro several times. Yet I don't have a lot of respect for him as a center. The basic job of a center to me is to snap the damn ball. I don't know how many times I've seen him flub the snap, or cause a procedure call because he forgot the snap. Maybe because as a typical fan I follow the ball in the hands of the QB, running backs and wide receivers and don't pay attention to what the center does afterwards. Or, maybe, it's like a Roy Williams (31) situation who somehow conned the voters into selecting him to go to Pro Bowls long after he out and out sucked in the backfield and those Pro Bowl voters don't watch centers any more carefully than I do.

My heart says F for the fumbled snaps, empirical evidence seems to counter that.

Oh, heck, make it a C.

The thing is, Andre Gurode has not made the Pro Bowl lately on account of the fan vote. He is always voted in by his peers.

I think that speaks volumes about his level of play - obviously that means that offensive as well as defensive players think he's Pro Bowl worthy.

As far as the fan test goes, however, he has far too many botched snaps, even this year, in order for me to grade him any higher than I did.

 

[baj1dallas]

B for me. He's still a very good blocker. Maybe the best blocking center in the league. You almost never see him lose a one on one battle and when he double teams somebody, that guy is usually out of the play. imo his blocking is an A, but he does make some pretty noticeable mistakes which bring down his total. But he's vastly underappreciated by the fan base here. I don't believe he makes an exorbitant amount more mistakes than most centers, yet he's much more athletic and a better blocker than many of them.

 

[67CowboysFan]

I gave him a d. His main job is to snap the ball. He should do that flawlessly. Something he hasn't even come close to doing the past few years.

 

[5Stars]

I gave him a d. His main job is to snap the ball. He should do that flawlessly. Something he hasn't even come close to doing the past few years.

What? Don't you think it's funny when he snaps the ball over Romo's head, and then watch Romo run 25 yards backfield trying to find the damn ball?

That's some funny stuff tight there!

:laugh2:

 

[Stautner]

C for me. HE's part of an oversized, slow footed duo in the middle of the line (with Davis). Vulnerable to quicker players penetrating up the middle, and we have had trouble for two years getting enough push to get 1st downs/TD's on 3rd and short up the middle. Between him and Davis at over 700 pounds collectively they should be able to get a push in short yardage situations, otherwise what is the point of have just massive players on the line. If we can't get a push we might as well use small, quicker players who can at least get position.

 

[67CowboysFan]

C for me. HE's part of an oversized, slow footed duo in the middle of the line (with Davis). Vulnerable to quicker players penetrating up the middle, and we have had trouble for two years getting enough push to get 1st downs/TD's on 3rd and short up the middle. Between him and Davis at over 700 pounds collectively they should be able to get a push in short yardage situations, otherwise what is the point of have just massive players on the line. If we can't get a push we might as well use small, quicker players who can at least get position.

His feet do move fast when he is stepping on Kitna's feet. How many times did we see that last season?

 

[jobberone]

I gave him a B. He's one of the most maligned players on the team. Granted his poor snaps are cause for concern. But his snaps have improved. I don't like our short yardage situation. I blame the entire line for it.

 

[CowboyMike]

B.

Andre is still an absolute mauler at the point of attack. Once he gets his hands on his guy, it's game over.

He is smarter and better at making line calls than many around here give him credit for, and he has improved drastically on his snaps from a couple years ago, especially in the shotgun. A lot of people think Kosier makes the line calls, but we didn't have a problem when Kosier was out. Andre did just fine, which makes me think that claim is untrue, and Andre makes the calls.

Bill Parcells would not have made Andre his starting center if Andre didn't know how to make the calls. That was his big gripe about him when he first got here, and he didn't start full time until he learned.

Plus, despite what many here seem to think, who is better in the NFL than Gurode? I can think of two or three, maybe, but that's it. Andre is a Top 5 center in the league.

He still has the tendency to whiff on a guy here or there, as do all centers, and that is why I give him a B.

 

[Doomsay]

I think in the end, you have to ask yourself how the OL did in general. There is no question that they were among the worst performing units on the team. I'd find it difficult to grade them collectively above a D+, so the individual grades should somehow reflect that. AG one-on-one was pretty solid (un-rogers-like) but it seemed like his reads were poor, and as a caller it would be hard to give him more than a C. Hope he gets a better cast to work with this season, so that his reads aren't so critical.

 

[Plankton]

C. May be the best center in the league in handling a NT playing face up on him. Also, may be pound for pound the dumbest player on a dumb football team. How this guy can routinely forget the snap count is beyond me. They need to groom his replacement soon.

 

[Stautner]

B.

Andre is still an absolute mauler at the point of attack. Once he gets his hands on his guy, it's game over.

Then how do you explain the fact that we can't get enough push up the middle to gain a foot on 3rd and short? Maybe the problem is that Andre rarely actually gets hands on his guy?

 

[big dog cowboy]

C. He's steady, but not special. Not anymore, at least.

 

[StanleySpadowski]

Gurode making the Pro Bowl was the biggest sham since Raffy Palmiero winning a Gold Glove.

The day he's not the starting center is the day Dallas' offense takes the next step and becomes something special.

 

[percyhoward]

We were 4th in the NFL in 10+ yard runs up the middle, but 23rd in short yardage up the middle. While I think most of those 10+ yarders came from spreading out defenses by running from passing formations and/or in passing situations, obviously Gurode deserves some credit for doing his job on those plays.

Is it Gurode's line calls that are responsible for the line's breakdowns in blitz pickup, or is it the fault of the rest of the line? I've seen enough confusion on his part to form the opinion that at least some of it is on him. Are Gurode and Davis the ones who are solely responsible for the failures of short yardage runs to the strong side, or do Barber and Choice share in the blame, along with Garrett for calling power runs in that direction too often in those situations? Again, same answer. Some of it has to be on Gurode.

As Denzell Washington said, "Yeah, it stinks bad. And we all covered up in it too. Ain't nobody clean."

Ice Cream is Tasty, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with you this time.

"C."