People scoffed at the
Travis Frederick pick when it occurred. "First round is too early for a center!" was (and is) the thinking, but he started all 16 games as a rookie and acquitted himself well. It was a reach, but they got a solid player at a position of need. There have been worse crimes against football committed by Dallas general manager Jerry Jones.
Frederick does a great job of climbing and blocking people on the second level in the zone running game. He also has the quickness to consistently reach a shaded nose tackle without any help from a guard, which I think is one of two skills that separate the elite centers from players who are Just A Guy. The other skill is, of course, Lombardi trophies.
Just kidding, judging individual players on Super Bowl trophies is idiotic. The other skill is being able to hold up in pass protection against head-up nose tackles and walked-up linebackers without having guard help to either side. I don’t think Frederick is able to do that just yet.
Frederick can still struggle with bigger and stronger defensive tackles in one-on-one situations. Dontari Poe pushed him around when Kansas City played Dallas in Week 2, and he was hardly the only one. But overall there’s a lot more good than bad on his short resume. I’m not sure I’d want to put him one on one for an entire game against a top-10 defensive tackle, but I’d say his rookie season has to go down as an absolute success for Dallas.
