Yakuza Rich: 4th Annual O-Line Statistical Rankings: CENTERS

[Yakuza Rich]

YR's 4th Annual O-Line Statistical Rankings: CENTERS
by Yakuza Rich
http://yakuzarich.blogspot.com/2009/01/yrs-4th-annual-o-line-statistical.html


Since 2005 I've created an O-Line statistical ranking for each team. I take all of the starting O-Linemen and rank them using a formula that consists of Penalty Yards Allowed, Sack Yards Allowed and then adding FootballOutsiders.com's "Adjusted Line Yards" based on the following zone responsibilities:

Left Tackle = Runs @ LT and Runs @ LE

Left Guard = Runs @ Mid/Guard and Runs @ LT

Center = Runs @ Mid/Guard

Right Guard = Runs @ Mid/Guard and Runs @ RT

Right Tackle = Runs @ RT and Runs @ RE

Obviously, I acknowledge the numerous holes in the methodology. And one of the problems I face is injuries and trying to figure out how to assign penalty yards and sack yards allowed, but I try to prorate the games started if I can.




Anyway, without further ado...here's my O-Line statistical rankings for CENTERS:




Rnk.............Player.......................Team


1..................Brad Meester......................Jacksonvile


2..................Jeff Faine............................New Orleans

3..................Ryan Kalil...........................Carolina


4..................Jason Brown.......................Baltimore

5..................Dan Koppen........................New England

6..................Eric Heitmann....................San Francisco


7..................Olin Kreutz.........................Chicago


8..................Casey Weigmann...............Denver


9..................Chris Myers.......................Houston


10...............Nick Mangold......................NY Jets


11................Hank Fraley.......................Cleveland


12................Nick Hardwick..................San Diego


13...............Kevin Mawae....................Tennessee


14...............Jeff Saturday.....................Indianapolis


15...............Todd McClure..................Atlanta


16...............John Goodwin...................New Orleans


17...............Jammal Jackson...............Philadelphia


18..............Lyle Sendlein.....................Arizona


19..............Matt Birk............................Minnesota


20...............Chris Spencer...................Seattle


21...............Justin Hartwig..................Pittsburgh


22...............Shaun O'Hara...................NY Giants


23..............Samson Satele...................Miami


24...............Eric Ghiaciuc....................Cincinnati


25...........Andre Gurode..............Dallas

26..............Chris Niswanger................Kansas City


27..............Melvin Fowler....................Buffalo


28.............Brett Romberg...................St. Louis


29..............Scott Wells.........................Green Bay


30............Jake Grove.........................Oakland


31..............Casey Rabach...................Washington


32.............Raiola/McCollum..............Detroit


Up Next, RIGHT TACKLES












YAKUZA

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

and we wonder WHY our offense looked garbage this year.

 

[Iago33]

Can Kosier play center? I've heard suggestions that he is better at line calls than Gurode (and that's part of the reason why we missed him so much--he couldn't help Gurode make the calls).

 

[HoosierCowboy]

this year our line was slow and sttod up, did not move their feet, and ended up reaching and holding too much--they need a coach to kick them in the rear or kick them off the team--they are too talented to be pathetic

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Remember, the blocking zone assignments for center are at mid/guard. That's also part of the assignment for Corey Procter. Last year Gurode finished 13th among centers. This year with Procter playing left guard, he finished 25th.

Also, we had a gimpy Marion Barber and if Dallas dumped that fake slant into a draw running play, it wouldn't be soon enough. Then we also had Brad Johnson in at QB and we were no threat to pass the ball so teams would just put 8 or 9 in the box, daring the team to throw the ball.

Gurode makes too many penalties for my tastes, but IMO he's still a quality center.



YAKUZA

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

this is WHY the owner/GM needs to kill all the Super Bowl talk....we are NOT the team he thinks we are. Key members of this coaching staff are young and inexperienced....the QB is STILL young...the chemistry is shaky...and our OL is overrated....take it week by week...count them up at the end....hopefully we have enough to make the playoffs...then WIN A PLAYOFF GAME! This is not a Hollywood movie...where you can fast forward to the Super Bowl. We are NOT who Jerry THINKS we are. And their are not quick fixes. Hard work...100% football....hard hat approach can cure this team. Bumping his gums in an effort to convince people to buy season tickets will not get it done. This is a results oriented business. Fans go by what they see...and what we see ain't nearly what he see's!

 

[dmq]

Glad Gurode is locked up, like the rest of our overpaid line.

 

[Shinywalrus]

Mid/Guard statistics are almost wholly irrelevant - way too many variables at play. You can get a little feel of individual OL performance from off-tackle runs, but not from this.

No, Gurode has his problems, but no one in the league handles nose tackles like he does.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Thanks for the time and effort you put into doing these YR. They are appreciated.

 

[BotchedLobotomy]

All I can say is that it's a good thing that botched snaps are not part of the equation or else he'd be ranked in the 40's even though there only 32 teams.

 

[AMERICAS_FAN]

Remember, the blocking zone assignments for center are at mid/guard. That's also part of the assignment for Corey Procter. Last year Gurode finished 13th among centers. This year with Procter playing left guard, he finished 25th.

Thats just further indication that we NEVER had a Pro-Bowler at Center last year; in fact, Gurode is average at best when you see the impact of not having Kossier next to him had on his game. And that's with Leonard "Bigg" Davis maning his other side both years. I was never sold on Gurode's selection to the Pro-Bowl last year, and I have often said that we need to upgrade the OL thruogh the draft, with our most pressing needs being at LT and Center, and in no particular order. Drafting or developing some backups would be nice too, but I do like what we have starting at LG in Kossier (with Holland backing), and with "Bigg" at RG, and Columbo at RT.

 

[dbair1967]

Gurode is definitely one of the top-5 C's in the league...he has a few little faults, but blocking is definitely not one of them.

 

[DragonCowboy]

Can he learn the snap count? Please?

And learn how to snap the friggin ball. You have all offseason.