Despite being the top-ranked center on nearly everybody’s boards going into the 2022 NFL Draft, Iowa lineman Tyler Linderbaum may not hear his name called on Day 1 of the draft. According to Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network, not one team he spoken to has a first-round grade on Linderbaum.
Analysts’ early looks haven’t quite reflected this grade. Dane Brugler of The Athletic has Linderbaum as his 17th best overall prospect, placing him firmly as a first-round talent. Daniel Jeremiah’s most recent rankings are a bit more in line with Pauline’s assertion, placing Linderbaum as the 32nd best prospect in the draft, a borderline first-rounder. Pauline said that every team had early second-round grades on the 22-year-old.
The top center in last year’s draft was Alabama’s Landon Dickerson, who was chosen by the Eagles with the fifth pick of the second round. In 2020, Michigan’s Cesar Ruiz was taken by New Orleans with the 24th pick of the first round. Both players have spent most of their playing time at guard, starting most games for their respective clubs. Before that, Garrett Bradbury was selected by the Vikings with the 18th overall pick in 2019. Frank Ragnow and Billy Price were chosen with back-to-back picks by the Lions and Bengals, respectively, the year before. While Price no longer wears orange and black after being traded to the Giants, all three have become starting centers, with Ragnow earning Pro Bowl honors at the position.
All this to say that returns on top-drafted centers are hard to read. Some end up as utility interior linemen on teams with already established centers; Ruiz shifted to the side of Erik McCoy, and Dickerson playing around Jason Kelce. They may be the heir apparents once their predecessors depart, but for now they’re too talented to keep off the field. Price lost his starting center position in Cincinnati but regained snapping duties in New York. Bradbury and Ragnow have both been solid to good starters for middling teams.
There may just not be a huge need for centers right now. Like quarterbacks, a team only utilizes one center on a regular basis, meaning there are usually no more than 32 starting jobs in the league. If every team is completely comfortable with its situation in the middle, then a first-round pick might be too high a price to bring in Linderbaum. Yet, seeing how consistently Rimington Trophy finalists have come in and produced, this could just be a reflection of how teams view his talent. Linderbaum may just be a Day 2 pick.
Pauline also reported that his research of teams’ offensive line boards show college tackles like Kentucky’s Darian Kinnard, UCLA’s Sean Rhyan, Central Michigan’s Luke Goedeke and North Dakota State’s Cordell Volson as guards on most teams’ boards. This is not entirely uncommon, especially for Goedeke and Volson being from smaller market schools. Being a dominant offensive tackle at the NFL level demands much more than at the college level. Consistent pressure from NFL-sized defensive linemen requires size, strength and length that aren’t always necessary in the NCAA. It’s fairly commonplace to see good tackles who maybe aren’t first-round talents make their cases as larger guards with frequent success.
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