David Newton: Elflein at C in 2022

[Khyber53]

13 minutes ago, mrcompletely11 said:

Centers are a dime a dozen in the draft

Not the good ones. They are terribly rare.

[Icege]

All joking aside, I'm leaning more towards the team rolling out Ekwonu-Christensen-Elflein-FA/Brown-Moton next season

[Mr. Scot]

1 minute ago, Icege said:

But he plays guard and defensive tackle too

Matt Rhule demands he be able to play at least four and a half different spots.

Edited January 18, 2022 by Mr. Scot

[Shocker]

30 minutes ago, Harbingers said:

Linderbaum or bust. 

He is undersized but talented.  We can’t pick him at 7 though.  He is a big reach there.  If he turns out to be Ryan Kahlil then great but Kahlil went second round.  Any center at 7 better come with no questions whatsoever 

Edited January 18, 2022 by Shocker

[Michael G]

From all I see D. Brown is a work in progress. He has good technique and is really powerful. He has decent feet for a guy his size. His issue at this level is conditioning I think. Can he maintain a healthy weight and play deep into games without too much of a dropoff due to getting gassed. With a good offseason and NFL team mates and staff checking in on him you'd have to hope he has a shot. We will see.

Elf is our back up Center next year I hope. I think you bring someone in to compete (not just Teck) or draft a young player and see what happens. You have to take a look at someone else though..you can't just stand pat. He has not proven to be good enough IMO.

[Jackie Lee]

9 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Linderbaum doesn't play enough positions.

Neither did BC in college but Rhules got him playing everywhere, he's even seriously adding Center to his repertoire for next year

[Smithers]

30 minutes ago, mrcompletely11 said:

Centers are a dime a dozen in the draft

Yet more than half of nfl teams need upgrades at the position 

[Icege]

14 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Matt Rhule demands he be able to play at least four and a half different spots.

Imagine if Matt Rhule had Nate Chandler on the roster.

Nevermind, don't do that.

It hurts.

[OldhamA]

19 minutes ago, AU-panther said:

Right now my money for next year would be either

High draft pick LT, BC or FA, Elflein, BC or FA, Moton

or

BC, Draft Pick/FA, Elflein, Draft Pick/FA, Moton

Also, I wouldn't get your hopes about Brown solidifying the RG spot.  It would save us some resources, but he was a late round pick for a reason.

 

Brown looked fat af when he saw the field.

He needs a major offseason conditioning programme to get him anything like. 

[Icege]

7 minutes ago, Shocker said:

He is undersized but talented.  We can’t pick him at 7 though.  He is a big reach there.  If he turns out to be Ryan Kahlil then great but Kahlil went second round.  Any center at 7 better come with no questions whatsoever 

The dude is already 290+ before an NFL S&C program. He's not undersized at all. Hell, Jason Kelce weighs less.

Let's not "arm length" ourselves out of another potential All-Pro OL pls.

[OldhamA]

8 minutes ago, Jackie Lee said:

Neither did BC in college but Rhules got him playing everywhere, he's even seriously adding Center to his repertoire for next year

Christensen got bullied whenever a DE bullrushed him at LT.

Y'all joke about those short arms not being a factor, but NFL DEs can get into his body and just manhandle him. He CAN play there, but it's never going to be pretty / dominant.

Whether he can be a finesse LG is another matter. Either way he's not nailed down a spot for 2022.

[MHS831]

29 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

I wish you were right, but I don't think Elflein was very good at center and really bad at guard. Injuries are also a knock on him. Since entering the league he's had to have surgeries on a shoulder and an ankle, has lost time (and team) due to a thumb injury and was out for part of this last season with a hamstring injury.

I'd look at carrying him as a back-up center (and perhaps backup guard), even though he has a high salary cap hit with us. He might be a good mentor for a rookie center. Paradis is probably gone but his dead money will linger on with us like a ghost of what should have been. 

I say we draft Tyler Linderbaum in the first round and lock things down. He might be the smallest center in the draft, but he has the resume and tape to make up for it. If he's gone, there's a lot of picks being made before we dive back in after the first round. 

What intrigues me is that we have Baylor's center, Jacob Gall is sitting out there for a late round draft pick possibility. I know, the Baylor thing, but Gall transferred from Buffalo to Baylor after Rhule left. At Buffalo he was grading out just below Linderbaum's performances (90.5 to 91.5 for Linderbaum). At 6'2" 305 he's a beefier choice. We could pick him up and have a real find there. Still, Linderbaum in the first is what we should do and only deviate from that if Linderbaum is gone. If he's out, grab the best tackle on the board.

And @MHS831, I disagree with one other thing. I hate seeing us keep trying to transition tackle prospects to the guard positions. I think it is one of the biggest problems we've traditionally had here. Tackles and guards, when assigned properly, are just wired differently from each other. It's bears and bulls: one stands and mauls, the other muscles and crashes. Tackles need length and lateral movement, guards need muscle, mass and a mean streak.

 

I agree, but this was not my opinion--based on this passage from David Newton: 

Quote

The Panthers need an offensive line and a quarterback to play behind it. You can't say one without the other here because both the line and quarterback Sam Darnold have been a failure this season. Coach Matt Rhule said he has to make a "true investment'' in the line this offseason. Outside of right tackle Taylor Moton and center Pat Elflein, this group needs a complete overhaul. Finding a replacement for Darnold, who has one year left on his deal, is just as vital for future success.

 

Quote

 

-- David Newton

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33080968/offseason-needs-priorities-all-32-nfl-teams-free-agency-2022-draft-targets-plus-coach-questions

[mrcompletely11]

34 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

Not the good ones. They are terribly rare.

I'll rephrase.  Centers better than pat e are a dime a dozen 

[Eazy-E]

I really like Nick Ford from Utah as a potential mid round pick. (Unless he kills the combine and shoots up draft boards)

He played really well for Utah at center and guard. Was first team all pac 12 the past two years.