Offensive Center ~ Bret Treadway ~ Lamar Cardinals ~ 6036/294
The Gutters are riddled with the Corpses of Teams that were built around so-called "skill" Players ~ teams that delighted their Fantasy FootBall Fans every Year, all the way until January...until The Only Games That Really Matter.
It is then, of course, that the Capacity ~ or lack thereof ~ to Move The Chains and protect the QuarterBack against PlayOff Caliber Defenses rears its ugly head. And another Team built for Fantasy FootBall bites the dust.
This is how I break things down, when I'm evaluating Centers:
Power: Above all: Core Power. Torso Power is important, but Core Power, from the Knees to the Ribs, is absolutely crucial. All the upper body Strength in the world will still fail if you simply can't dig in your Heels. But Core Power enables an Offensive Lineman to project Power in the Running Game and to reject Power in the Passing Game.
Agility: Launch Velocity, Acceleration, and above all: Fluidity or Core Agility. Core Agility is even more essential to sustained good Health ~ and to sustained good FootBall ~ than Core Power. The ability to react with Serpentine smoothness is a tremendous Asset in all Aspects of the Game, and certainly in the Hand to Hand Combat that characterizes Trench Warfare. All the Power in the World goes only so far if you're lurching around like FrankenStein.
Frame: Vertical Leverage, Hands, Arm Length, and WingSpan.
Combat Skills: Horizontal Leverage, Paw Positioning, Paw Persistence, and FootWork.
Processing Speed: How quickly and effectively one Reads & Reacts to the Rapidly Roiling Tactical LandScape!!
Motor: Endurance and Drive: How much Work has been put into Conditioning, and how it manifests itself.
Run Blocking: Applying it all: Power, Agility, Frame, Combat Skills, Processing Speed, and Motor.
Pass Blocking: Power, Agility, Frame, Combat Skills, Processing Speed, and Motor.
Broken down into SubCategories, it'd go something like this:
Power
* Core Power ~ lower body Power. Core Power trumps Torso Power. Tyrannosaurus Rex had exceptional Core Power.
* Torso Power ~ upper Body Power. Important, but not crucial. T Rex had lousy Torso Power...yet was King.
* Anchoring Strength in the Passing Game. The capacity to Stand One's Ground.
* Drive Power in the Running Game. The capacity to drive your man back.
Agility
* Fluidity, above all things: Core Agility & Flexibility makes everything possible.
* Launch Velocity ~ Speed into Contact off the Snap.
* Acceleration ~ Short Speed or Quickness.
Frame
* Vertical Leverage. Height is crucial, but it's actually better, I believe, to be an Inch shorter than an Inch Taller.
* Hands. The larger the better, generally, but compact is never a bad Attribute in The Trenches.
* Arm Length. Absolutely crucial. He who boasts the longer Arms initiates Combat.
* WingSpan. Arm Length + Torso Width. A more complete Measurement.
Combat Skills
* Lateral Leverage. Angles. Getting Square or better with the Target.
* Paw Positioning ~ It's all about Angles & Leverage.
* Paw Persistence ~ RPMs: Activity & Persistence.
* FootWork ~ RPMs: Activity & Persistence.
Processing Speed
* Reading & Reacting to Defensive Schemes & Stunts quickly and effectively.
* Field Vision: Finding Targets & approaching them effectively.
Motor
* Intensity.
* Duration.
Run Blocking
* Power ~ Drive Power to project Power in the Running Game.
* Agility ~ especially Acceleration DownField or to the Flank.
* Frame ~ especially Vertical Leverage.
* Combat Skills.
* Processing Speed.
* Motor.
Pass Blocking
* Power ~ Anchoring Strength to reject Power in the Passing Game.
* Agility ~ especially Fluidity to Mirror the Pass Rusher.
* Frame ~ especially WingSpan.
* Combat Skills.
* Processing Speed.
* Motor.
Power: Marginal. Lacks both Anchoring Strength and Drive Power. Guard who'll need to convert to Center. Tremendous Pro Day Numbers ~ Bench Press, Vertical and Broad Jumps ~ suggest, however, that there may be considerable Intrinsic Power to work with. Perhaps NFL Strength Coaching might help transform it into Functional Power.
Agility: Phenomenal. Sensational Launch Velocity. Extraordinary Fluidity. Outstanding Acceleration and excellent Speed.
Frame: Marginal. I'm going By Eye, mind you, but his WingSpan looks a bit short. His Height is all right.
Combat Skills: Tremendous, in all regards: Positioning, Lateral Leverage, Persistence, and FootWork. It's actually kind of shocking, how well developed Treadway's Combat Skills are for a Division 73 Prospect.
Processing Speed: Phenomenal, both deciphering Defenses in Pass Protection and finding Targets in the Run Game.
Motor: Awesome. Outstanding Intensity and phenomenal Stamina.
Run Blocking: Marginal for a Power Scheme, but Effective and potentially extraordinary in Zone. Treadway's marginal Power will be a Liability in any Scheme, but dramatically less so in Zone, where he's far more likely to have a Partner on Combo Blocks or to Chip before heading DownField. And his amazing combination of physical and mental Speed, fueled by that awesome Motor is his, translates into Treadway covering a lot of Turf quickly and effectively, wreaking Havoc Behind Enemy Lines, and routinely tearing Holes in Defenses on either Flank or DownField in the Running Game. An additional Advantage is that he'll often be able to get up a Full Head of Steam before Impact, creating Force with Speed in lieu of Power!! And his Combat Skills are only going to get even better with professional NFL level Training.
Pass Blocking: Effective and potentially excellent. Power and WingSpan are two Liabilities, so he'll need Help against the more powerful Defensive Tackles, but Launch Velocity and Fluidity will be enormous Strengths against Speed, and Processing Speed and Field Vision will also be great Assets against Delayed Blitzes and other Phuckery.
The Irony of digging deep into Division 37 for Prospects is that I usually have to spend a lot more Time on'm than I do on more prominent Prospects, because instead of flying through compressed Videos focused on that particular Prospect, thanks to the wonderful Work done by those phenomenal Folks at Draft BreakDown, I'm jumping in and out of entire Games on YouTube, repeatedly clicking here and clicking there, trying to find the right spot to review a Snap a few additional times and spending a lot of Time doing so, 'cause there ain't no FastForward or Rewind on YouTube!!
But it's worth it!!
Bret Treadway might very well wash out'f the League before ever playing a Snap, because his Power is a huge Liability and his WingSpan appears to be something of a Liability, too...But his Fluidity, Speed, and above all his Launch Velocity are phenomenal, and his Intangible ~ Intelligence, Motor, and Combat Skills ~ are simply sensational.
Even if he doesn't find a way to develop sufficient Core Power, Treadway has the look, at the very least, of a guy who'll add considerable Special Teams Value while having the ability to step in at Center for a Zone Scheme Team, and, quite conceivably, win the Starting Job on a Zone Scheme Team and excel at it, both in the Pass and in the Run.
His explosive Agility, his Combat Skills, and his Processing Speed, all tell me that he was created to convert from Offensive Guard to Center, and serve as the Line General, Last Line of Defense against Delayed Blitzes an other such Defensive Hornswoggling, and lead the Charge on Traps, Pulls, and other Maneuvers, tearing open gaping Holes in Defense's Flanks on some Run and right up their Gut on others, wreaking Terror and Havoc, behind Enemy Lines!!
And if his Frame does prove able to Beef Up and develop better Core Power??
He could be a Force.
Grateful Thanks, as always, for the crucial Work done by the folks at Draft BreakDown!
Market Value UFA | Yankee Grade 4th/5th Round |
This is not is even remotely a Complaint, mind you, but rather a Warning: Caveat Emptor!!