Tag: JC Tretter

The NFL’s 11 best centers

Centers are the underrated captains of any NFL offense. Here are the 11 best in the game today.

A good center is the unheralded captain of an offense. While we all talk about skill position players, and maybe throw in the names of a few marquee offensive tackles if we’re feeling particularly smart, interior offensive linemen are crucial to the implementation of any offensive design.

And centers are just as important as anybody. Not that it’s a pleasant job at times. Imagine you’re an NFL center. You have to have all the plays in your head as much as (or more than) your quarterback does. Most often, you’re in charge of the adjustment calls that tell other blockers how to switch their blocking patterns to merge with defensive line changes. You have to know all your single-blocks, all your combo blocks, and you have to be ruthlessly accurate when hitting the second and third levels of a defense to block linebackers and defensive backs on certain plays — sweeps, screens, and more.

Oh, and there’s also the matter of getting the ball to the quarterback, whether he’s under center, in the pistol formation, or in straight shotgun, with at least one gigantic defensive tackle aligned to one of your shoulders or head-to-head. You have mere milliseconds to snap the ball before those one or more gigantic defensive tackles come down on you with the hammer of the gods.

Few jobs in sports test one’s mental acumen and physical endurance on every play more than this one. Centers never get the attention they deserve, but at Touchdown Wire, we’re out to change that. Here, after poring over advanced metrics and watching a lot of tape, are the top 11 centers heading into the 2020 NFL season.

Honorable Mentions

(Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

Rodney Hudson was Kansas City’s center from 2011-2014, Mitch Morse replaced Hudson in that role in 2015 and held it through 2018, so we should definitely keep an eye on Austin Reiter, who helped the Chiefs win their first Super Bowl in 50 years as Morse’s replacement. Both Hudson and Morse are on this list, and Reiter could certainly find himself there soon — he allowed just 11 total pressures on a league-leading 835 pass-blocking snaps in the 2019 season, and if he’s able to improve his run-blocking, the sky’s the limit. The Jets signed former Broncos center Connor McGovern  (not to be confused with current Cowboys guard Connor McGovern) to a three-year, $27 million deal this offseason, and McGovern should be a great addition to a line in desperate need of help just about everywhere. For all their quarterback issues, the Bears have two linemen — James Daniels and Cody Whitehair — who have been excellent centers through their times in the Windy City. Washington’s Chase Roullier, a sixth-round pick out of Wyoming in the 2017 draft, is another young center to watch. Tampa Bay’s Ryan Jensen was a particularly tough omission, as he pass-blocked very well in an unpredictable deep-passing offense, and should be even more efficient in the switch from Jameis Winston to Tom Brady.

Now, on to the top 11.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10, Page 11

Drew Brees, Saints leadership call out NFL’s COVID-19 response

New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees and teammates Malcolm Jenkins, Demario Davis, and Michael Thomas criticized the NFL’s handling of COVID-19.

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Drew Brees joined many of his New Orleans Saints teammates in putting the NFL on blast for its response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, lending their voices to a wide range of posts from members of the NFL Players Association.

According to NFLPA President JC Tretter, these messages are protesting the league’s lackluster response to expert recommendations in the interest of player health and safety. One example cited by Bleacher Report’s Master Tesfatsion is a lack of NFL policy should a team facility record multiple infections, or if a player or their family member becomes seriously ill. That’s in addition to possible impacts on the NFL salary cap in future years due to depressed revenue in the 2020 fiscal year, which could end up costing players jobs.

Another snag in negotiations was brought up by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero; a joint medical committee suggested the NFL institute a 21-day acclimation period before training camp so that everyone can adjust to new health and safety protocols, but league ownership wants to limit that to just 14 days. Additionally, the players union wants to eliminate preseason games altogether, while the NFL is set on shortening the exhibition series to just two weeks of games.

All of these points of contention and more were raised by Brees, Malcolm Jenkins, Michael Thomas, Demario Davis, and other big names in New Orleans and around the NFL. Regardless of their personal focuses, the central point remains the same from all of them: they want to play, but with the assurance that the NFL is doing everything it can and using all of its resources to protect people.

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NFLPA Director DeMaurice Smith: NFL team doctors believe it’s safe to hold training camps

NFLPA director DeMaurice Smith said NFL team doctors told the player’s association they believe it’s safe to hold training camps

A conference call held on Friday between members of the Pro Football Writers of America and the leadership of the NFLPA covered many bases. One of the key takeaways I got from the call: the union got clearance from team doctors that it is safe to open training camps.

NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith, Assistant Executive Director of External Affairs George Atallah, and President JC Tretter repped the players’ association. Smith took the lead when the subject of reporting for training camp came up.

Smith stated that in a conference call with some NFL team doctors on Thursday, the message was that it will be safe to proceed with opening training camps as early as next week, per the doctors. He noted the doctors had “a couple reservations” about resuming work, but that their overall opinion is that there is no medical reason not to commence camps.

Both Smith and Tretter stated several times during the 90-minute call that “player safety comes first”, and Tretter expressed the concern of many players about traveling to camps. Rookies are set to report for the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans next weekend, with other teams set to follow in the subsequent week.

Earlier in the day, the Colorado Dept. of Health approved the Broncos plans for holding training camp and making accommodations for the COVID-19 pandemic. The Browns camp in Berea is subject to local pandemic jurisdiction, but as of now the state of Ohio has not barred the activities.

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JC Tretter: ‘My job has gotten more dangerous’ with COVID-19

Browns center and NFLPA president JC Tretter: ‘My job has gotten more dangerous’ with COVID-19

JC Tretter took off his hat as the starting center for the Cleveland Browns and donned his cap as the NFLPA president on Friday. In a conference call with media that also included NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and assistant George Atallah, Tretter talked frankly about the lingering issues still holding up the negotiations between the NFL and the players before they report to training camps later this month.

One thing was made crystal clear, consistently reiterated throughout the call: player safety is the only issue that really matters to the NFLPA. Without ensuring player safety, nothing else matters.

Tretter noted that many players have expressed concern over flying from “safer areas” into noted hotspots, including Miami and Houston, to begin training camp. Tretter cited the serious concerns from family members guiding the players’ trepidation.

Later, he added a personal spin on his own concerns of playing center, in very close proximity with many other players.

“My job has gotten more dangerous. This is going to be a battle of risk mitigation and try to stay as safe as possible,” Tretter stated. “We are all at risk, our families are at risk.”

To reinforce the family aspect, veteran Rams LT Andrew Whitworth shared his personal story that included his own positive diagnosis for COVID-19 and how it spread to his kids and his in-laws.

He also expressed serious concern for player injuries, noting that many players have not had access to traditional offseason workouts and gyms.

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NFL and players discussing potential for opting out due to COVID-19

The NFL and NFLPA are working on a plan to allow players to opt-out of the 2020 season without penalty due to the COVID-19 pandemic

One of the big issues facing the NFL in a return to the field in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic is what to do with players who don’t believe it’s safe enough for them to participate. The concept of players being able to opt-out is a hot topic with the NFLPA in their negotiations with the league to set up the parameters for training camp later this month.

According to the NFL Network, the owners and players are indeed working on a solution that would allow players to opt against playing without any penalty.

“My understanding is both the union and the league intend to have an opt-out for players who have either a pre-existing condition, family (members) with pre-existing conditions, just general concerns over COVID-19, would not want to play this season,” Tom Pelissero reported on the NFL Network on Wednesday. “General managers were told on a call earlier this week there would be a specific date by which players would need to opt-out. That date is still to be determined.”

NFLPA president, Browns center JC Tretter has brought up the idea in a couple of different interviews on the potential to return to the field as well. It’s something other sports have already had to deal with, notably in the NBA with several prominent players sitting out for personal health and safety reasons.

Training camps are still scheduled to kick off later this month, albeit with severely limited media access and no fans in attendance.

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NFLPA president says NFL will jeopardize season if it ‘prioritizes normalcy over innovation’

“It has been clear for months that we need to find a way to fit football inside the world of coronavirus,” JC Tretter said.

In an article published this week, NFLPA president JC Tretter noted that  injuries increased 25% and hamstring strains went up 44% after an extended lockout during the 2011 offseason.

Taking those numbers into consideration, the NFLPA has requested an extended training camp period and no preseason games this year. Here’s part of Tretter’s article that was published on the NFLPA’s website:

As a preventative measure during the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFLPA and NFL formed a Joint Committee of doctors, trainers and strength coaches to develop protocols designed to bring players up to full speed in a healthy way when they return. The NFL initially accepted and implemented the Joint Committee’s suggestions, including items like no joint practices and no fans at training camp. However, the NFL was unwilling to follow the Joint Committee’s recommendation of a 48-day training camp schedule. Despite these experts’ assessment that teams face a serious risk of player-injury spikes this year (based on past NFL data and recent findings from sports leagues that have already returned to play this year), the NFL is unwilling to prioritize player safety and believes that the virus will bend to football.

As of now, the league is planning to have two preseason games per team in August. Tretter argues that players need more time to physically prepare for the season, not exhibition games.

“It has been clear for months that we need to find a way to fit football inside the world of coronavirus,” Tretter said. “Making decisions outside that lens is both dangerous and irresponsible.”

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Thomas Morstead: NFL must adapt, ‘can’t bend the virus to football’

New Orleans Saints punter Thomas Morstead was critical of the NFL’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, showing concern for player safety.

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All-world New Orleans Saints punter Thomas Morstead can be counted among the group of players who are anxious to see how the NFL adapts to the novel coronavirus pandemic before its 2020 season gets on the move. The public health crisis has already impacted the NFL’s offseason calendar by canceling organized team activities earlier in the summer as well as the first and final weeks of preseason games. Further changes are expected as the situation develops.

Morstead responded to a public letter from NFL Players Association President JC Tretter, in which Tretter expressed frustration at the NFL’s response to the pandemic. Morstead pointed out that, “You can’t bend the virus to football. You have to bend football to the virus.”

That’s an important point to remember in a full-contact sport like football, which requires rosters bigger than those found in other professional sports like basketball or baseball — both of which are already grappling with how to handle coronavirus infections before they can resume their own 2020 seasons. With NFL training camp just weeks away, the clock is ticking louder on the league and the NFLPA to find ways to get to business safely.

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NFL, NFLPA fight over preseason games ‘just getting started’

The league has told clubs to proceed as scheduled with the start of camp, but the players union has a different kind of preseason in mind.

With less than three weeks to go before NFL teams are scheduled to report to their facilities for training camp, there’s some mixed messaging happening regarding the 2020 preseason.

On Monday, team general managers and coaches were told that camp dates “should remain as scheduled,” according to NFL.com. But what actually happens once players report- on July 28 for most clubs- is now a matter of debate. And the debate is heating up quickly.

If the players have their way, there won’t be 2020 preseason games at all. Their union representatives have voted unanimously to cancel all preseason games this year.

The Hall of Fame Game, originally slated for August 6 and featuring the Cowboys and Steelers, was canceled late last month. Last week, word trickled out that Weeks 1 and 4 of the preseason would be scrapped as well, although that move still has not been made official. Playing just two exhibition contests would allow both a longer ramp-up for rosters before live game action and a longer cool-down before the regular season, as clubs navigate new Covid procedures.

“The league does not believe it needs the union’s approval to set its preseason schedule,” ESPN’s Dan Graziano notes, “although the players would argue that the changes in work rules brought on by the pandemic allow them the right to be involved in the decision.”

To that end, the NFL Players Association has proposed its own four-stage preparation plan that would replace the traditional slate of preseason games.

As per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero:

“The first stage would be medical physicals for all players upon reporting to camp, which would last three days. The following 21 days would make up the second stage, a strength and conditioning program to prepare the players’ bodies for a return to football activity. From there, teams would move to a third stage that would resemble OTAs in which players would participate in 10 days of non-contact, non-padded practices before eventually shifting to a 14-day fourth stage that would be focused on what camp traditionally looks like, with potentially 10 total practices with a maximum of eight padded practices.

“That total of 48 days would immediately precede Week 1, replacing preseason games with the longer preparation period desired by the NFLPA.”

While the players- and most fans- wouldn’t exactly miss games that don’t count, the league’s owners have long clung to them as bonus moneymaking events at their stadiums’ turnstiles and are reluctant to simply give them up, even under the extraordinary circumstances of a global pandemic. Under a two-game preseason format, discussions had been in the works to give each team one home and one away game as a way to not only placate owners, but also to allow each stadium crew a dry run of Covid procedures and give each team a chance to practice travel logistics.

The Cowboys are slated to face the Ravens and the Chiefs in Weeks 2 and 3 of the preseason, respectively. Both were initially to be home games played at AT&T Stadium.

But now, with the league telling teams to stay on schedule and the players union proposing an entirely alternate preseason itinerary, things could get heated as the dog days of summer approach.

NFLPA president and Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter had this to say in a blogpost explaining the union’s recommendation to nix preseason games.

“Every decision this year that prioritizes normalcy over innovation, custom over science or even football over health, significantly reduces our chances of completing the full season.

“We don’t want to merely return to work and have the season shut down before we even get started. The NFLPA will do its part to advocate for player safety. We will continue to hold the NFL accountable and demand that the league use data, science and the recommendations of its own medical experts to make decisions. It has been clear for months that we need to find a way to fit football inside the world of coronavirus. Making decisions outside that lens is both dangerous and irresponsible.”

While at the time of this writing, there has been no official response from the league, the stage is potentially being set for a major standoff before anyone even straps on shoulder pads.

Pelissero puts it plainly: “A fight with the NFLPA over preseason games is just getting started.”

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JC Tretter sounds the alarm against NFL players rushing back to play

Browns center and NFLPA president JC Tretter cautioned that players are not yet safe to return to work

Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter is the president of the NFL player’s union, and in that capacity he issued a somber warning that football might not be ready to roll on schedule.

Tretter made it clear the players will not rush back just to play football for fans’ amusement. And he indicated there is a way to go before the players and owners agree on how to keep the inherently dangerous contact sport as safe as possible in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

From his open letter on the NFLPA page,

It is the responsibility of the employer to provide a safe work environment. I encourage all workers to hold their employers accountable to high standards. More so than any other sport, the game of football is the perfect storm for virus transmission. There are protections, both short and long term, that must be agreed upon before we can safely return to work. The NFLPA will be diligent as we demand that the NFL provide us the safest workplace possible.

That is an ominous warning that the NFLPA is not yet comfortable with getting back on the field right now.

Tretter noted the worry many players have about their families, as well as some players who are immunocompromised and their increased risk if they contract the coronavirus. Those concerns have led some players in other sports, notably Los Angeles Lakers starter Avery Bradley, to refuse to return to work.

Training camp is still scheduled to begin in late July but that seems in some peril based on Tretter’s letter.

JC Tretter: Football ‘is a game that is almost built to pass this virus’

Browns center and NFLPA president JC Tretter: Football ‘is a game that is almost built to pass this virus’

Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter is at the forefront of the league’s adjustments to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As the president of the NFLPA, Tretter has been actively involved in working with the NFL to develop the strategies to get back on the field in a safe manner.

In an interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio this week, Tretter talked about the very real dangers the logistics of football puts on the players on the field.

“This is a game that is almost built to pass this virus,” Tretter said. “In the trenches, pretty much every play you’re getting someone who spits on your face when you’re (an) offensive/defensive lineman. You’re a foot away from each other all the time.”

Tretter continued,

“You’re almost having to rethink everything you’re doing on the field and how you can keep players safe.”

He also talked about how the teams handle practices and the locker room scenarios in the era of social distancing, noting that “packing guys into the weight room, packing guys into meeting rooms” is not the best way to prevent transmission of COVID-19.

Tretter emphasized, “The players will have to feel safe” and their families must as well before the game can go forward.

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