6. Brandon Linder, Jacksonville Jaguars
Some centers get their work done with pure quickness and agility without a lot of base strength, and as long as your offense jibes with that, it’s okay. Linder is decently agile, but what he really does well is use his power to latch on and embarrass defensive linemen — especially in the run game.
Some mighty fine rasslin' from Jaguars center Brandon Linder here. People in the league talk about Linder's punch specifically. pic.twitter.com/x2eDZ5Vwko
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) July 21, 2020
Last season, alternating between the unspectacular Nick Foles and promising rookie Gardner Minshew at quarterback, Linder gave up no sacks, no quarterback hits, and 12 quarterback hurries — not bad for a center in a deep-passing offense. Linder was busted for 13 penalties in 2019, but a cursory review of those calls reveals some specious decisions on the part of officiating crews. Linder and his coaches may want to advise the refs that when you can grab an opponent inside the numbers and throw him around within the rules… well, that’s not holding, guys.