Projecting success at center no easy task

ThetoptwocenterprospectsintheClassof2013haveplentyincommon.

Killeen(Texas)HarkerHeights'DariusJamesandMarietta(Ga.)Walton'sBrandonKublanowbothhavetheintelligencethatcoachesdemandattheposition.Bothplaywithaphysicalstyle.Bothareversatile.

Oh,andthere'soneotherthing:Neitherplayscenterfull-timeforhishighschoolteam.

KublanowsaidhemainlyplayedguardatWaltonlastseason,thoughhefeelscomfortableatanypositionontheoffensiveline.Jamesmovedfromcentertoguardforthelastfewgamesofhisjunioryearandmayplaymoreguardthancenterthisfall.

"It'sjustwheretheyneedmethemost,"Kublanowsaidinregardtohisposition.

Thefactthatthenation'stoptwocenterprospectsaren'tfull-timecentersinhighschoolisunderstandabletoacertainextent.Theircoacheswanttoutilizetheirabilitytoplaymultiplepositionswhilealsocapitalizingoncertainmatchups.

Butitalsohelpsexplainwhyit'ssohardtopredictwhichhighschoolplayerswilldevelopintothebestcenters.

FourofthelastsevenplayerstowintheRimingtonTrophygivenannuallytothenation'sbestcenterweretwo-starprospects.TwoofthefourcenterstogetselectedinthefirstroundoverthelastfiveNFLdraftsalsoweretwo-starrecruits,andthreeofthemwereactuallyratedasguardsortacklesduringtherecruitingprocess.

Forcomparison'ssake,14ofthe25offensivetacklesdraftedduringthefirstroundoverthelastfiveyearswerefour-starorfive-starprospects,thoughthreeofthose25wererecruitedatdifferentpositions.Onlyfiveofthemweretwo-starprospects.

AndthelastfouroffensivetacklestowintheOutlandTrophyincludedonethree-starrecruit(Wisconsin'sGabeCarimi),twofour-starprospects(Alabama'sBarrettJonesandWisconsin'sJoeThomas)andafive-starpick(Alabama'sAndreSmith).

"Thecenter'sthequarterbackoftheoffensiveline,"Rivals.comnationalrecruitinganalystMikeFarrellsaid."There'salotmorebetweentheears-thatyoucan'tevaluatephysicallyonfilmoratagame-thatcomeswithbeingatremendouscenter.Veryfewhavethemeasurablescomingoutofhighschool.They'reusuallyacoupleofinchestooshortorafewpoundstoolight.

"Projectingtacklesisdifficult,butIthinkwedoagoodjobwithit.Someofthemareasgoodasthey'regoingtobebythetimewerankthem,andtheynevergetbetter.Butcenterisdefinitelyoneofthosehardpositionslikequarterbacktoproject."

EXCLUSIVEFRATERNITY

DariusJamesandBrandonKublanowaretheonlyjuniorcentersratedasfour-starprospects(therearenofive-starcenters).Here'sacloserlookateachofthem.

DARIUSJAMES

Height:6-5

Weight:319

Highschool:Killeen(Texas)HarkerHeights

Rank:92

Committedto:Texas

Quotable:"He'sjustabig,meankid,andreallyathletic.Alotofschoolswererecruitinghimonthedefensiveline,andthatjustshowshisathleticism.Alotoftimes,centersaftertheysnaptheballhavetogetoffandmakeallkindsofdifferentblocksandgoallovertheplace.Theyneedtohaveprettygoodfeet.Thefactheplayeddefensivetackleaswellandwasgoodenoughtobeheavilyrecruitedthereisabigdeal.Heplaysallthreepositions[ontheoffensiveline]inhighschool,butheactuallyplayscenterinhighschool,whichissomethingIliketosee.Mostofthetime,thebestlinemenallplaytackleandyousortofhavetoprojectthematcenter."-Rivals.comTexasrecruitinganalystBrianPerroni.

BRANDONKUBLANOW

Height:6-3

Weight:290

Highschool:Marietta(Ga.)Walton

Rank:243

Committedto:Undecided.HehasmaderecenttripstoClemson,Florida,GeorgiaandMiami.HetoldUGASports.comthisweekthathealsowasplanningavisitNorthCarolina.

Quotable:"Hecanbench430pounds,andit'snotjustthathecanbench430,butheusesthatstrengthtohisadvantage.Heplayswithanunbelievableamountofleverage.It'sderivedfromtoenailtohead.Hisstrengthisfullbody,buthe'salsoincrediblysoundfundamentally.He'sthemeanestandnastiestplayerinthecountry.It'snotuncommontolookatthefieldandseeBrandonontopofthegroundoveranopponent.Offthefield,he'sasfriendlyakidasyoucanpossiblyfind.Onthefield,he'snotdirty,buthe'smean,nastyandaggressive.Hehasalltheskillsyou'relookingforinanoffensivelineman.Alotofguyshavebigbodies,butthey'repassive-aggressivetypesofkids.That'snothim.He'snotintimidatedbyanyone."-Rivals.comSoutheastrecruitinganalystKeithNiebuhr.

Indeed,manyofthetopcollegecentersofthelastdecadewerelightlyregardedprospects.

TheclassicexampleisAlexMack,aformertwo-starrecruitfromSantaBarbara(Calif.)SanMarcos.AtthetimeMacksignedwithCalifornia,hisRivalsdatabaseprofilelistedhisweightat255pounds-40poundslighterthantheaverageweightofthetop10centersintheClassof2013.

California'scoachesremainedeagertotakeachanceonhim.TheGoldenBearslikedhisintelligence.Theylovedhistenacity.Andtheyalsobelievedhissuccessinanothersportcouldmakehimabetterfootballplayer.

"Alexwasaverygoodwrestler,"CaliforniaoffensivecoordinatorandoffensivelinecoachJimMichalcziksaid."Hereallyunderstoodleverageandallthosethings.Atthecenterposition,thedefense,they'reonlyinchesawayfromyou.Tounderstandleverageandhowtobasicallygrapplewithsomebodyisabigadvantage."

MackrewardedCalifornia'sfaithinhimbydevelopingintoanAll-Americacenter.HewontheMorrisTrophyasthePac-10'stopoffensivelinemaninback-to-backseasonsandalsoreceivedthe2008DraddyTrophygiveneachyeartocollegefootball'stopstudent-athlete.HehassinceemergedasaProBowlperformerfortheClevelandBrowns,whoselectedhiminthefirstroundofthe2009NFLDraft.

He'soneofmanyelitecentersfromthelastdecadewhowasoverlookedduringtherecruitingprocess.

Thelistofrecenttwo-starprospectsatthispositionalsoincludesfirst-rounddraftpickEricWood(Louisville)aswellasRimingtonTrophywinnersGregEslinger(Minnesota),DanMozes(WestVirginia),JonathanLuigs(Arkansas)andJakeKirkpatrick(TCU).

Moreover,thetwoRimingtonwinnersoverthelastsevenyearswhohadfour-starratingsweren'tevenconsideredcentersduringtherecruitingprocess.A.Q.ShipleysignedwithPennStateasadefensivetacklerecruitandplayedbothoffenseanddefenseearlyinhiscollegecareerbeforemakingafull-timemovetocenter.Florida'sMaurkicePounceyshiftedfromrightguardtocenterinhissophomoreseason.

Michalczikunderstandswhyit'stoughertopredictthefuturesuccessofacenter.

"There'saprototypicalfirst-roundoffensivetackle,"Michalcziksaid."He's6-7,long-armed,almostabasketballplayertypeofathlete.Atcenter,evenintheNFL,they're6-2,6-3or6-4guys....It'skindofaharderonetoevaluateinthatthey'rekindofhiddeninthere.Youcan'talwaysseethemmove."

Andtherealsoareotherfactorsatwork.Forinstance,JamesandKublanowlikelyaren'ttheonlyfuturecollegecentersplayingelsewhereonthelinefortheirhighschoolteams.

Highschoolcoachesoftenliketoputtheirmostphysicallyimposinglinemanatoffensivetackle.AnexampleofthatisWood,whoplayedtackleforastatechampionshipteamatCincinnati(Ohio)Elderbeforebecomingafour-yearstartingcenteratLouisvilleandaneventualfirst-rounddraftpick.

Whenhighschoolcoachesseekacenter,theyoftenarelookingforbrainsasmuchasbrawn.Thoseguysoftendevelopintooutstandinghighschoolcenters,buttheygenerallylackthephysicalskillstoplaybig-timecollegefootball.

Thereissuchadearthofbig-timecollegeprospectsactuallyplayingcenterinhighschoolthatRivalsofficialsarestrugglingtofindcentersfortheU.S.ArmyAll-AmericanBowl.Thisyearisparticularlytricky,asJamesandKublanowaretheonly2013centerslistedasfour-starprospects.JameshascommittedtoTexas,whileKublanowremainsundecided.

"Honestly,inhighschool,withmostofthesimplifiedoffensesorevenwithsomeofthecomplexoffenses,youwantyourbestguysoutside,orattheveryleast[atguard]andjustrunoffthem,"Farrellsaid."It'sveryrareinthehighschoolleveltoputyourbestplayeratcenter."

SoitshouldcomeasnosurprisethatJamesandKublanowarecurrentlybeingusedthewaytheyare.WhenyouhaveafutureDivisionIperformermultifacetedenoughtoplayanywhereontheline,whynotmakethemostofthesituation?

HarkerHeightscoachMikeMullinssaidhelikestocapitalizeonJames'versatilitybymovinghimaroundonthelinebasedonthetypeofdefensehisteamisfacingeachweek.Jamesissuchawell-roundedperformerthathealsohasplayeddefensivetackleatHarkerHeights.

"Ifwegetanoseguard,we'llprobablyplayhimatcenterbecausehecansingle-blockhimattimes,"Mullinssaid."Ifwegetanevenfrontwithoutanoseguard,wemovehimtoguardbecausewefeelthematchupsarebetter."

Althoughheexpectstoplaycenterincollege,Kublanowalsohasplayedalloverthelineforhishighschoolteam.

ClickHeretoviewthisLink.

"Itdoesn'treallymattertome,"Kublanowsaid."Icanplayanything."

IfJamesandKublanowarewonderinghowtheirabilitytoplaymultiplepositionscouldpayoffatthenextlevel,theyshouldtakealookatthecareerBarrettJonesisputtingtogetheratAlabama.

JoneswasratedastheNo.1centerintheClassof2008whenhegraduatedfromCordova(Tenn.)EvangelicalChristian,butheplayedrightguardhisfirsttwoseasonsatAlabamaandwontheOutlandTrophylastfallastheCrimsonTide'slefttackle.Jonesfinallyisworkingoutatcenterthisspringashepreparesforhisseniorseason.

CollegecoachesacrossthecountryaresearchingeverywhereforthehighschooljuniorwhocoulddevelopintothenextJones.Iftheyeverfindtheguy,there'sadecentchancehe'llbeplayingsomewhereotherthancenter.

SteveMegargeeisthenationalcollegecolumnistforRivals.com.Hecanbereachedatsmegargee@rivals.com,andyoucanclickheretofollowhimonTwitter.

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