What's the deal with the Shelley Smith Center experiment?

[So Be]

The idea is a good one. Benton has his 3 best interior blockers on the field vs the #1 D, while having Garner to fill in anywhere in case of injury. It is a lot to put on Shelly, and may or may not work out. If not, Garner does not need the snaps at this point to fit in, and can take over in 10 days or so if need be or, we may look elsewhere.

No one here knows the real deal on Pouncey's condition, and the team could be waiting for additional medical reports before making a decision.

 

[Al13]

y'all seriously believe Philbin knows what he's doing?? sorry, but.. no.

jesus christ man, 5 practices in and some of you jump the gun so quick...so disgusting

 

[So Be]

Hopefully they will look at some centers who get cut from other squads.

The problem there is that the cut to 75 is Aug 27, and final cuts to 53 on Aug 31. That would only give about a week to fit someone in for opening day. That would be rough at the center position.

 

[Dr. Phin]

The deal is...Garner sucks...and they know it. They want someone better and view Garner as a just a backup...which is all he is...

They need to start looking to FA or give Larsen a shot.

 

[psfign]

y'all seriously believe Philbin knows what he's doing?? sorry, but.. no.

you really believe the OL coach isnt making this decision based on knowing SS in Houston?

 

[Dr. Phin]

y'all seriously believe Philbin knows what he's doing?? sorry, but.. no.

And there's that...

 

[So Be]

Same thing happened to Pouncey at first. Not a big deal. It's a lot to handle on such short notice, especially since he's probably also having to make all the line calls.

The main thing that can give you trouble as a center is if they want you to snap with your non dominant hand. This happened to me in high school when they tried to make me a center after our starter tore his ACL one day in practice. I'm left handed and they wanted me to snap right handed to make things easier for the quarterback. I could never quite master it (also didn't care for getting felt up ). I don't know whether handedness is part of Smith's problem but in any case he's a professional athlete and has snapped before so presumably he'll figure it out. Give him time.

One other somewhat related question. The special teams centers are not overly talented other than the ability to snap the ball on punts and field goals. How hard is it to develop that talent? I would think there are more talented players who would make the team if they could snap on kicks but, have not seen it happen.

 

[marinotoclayton]

Personally I don't understand why they haven't signed a guy like Satele! He would bring experience at the position he has been a starter for a couple of teams! Is he the greatest? Probably not but i believe he would be better than the experiments they have going on right now! And our other linemen could concentrate on their natural ppositions!

 

[So Be]

Personally I don't understand why they haven't signed a guy like Satele! He would bring experience at the position he has been a starter for a couple of teams! Is he the greatest? Probably not but i believe he would be better than the experiments they have going on right now! And our other linemen could concentrate on their natural ppositions!

The last 2 seasons Samson has ranked #32, and #33 among NFL centers, which is why he is unemployed. It would be like signing Columbo a few years ago, and we saw how that worked out.

 

[dlockz]

Don't like Smith starting anywhere but geesh he has never been a center and we have guys that have playued center.

 

[TheWalrus]

One other somewhat related question. The special teams centers are not overly talented other than the ability to snap the ball on punts and field goals. How hard is it to develop that talent? I would think there are more talented players who would make the team if they could snap on kicks but, have not seen it happen.

I tried to learn how to do it and it's not that easy. I'm a reasonably athletic guy who can throw a football and pitch and play tennis and stuff like that and it's not that easy. It's unlike any other kind of throwing. I wish it were. It would have made my job as a punter in high school a lot easier. I chased after a lot of bad snaps.

The bigger issue I think is that once you're a long snapper... you're never going to be anything else. You're too valuable to play in the game at a position because teams only carry one snapper and if you get hurt you can lose the game right there by not being able to execute a field goal. As a result most players don't even try to learn how to snap because they all harbor the ambition to be a starter one day and view special teams as a way to make the team while they're working on their real goal.

Being a long snapper is sort of the NFL version of having a desk job. A "real" job. It's steady work and you can last a long time if you're good at it. Look at Ed Perry. He lasted eight years in the league as a snapper when his tight end skill set would have probably only kept him around for three or four.

John Denney is considered one of the best long snappers in the game, by the way. Very good at his job. We've actually been spoiled for a long time at that position because Perry was considered one of the best in his day, too.

 

[So Be]

I tried to learn how to do it and it's not that easy. I'm a reasonably athletic guy who can throw a football and pitch and play tennis and stuff like that and it's not that easy. It's unlike any other kind of throwing. I wish it were. It would have made my job as a punter in high school a lot easier. I chased after a lot of bad snaps.

The bigger issue I think is that once you're a long snapper... you're never going to be anything else. You're too valuable to play in the game at a position because teams only carry one snapper and if you get hurt you can lose the game right there by not being able to execute a field goal. As a result most players don't even try to learn how to snap because they all harbor the ambition to be a starter one day and view special teams as a way to make the team while they're working on their real goal.

Being a long snapper is sort of the NFL version of having a desk job. A "real" job. It's steady work and you can last a long time if you're good at it. Look at Ed Perry. He lasted eight years in the league as a snapper when his tight end skill set would have probably only kept him around for three or four.

John Denney is considered one of the best long snappers in the game, by the way. Very good at his job. We've actually been spoiled for a long time at that position because Perry was considered one of the best in his day, too.

Never considered the ego's, and that does make sense. What about all the long snappers in College? There has to be a lot of them every year, and you would think there would be one or two worth signing for a team's practice squad. To be honest, I don't know where they come from, maybe the special team's stork. :)

 

[dolpns13]

Not sure why they havent put Garner at center. He's clearly better than Smith and Brenner at the position.

 

[Zounds]

The special teams centers are not overly talented other than the ability to snap the ball on punts and field goals. How hard is it to develop that talent?

I can also tell you from personal experience that it is a very hard thing to master. I went to football recruitment camp run by Spurrier's staff back in the 90's, and they had me spending a lot of time with the longsnapper because I played OL/TE/FB in HS, and I just didn't have the size to play those positions in college, and they were trying to find a new position for me. You may be able to get 19 out of 20 snaps perfect, but that's hardly good enough. You need to get at least 100 perfect snaps in a row before you could even be considered for a college job.

 

[marinotoclayton]

The last 2 seasons Samson has ranked #32, and #33 among NFL centers, which is why he is unemployed. It would be like signing Columbo a few years ago, and we saw how that worked out.

Regardless of where he ranked andI don't put a whole lot of stock in rankings! Still has tobe better than experimenting! If anything throw the kid in there !