The Pittsburgh Steelers got one heck of a steal in the 7th Round of the NFL Draft! Drafted number 226 overall, A.Q. Shipley from Penn State won the Rimington Trophy (college football's best center!). There were five centers (if you include Matt Unger, C, Oregon) picked before Shipley. Why is that?
The NFL, in general, is over-obsessed with their combines. They want to know how high you can jump, how long your arms are, how dense your bones are after you eat a bowl of cereal on the Sunday that your mom is in town and wants you to take her to the grocery, the mall, then to church... OK, maybe not the last thing. I am afraid Shipley missed out on a lot of bargaining power from being drafted so late because he is "only" 6-feet and 1-inch tall and scouts say his arms aren't as long as "the prototypical center." His ability to lead won't let this draft be forgotten.
His resume shows his mettle. I already mentioned the award he received for the nation's top center in college football. But how about the stat that he anchored an offenive line that only gave up one sack per game, fourth in the nation in that category (nfl.com). They don't keep personal stats for linemen, officially, so it's hard to say what he can do one-on-one. But, centers are usually given responsibilities like identifying the defensive front, calling protections, and changing schemes. When an offensive line is fourth in the nation at protecting the quarterback, you can bet the center had a hand deep in the mix!
One day, every team in the NFL that picked a center, even some that picked any linemen, over A.Q. Shipley will be kicking themselves over the missed opportunity.
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