The center is also affiliated with the offensive front line - the entire offensive front line, from left to right, are tackle, guard, center, guard, and tackle.

The center occupies the center position and is responsible for the kickoff. He needs to guard his position, and often faces the harsh tip opposite the "3-4" formation-

In fact, the slash is the defensive tackle, but among the three defensive front lines, he becomes an arrow, so he is called the slash. The slash is often the strongest player among all players in offense and defense. He is all like this, comparable to a hill.

It is precisely because of this that in order to form a confrontation, the center often needs to stick to the spot against the tip.

In other words, the center rarely moves its position, and the requirements on tactical awareness are indeed not high, so it often focuses more on height and weight; but the center needs to kick off and cooperate with the quarterback's tactics, and it cannot be too bulky and requires a certain degree of mind. Therefore, there is often a standard for height and weight, but tactical awareness cannot be separated from the quarterback and accurately observe and predict separately, so it is naturally difficult to distinguish between the advantages and disadvantages.

Therefore, it is difficult to define the advantages and disadvantages of the center. In the draft, they are often noticed in the second round and after the third round.

In other words, few people are willing to use the first round pick to inspect a center. This is why Lu Yiqi is surprised and also why Latimer complains - he thought Lu Yiqi is willing to break prejudice.

In fact... Lu Yiqi really ignored the center when considering the offensive line, so he didn't remember that the 2009 draft was revealed, Alex Mark, who was not very big or small, unpopular.

For the transformation of the offensive front line, the left guard and left tackle that protect the blind side of the quarterback are the most important - Michael Ohh is the left tackle. Whether it is the pocket protection tactical combination of passing the ball or the running ball on the ground attack, all of them need to fly together on the offensive front line to open up the situation. The center is more like the Dinghai Shen Needle. As the entire flag guard team, there are not many cases of participating in tactical changes.

So, Lu Yiqi filtered all the offensive tackles and offensive guards in his mind? He skipped the center alone? Then he shifted the target to the linebacker.

But the reality is that at the 2009 draft, there are very few centers who rarely appear in the first round position? There are two!

This is indeed a very rare scene.

Overall, the 2009 draft was indeed lacking surprises? Because the overall strength of the players did not reach a level of amazing or hot discussion, but the draft work of the thirty-two teams was still not affected at all? They completed their draft step by step? Multiple teams traded draft picks to choose the players they like.

Among them, the most shocking thing was not that the New York Jets chose quarterback Mark Sanchez with the fifth pick, but that two centers appeared in the first round.

First, Cleveland Brown chose to trade upwards? He got the 21st pick from the Philadelphia Eagles? He chose the center Alex Mark of the University of California, Berkeley, which caused a burst of exclamation, and even professionals could not understand such a choice.

But this is not over yet.

Then Buffalo Bill traded up again, and once again got the 28th pick from the Philadelphia Hawks, choosing the University of Louisiana center Eric Wood?      There was a burst of exclamations, and fans and professionals shook their heads to express surprises.

Because of the particularity of the center position? They are very important but not valuable, and rarely receive attention from the team. Most of their draft picks are concentrated in the second round, third round and fourth round. From the perspective of salary cap, this is a very suitable position. Since 2000? In the full nine years, there are only two rookie centers in the first round.

Chris Spencer, who was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round with the 26th pick in the first round with the 2006 Nick-mangold, who was selected by the New York Jets in the first round with the 29th pick in the first round with the 2006 Nick-mangold.

In 2009, two centers appeared in the first round, and the picks were 21st and 28th, which was already beyond the shock level.

It is worth mentioning that both Chris Spencer and Nick Mangod, both... were far lower than expected and were unable to show the level that met the first three rounds, let alone the first round level. Although the draft was risky, the value of the center was further weakened.

Against this background, Alex Mark and Eric Wood appeared in the first round list of the 2009 draft, which really fell below countless people's glasses.

So, what did these two first-round picks develop later?

Objectively speaking, expecting the above - of course, professionals have not expected anything, and it is not difficult to perform beyond expectations.

Eric Wood of Buffalo Bills became the team's backbone blue-collar worker, and his diligent attitude towards the game made him firmly occupy a place. He made his career intermittently as a right offensive guard and center in the first three years. He did not establish his starting center position until the 2012 season. He was brought to the 2017 season and finally retired and spent his nine-year professional football career in a team.

Wood is not a radiant superstar, but his solid performance rewarded the team's trust in the first round and was shortlisted for the Pro Bowl lineup at one time.

Alex Mark of Cleveland Brown is a truly dazzling top superstar. His six career selections in the Pro Bowl are undoubtedly the top level; at the same time, NFL officially voted for the Best of the Ten Years from 2010 to 2019, and Mark was successfully shortlisted for the second team of the All-American team.

Moreover, Mark is a down-to-earth Pure player. Although he became one of the best centers after entering the league, was selected into the rookie best team in the rookie season and was shortlisted for the Pro Bowl the next year, he always kept his position low-key. At the lowest and most difficult period of Cleveland Brown, countless teams wanted to poach Mark, but Mark renewed his contract with the team without saying a word at a low price.

In response, Mark said that he is a member of the team and he doesn't need any big contract. He is willing to give up a small part of the salary cap space, so that the team can chase better players and build a better team. He hopes that he can retire smoothly in Cleveland.

Later, Cleveland Brown only achieved a poor record of three wins and thirteen losses in the 2015 season. In order to free up salary space and strive to fill other more important positions, he decided to give up his contract renewal with Mark. Then Mark was forced to leave the Atlanta Falcons and was unable to persevere until the end.
Chapter completed!