The leading narrative surrounding the class of center prospects in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft is that there are three main players who could come in and start Week 1 for whichever team drafts them. Those players are Duke’s Graham Barton, Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson, and West Virginia’s Zach Frazier. Even Georgia’s Sedrick Van Pran-Granger could be lumped in there as a guy who could work his way into the starting lineup sooner rather than later. According to OL Masterminds’ Duke Manyweather, there is no need to panic if you don’t land one of those names because there are plenty of other great options.
“There’s a very strong center group,” Manyweather said in an episode of Chipped Ham and Football with Brian Batko that was posted on Post-Gazette Sports’ YouTube. “There’s a bunch of guys. There’s probably six or seven, maybe close to eight guys that you can draft at center. And I think six of them have a good chance of maybe cracking the starting lineup immediately in the fall.”
One of the big dilemmas that the media has been debating when it comes to the Steelers’ draft plans is whether or not they will be forced to take a center in the first round. With Mason Cole out the door and no clear option to start in the interim, the Steelers need to come away from the draft with a guy who can start sooner rather than later at the position.
Many, including myself, have assumed that the top three options will all be gone by the 51st pick of the draft when the Steelers select in the second round. This could force the Steelers into taking one at pick 20 in the first round or using other draft capital to trade up higher into the second round to secure a starting center. According to Manyweather, there may not be as much reason to panic as initially believed.
Beyond the four names I listed above, there are Arkansas’ Beaux Limmer, Penn State’s Hunter Nourzad, Kansas’ Dominick Puni, Michigan’s Drake Nugent, Wisconsin’s Tanor Bortolini, and South Dakota State’s Mason McCormick.
“There are definitely options at center, just as if there are options at tackle,” Manyweather said. “So don’t feel that if you don’t get two or three names that are mainstream that all is lost because you could probably find a quality starter at center probably four rounds deep potentially.
“The approach to that is what becomes king. Because if you’re saying, ‘Hey, we want to draft a center that’s gonna be immediately a difference maker,’ you’re probably talking about three or four names in that. So it just really depends on the approach.”
So while there may be six prospects capable of becoming a starter, even as soon as in their rookie season, the Week 1 starter options are a little sparser. One could make a strong argument that the Steelers need a Week 1 starter, but if they are comfortable with another prospect seeing the field by the halfway point of the season, then maybe there won’t be as large of a sense of urgency to pick one in the first round.
It would be a whole lot easier of a decision if the Steelers were able to secure a veteran in the free agency market, as they almost did with Mitch Morse. If it comes down to it, they could very well bring back Cole to start until the rookie is ready. Or they could be comfortable enough with Nate Herbig to start a handful of games as Ray Fittipaldo recently suggested.
