The Connor McGovern @ Center Experiment -- How Do You See it Going So Far?

[HIT BY SPIKES]

I did a search here and not much came up.

 

Yes, it has only been two pre-season games however I don't like what I am seeing so far from our interior OL in general and specifically Connor McGovern at Center.

 

Since I never liked the idea of taking a player with so little NFL experience at Center being move to there as the starter perhaps posters more versed in OL Center play can convince me otherwise. 

 

I appreciate Connor McGovern played Center in college however after being the starter in Center for one year, the next year he played his final year in college at Guard.

 

Given this position handles the ball on each and every play and it protects our $250M investment in our QB, normally calls the OL play and is often the key to opening rushing lanes between the tackles, should I be concerned?

[Alphadawg7]

4 minutes ago, HIT BY SPIKES said:

I did a search here and not much came up.

 

Yes, it has only been two pre-season games however I don't like what I am seeing so far from our interior OL in general and specifically Connor McGovern at Center.

 

Since I never liked the idea of taking a player with so little NFL experience at Center being move to there as the starter perhaps posters more versed in OL Center play can convince me otherwise. 

 

I appreciate Connor McGovern played Center in college however after being the starter in Center for one year, the next year he played his final year in college at Guard.

 

Given this position handles the ball on each and every play and it protects our $250M investment in our QB, normally calls the OL play and is often the key to opening rushing lanes between the tackles, should I be concerned?

 

I think hes been doing fine...preseason week 1 there were timing issues all over the OL, kinks to be worked out, mostly in run packages.  But this week it was a strong bounce back, although O'Cyrus didn't have a great game again, but I am not too worried about him as they settle in.  

[Virgil]

I wish we would have given the rookie more of a chance, but 🤷🏻‍♂️

[SoonerBillsFan]

Meh.  Start the rookie

[SydneyBillsFan]

Get Sedrick in there ASAP!!

[gonzo1105]

To me it’s not really about McGovern but more about Edwards and to a lesser extent Torrence. Will our guard play be good enough? 
 

Edwards is also injury prone so are we keeping McGovern in at Center and bringing in Anderson or is Van Pran coming in and moving McGovern 

[MJS]

It's not an issue until it is an issue. So far, it hasn't been an issue. So I'm fine with it.

[Alphadawg7]

19 minutes ago, Virgil said:

I wish we would have given the rookie more of a chance, but 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

3 minutes ago, SydneyBillsFan said:

Get Sedrick in there ASAP!!

 

He has looked good, granted against lower level competition.  He has had no reps with the ones, specifically Allen, that I have seen or heard yet (unless I missed something more recent), so for him to get a chance to compete to start right now would take an injury situation to make that happen.  The Center and QB need time together, its a must.  

 

I think he is our future starting center, and I loved the pick and I still love the pick.  But, without reps with Allen, I just don't think he has any chance to start any time soon without injuries coming into play.  

[Doc Brown]

"If it ain't broke don't fix it."  Sadly, Brandon Beane had never heard that quote.

[GunnerBill]

He has been good. Edwards has been okay. Torrence has been poor. 

[msw2112]

Torrence was bad the other night, but he had a solid rookie season and I think that the line will come together by the time the season starts.  Although many here don't like McDermott, he's not a complete moron and Kromer is a proven OL coach, so I don't think the Bills would push this experiment too far unless they had a pretty good idea that it can work.  There are other options on the roster such as Clapp, SVP, etc.  (I thought that Alec Anderson took some snaps at center too, but I could be wrong), so if McGovern is a disaster at center, they'd reconfigure the line.  He was very solid at guard last season, so if the center experiment fails, they'll move him back to guard and go with one of the other options.

 

If I had to guess, the Bills see SVP as the future center and are grooming him for the spot, playing McGovern until he's ready.  At that point, they can release McGovern or Edwards to save on cap (next offseason) and keep the other as a starting guard.  This may not have been the original plan, but I don't think the Bills expected that SVP (or a center of his caliber) would be available in the 5th round.  

Edited August 19 by msw2112

[frostbitmic]

I'm kind of surprised they haven't really given Clapp an opportunity in the preseason, he has more starts at Center in the NFL than McGovern has had starts at Center since high school.

[Freddie's Dead]

Meh.  SVPG looks better.

[The Jokeman]

43 minutes ago, frostbitmic said:

I'm kind of surprised they haven't really given Clapp an opportunity in the preseason, he has more starts at Center in the NFL than McGovern has had starts at Center since high school.

I saw Clapp on the field against the Steelers. 

[biggerdaddynj]

1 hour ago, msw2112 said:

Torrence was bad the other night, but he had a solid rookie season and I think that the line will come together by the time the season starts.  Although many here don't like McDermott, he's not a complete moron and Kromer is a proven OL coach, so I don't think the Bills would push this experiment too far unless they had a pretty good idea that it can work.  There are other options on the roster such as Clapp, SVP, etc.  (I thought that Alec Anderson took some snaps at center too, but I could be wrong), so if McGovern is a disaster at center, they'd reconfigure the line.  He was very solid at guard last season, so if the center experiment fails, they'll move him back to guard and go with one of the other options.

 

If I had to guess, the Bills see SVP as the future center and are grooming him for the spot, playing McGovern until he's ready.  At that point, they can release McGovern or Edwards to save on cap (next offseason) and keep the other as a starting guard.  This may not have been the original plan, but I don't think the Bills expected that SVP (or a center of his caliber) would be available in the 5th round.  

Would have rather seen Bates train our next C (SVP) not a LG who last played some C switch Penn St.  Edwards can teach him how to line up in the backfield.  And, Bates was easily affordable after watching other moves we made later—protecting our generational QB is job one then get him weapons.  But, I’m an arm chair GM so be gentle. 🥺

[GunnerBill]

59 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

I saw Clapp on the field against the Steelers. 

 

Yea at guard.

[GASabresIUFan]

Eric Wood says it's going fine.  I'll take his word for it.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

3 hours ago, HIT BY SPIKES said:

I did a search here and not much came up.

 

Yes, it has only been two pre-season games however I don't like what I am seeing so far from our interior OL in general and specifically Connor McGovern at Center.

 

Since I never liked the idea of taking a player with so little NFL experience at Center being move to there as the starter perhaps posters more versed in OL Center play can convince me otherwise. 

 

I appreciate Connor McGovern played Center in college however after being the starter in Center for one year, the next year he played his final year in college at Guard.

 

Given this position handles the ball on each and every play and it protects our $250M investment in our QB, normally calls the OL play and is often the key to opening rushing lanes between the tackles, should I be concerned?

 

McGovern has done OK, but think it's kind of a pointless move as I would be very surprised if by the 2025 season the starting center isn't SVPG so would it have been better to just roll with him this year.  To me this was going to be a transition year anyway and that was prior to all the latest injuries.

[msw2112]

Keep in mind that the move of McGovern to center took place before the draft and before they knew they'd be able to pick up SVPG with a 5th round pick.  I assume they decided to stick with the plan and felt that going with an experienced NFL player was the safer bet than going with a rookie at that position.  I agree that long-term, SVPG will be the answer and McGovern will be moved back to guard, or off the roster to save cap space, depending on how well David Edwards plays as a starter and how Torrence's career progresses.

[Utah John]

Moving McGovern to center is just the best band-aid available for McBeane.  Morse was a lot better than many of us realized, and his loss is huge.  But McBeane couldn't patch all the holes at once.  So they are taking a chance with this move, which on paper seriously degrades two positions (center of course, but also left guard, where McGovern played well at his best position).  My hope is the rookie with all the names learns enough to take the job, and McGovern can go back to guard where he belongs.