For the 2011 Ohio State Buckeyes, Center Mike Brewster is becoming a leader in the same mold as Alex Stepanovich, the Center on the 2002 national title team.
And leadership is an extremely valuable asset for a center to have, as they’re making all the calls in the trenches on offense, kind of like how a middle linebacker must make proper adjustments and calls on defense. It’s very key for a center to be calm and collected. NOT “calm and collective,” as you often hear athletes mispronounce the phrase. Unless they’re striving to be both mild-mannered and join a socialist, agrarian community with a Utopian vision of societal structure, then the phrase makes sense.
Brewster will snap to a new QB this year, either Braxton Miller or Joe Bauserman.
“I think the good thing is, I can help make whoever is at QB feel comfortable by picking up different blitzes, taking that pressure off of them and making them comfortable. I don’t know if it’s going to be Braxton or Joe or Kenny so we are just going to see,” Brewster said.
If it’s Braxton, then it means the offense will obviously be built around a guy with no playing experience.
“It’s hard for a true freshman to know everything, they need to play a little more off of natural instincts, but that’s what great players do,” Brewster said.
Brewster is a 6-5, 293 senior from Orlando, FL with three years of starting experience. He’s a NFL ready talent, but it’s difficult to predict where centers will get taken on draft day. The best at the position don’t often get picked until the third round at the earliest. Therefore “Brewster’s Millions” (yeah, you knew it was coming, an ’80s pop culture reference, I just couldn’t past that up) will likely have to wait to 2012. And I think he made the right decision to stay in school.
Between now and draft day, he may take home the Rimington Award (best center in the nation) or the Lombardi Award (best interior lineman)
“I’ve been blessed with a lot of athletic ability, I feel like that is my strong suit. Just trying to take full advantage of this season under coach bollmna, he has brought me a long way these past few years,” Brewster said.
And what does he believe is his best selling point for the pros?
“Natural athletic ability, natural instincts, I’ve always had a good sense for the game, Bols tells me this all the time, I really had to concentrate on my technique, I’ve been a basketball player growing up. I feel like b-ball players make great o linemen because it gives you great feet. I really have to concentrate on my technique and not just try to do everything with just athletic ability. If you aren’t using technique, at the next level you are screwed,” he answered.
And how has Brewster grown during his time in Columbus? Or at least how does he believe he’s grown the most?
“Understanding the game, understanding how to read blitzes.”
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site that generates millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
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