C Jake Brendel Thread

I think I have finally accepted that Brendel may be our starting center. I made a similar post in the OL thread. According to Kyle Shanahan, he's very comfortable with the center room we have now. I really wanted JC Tretter but I guess that might not be happening.

Trent Williams also said he is so athletic and twitchy that because of his elite athleticism we might not have much of a drop off from Mack last year. Chris Forrester also likes him a lot.

Jake Brendel's relative athletic score of 9.94 was off the charts. Since measuring this statistic, he is top 10 all-time for any center ever drafted.

Since 2006 only 2 centers have a higher RAS score:
Chris Chester 10 and Garrett Bradbury 9.96.
Brendel scored 9.94 (tied with Rob Hunt)

Of course playing center is more mental than physical but I guess Brendel has been snapping to Trey Lance for a while now and had been in our system for a few years so he might not be that much of a drop off maybe even an upgrade athletically. I'm just keeping my hopes up and I think you all should too.

Chances are he is a below average NFL center.

Originally posted by A-R-S:
Chances are he is a below average NFL center.

Quite possibly and he's next to Brunskill, an average player and Banks who is unproven. Just surprised he scored so ridiculously elite athletically. Williams and other players see this. I hope it translates to the field

Also A-R-S you should be more optimistic bc your handle has RAS in it

Who?

Originally posted by pdizo916:
Who?

Someone who could start on the Steelers OL…..that's who

I hold out some hope, because Kyle (and more importantly) Alex Gibbs have spoken in great detail about the importance of the Center position in our scheme (granted we don't do as much Outside Zone now) hopefully the fact that we haven't rushed out to improve the position is because he thinks Brendel can be the guy.

I specifically remember watching the pre season tape and seeing Brendel look really solid. Anyone else remember this? And or have any film of those games?

ShanaLynch went out and spent FA $$$ on Richburg and Mack. Both turned out to be quality, but short term band-aide solutions. JC Tretter has knee issues and wants guaranteed $$$.

Maybe they just want some long term continuity for Lance instead of continuing to lean on high mileage vets?

Originally posted by A-R-S:
Chances are he is a below average NFL center.

Probably so.

For some reason I thought he was younger than 30.

Originally posted by Luckycharms:
I specifically remember watching the pre season tape and seeing Brendel look really solid. Anyone else remember this? And or have any film of those games?

I do. I was a big advocate for him making the 53. He didn't but was able to be brought back after clearing waivers so it worked out.

I don't know what his talent level is. Is he another Ben Garland or Daniel Brunskill playing C or is he a 36 year old Alex Mack? Or better?

Does he tap out early on talent, slowly gets worse and exposed more over time or a talent that continues to get better and better?

Foerster and Shanny are both high on this guy which is good enough for me at the moment. Time will tell but I like the idea of taking a (possibly long term) swing on a super athletic and healthy player over a 1 year rental on Tretter who has been held together with baindaids and athletic tape for the last couple years.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Luckycharms:
I specifically remember watching the pre season tape and seeing Brendel look really solid. Anyone else remember this? And or have any film of those games?

I do. I was a big advocate for him making the 53. He didn't but was able to be brought back after clearing waivers so it worked out.

I don't know what his talent level is. Is he another Ben Garland or Daniel Brunskill playing C or is he a 36 year old Alex Mack? Or better?

Does he tap out early on talent, slowly gets worse and exposed more over time or a talent that continues to get better and better?

I like Brendel too. Specially his durability.

"It doesn't really matter who's in there," Mora said. "Jake is in command. It all starts at the center. That's the guy who makes the calls. That's the guy who points out things, adjusts protections. Get guys on the right page. When we do go to silent count, he's the guy who calls the cadence.
"To have a guy who's started 50 games at UCLA — broke an all-time school record — as that guy, as that center, as that voice, as that decision-maker, I think it's pretty comforting for us as coaches."
https://www.dailynews.com/2015/11/26/center-jake-brendel-gives-ucla-line-a-steady-presence/

Originally posted by KegBert:
Foerster and Shanny are both high on this guy which is good enough for me at the moment. Time will tell but I like the idea of taking a (possibly long term) swing on a super athletic and healthy player over a 1 year rental on Tretter who has been held together with baindaids and athletic tape for the last couple years.

He's 29 and only signed for this year so ATM, he's probably not seen as a long term solution. But he certainly has the path to putting himself into that conversation for a 2-3 year deal.

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Luckycharms:
I specifically remember watching the pre season tape and seeing Brendel look really solid. Anyone else remember this? And or have any film of those games?

I do. I was a big advocate for him making the 53. He didn't but was able to be brought back after clearing waivers so it worked out.

I don't know what his talent level is. Is he another Ben Garland or Daniel Brunskill playing C or is he a 36 year old Alex Mack? Or better?

Does he tap out early on talent, slowly gets worse and exposed more over time or a talent that continues to get better and better?

I like Brendel too. Specially his durability.

"It doesn't really matter who's in there," Mora said. "Jake is in command. It all starts at the center. That's the guy who makes the calls. That's the guy who points out things, adjusts protections. Get guys on the right page. When we do go to silent count, he's the guy who calls the cadence.
"To have a guy who's started 50 games at UCLA — broke an all-time school record — as that guy, as that center, as that voice, as that decision-maker, I think it's pretty comforting for us as coaches."
https://www.dailynews.com/2015/11/26/center-jake-brendel-gives-ucla-line-a-steady-presence/

Aa we know, availability is everything for this team.

I wonder how he'll handle all the new inside stuff: power, gap, 1on1, pulls, IZ, etc.

Originally posted by SFrush:

Originally posted by A-R-S:
Chances are he is a below average NFL center.

Probably so.

For some reason I thought he was younger than 30.

Hopefully he does a decent job overall for us. Last thing we need Is for the centre of the O-Line to be shoved back In to Lance's lap as he's trying to scan the field to launch a deep ball down field. That's typically when bad things happen.