FanPost

Making A Case For UDFA Center Jake Kirkpatrick


Jake Kirkpatrick (6'3 305 lb Center from TCU) was one of the best centers in college football in 2010, in fact, he was awarded the Rimington Trophy which is awarded to the nation's top center. According to SI.com in 2009, Kirkpatrick was a First Team All-American and was a finalist for the Rimington Trophy (which, again, is awarded to the nation's top center). Kirkpatrick was also one of four finalists for the 2010 Rotary Lombardi Award which rcognizes the nation's top lineman. Kirkpatrick was an outstanding center during not only the 2009 college football season, but also the 2010 college football season. Not only did Kirkpatrick actually set the blocking scheme on every play, but he also did not committ a single penalty or allow a single sack all of the 2010 season. Kirkpatrick started 26 consecutive games, a streak that started at the beginning of 2009.


With all that being said and a Senior Bowl appearance in which Kirkpatrick had a decent performance, it is mindboggling how a center of his caliber was not even invited to the NFL scouting combine. How does this happen to a player of Kirkpatrick's caliber? To make things even worse, Kirkpatrick was not drafted by any NFL team making him a rookie undrafted free agent. After reading countless scouting reports on Kirkpatrick and different opinions of him, I've basically narrowed it down to two worries about him that most people scouting him had. The first was that Kirkpatrick's arms were "too short" and he would supposedly be consistently "out leveraged by NFL defensive linemen" on the next level. The second was that most have never seen whether or not he could "hold his own" against elite nose tackles.

Jake Kirkpatrick is a heck of a player and I don't think that there is a legitimate reason to not give this guy a chance to prove himself in the NFL. With that being said and taking into account how much the Washington Redskins need help on the offensive line, I think the Redskins will be wise to go after Jake Kirkpatrick as soon as Free Agency is allowed. Kirkpatrick should be given a chance to prove himself in the NFL with all of the success he's had at the college level and I couldn't think of a better place for him to get his chance than on the Washington Redskins. We have a center in Casey Rabach that clearly needs to be replaced as soon as possible, and the chance to add another young talent to the offensive line to grow with a few other promising young linemen we have acquired. Personally I think the Redskins would be foolish to let this guy go un-noticed for much longer.