Justin Britt is a good center

[seabowl]

A highlight of the game for me was a 3rd down run by Michael for a 1st down where Britt blew up the guy he was facing. We usually don't start feeling anything good from our line until half way through the season but they have looked pretty solid the last 2 weeks. Loved having Ifedi back! I think we are ahead of schedule!

Yup, and let me add that we haven't had a C as Stout as Britt for 15+ years. Longer than I can remember for sure! Maybe Hawkstorian or another old-timer might recall if we've ever had anyone at C with equal physicality.

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Kevin Mawae was probably the most recent.

 

[brimsalabim]

Yep it's good that he has finally found his place. Now ...
When is his contract up?

 

[LickMyNuts]

At times he plays like a pro bowl center. It must be his wrestling background because he is too tall to be a good center. And yet he is good.

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

Very impressed with Britt's transformation.

A very huge question mark whether or not he'd be the next Drew Nowak for this team. He's done a tremendous job.

It's worth considering too, that despite playing against a truly elite front three (Richardson/Williams/Wilkerson), the interior of the line held up well and provided Wilson the ability to climb the pocket and deliver strikes downfield. To play like a traditional pocket passer at a high level at a time where his mobility required it.

And I think most of that praise has to go to Britt. Playing along side a first game rookie, and essentially a 4 game starter on both sides. To be that relatively clean against a front that should have one of those three win on almost every snap is truly impressive. Britt is the most experienced guy who makes the line calls and the fact we aren't ripping the OL apart today has to be a credit mostly to Britt.

We aren't talking about our OGs at all today. On a Monday where we really should have been. The lack of criticism mounted their way is about the best credit that can be afforded to them.

P.S. My wife was coming literally unglued with the constant "The Jets are winning their matchups" blather from the Fox announcers. Even teasing the TV after every big play. I couldn't really argue with that. Seemed their defensive front was largely a non factor.

I'm becoming very comfortable with this OL even as constructed.

 

[ivotuk]

I specifically watched Glow, Britt, and Ifedi....Britt was the best of the o-lineman today. If Britt continues to play the way he did today, against the Jets D-line which is the best collection of DT's in the NFL, then we have our first core player on the o-line. I can't imagine there being 5 better OC in the NFL than the way Britt played today. Britt was holding his ground in pass pro, did great in combo blocks, was effective in cut blocks, and found someone to hit when assigned to get to the second level. Britt was a stud today!!!

This right here. Leonard Williams, Sheldon Richardson, Muhammad Wilkerson...I was really nervous going up against these guys but they played well!

 

[ivotuk]

I read an article somewhere saying that J.R. Sweezy was bad for Britt. That Sweezy's preference for alpha-male dominance rather than good technique was getting into Britt's head or some such. Can't find it now.

Read and heard the same thing multiple times. Britt had to learn how to wait for things to come to him, instead of charging full speed ahead like JR always did for those 15 yard penalties

 

[LeftHandSmoke]

[youtube]vf8URs1pUKg[/youtube]

 

[Largent80]

Have to admit, I'm very happy with his play and din't think he could do it.

 

[PacHawk]

...and he could snap! I wonder how long it took him to learn that?

 

[jammerhawk]

Who'd have thunk it?

However he has likely been the team's most solid OLineman to now, and is playing well at OC.

 

[hawkfan68]

I thought going into this change, it was going to be a failure of Drew Nowak proportions. But Britt is doing really well and more than holding his own. Credit to Britt for picking up his new role quickly.

 

[LeftHandSmoke]

I thought going into this change, it was going to be a failure of Drew Nowak proportions. But Britt is doing really well and more than holding his own. Credit to Britt for picking up his new role quickly.

Credit too, for Cable giving him the 'opportunity to grow' in a phone call after the Hawks drafted Ifedi. Without that encouragement this likely would never have happened.

Guys do mature both physically and mentally even in their 20's so it's not too, too surprising he is in a better place in just his 3rd year.

 

[bigskydoc]

I've always felt that Britt was just a half step away from being a really good interior lineman, and I still don't understood why he Performed so poorly at guard. He is too good to look as bad as he did. It's a puzzle to me.

He never should have played tackle as he doesn't have the build or skills for it.

At center, he is what I expected him to be at guard last year. Just weird.

 

[hawksfan515]

Surprisingly, we haven't seem to have any snap issues with Britt. I remember us having snap issues with Nowak and Lewis, so this is definitely a surprise since Britt is new to the position.

 

[Bobblehead]

Surprisingly, we haven't seem to have any snap issues with Britt. I remember us having snap issues with Nowak and Lewis, so this is definitely a surprise since Britt is new to the position.

Not to mention, the horrible snaps by Unger.

 

[Bobblehead]

Just curious, is the Center the key to a good running game?
I was just reading, where Atlanta picked up Mack and now they have one of the better running games in the league. Could Britt actually be the catalyst in our running game?

Though, CMike has done a great job, I don't really see us as a power running team at the moment. I have greater hopes now that Ifedi is back though.

 

[Hawks46]

I've always felt that Britt was just a half step away from being a really good interior lineman, and I still don't understood why he Performed so poorly at guard. He is too good to look as bad as he did. It's a puzzle to me.

He never should have played tackle as he doesn't have the build or skills for it.

At center, he is what I expected him to be at guard last year. Just weird.

Well, he's athletic enough to play Tackle but his footwork never really caught up. Not surprising as Cable had said he'd need a year to season coming from a spread offense.

I've been a Britt defender for a while. I felt that you really don't give up on a guy at Tackle after one year. Yes, his pass pro was abysmal but he rated at one of the highest run blocking RT's in the league by the end of his rookie year.

As for Guard, he'd never played it in college. If he played it at any level, it was high school. There's a learning curve there, and it's not surprising he didn't develop right away. dot Net's general take on this was that Britt was so bad at RT that he got moved to LG, but my theory has been that we had Gilliam ready to make the move to Tackle, and we had literally no options at LG. They moved him there out of necessity, not to put him in "detention" because he washed out. When you look at it in a different perspective, he wasn't the draft bust that most proclaimed here.

He's the most experienced guy in our system right now, but I'm still surprised he took to the line calls as fast as he did. He flawlessly handled several line stunts vs. the Jets with two inexperienced Guards at either side of him. He's a good run blocker and he gets to the 2nd level better than anyone we've had since Sweezy and he might be better than him. If he keeps getting better, he's a perennial Pro Bowl center.

 

[Krieg's list]

What a job Cable has done with Britt. Here was a guy that was literally on his last legs with us and now looks like he'll be the center for the future. Good snaps and naturally fitting into the position. Well done Cable and of course JB.

Wait a minute.... how many legs did Britt originally have???

 

[themunn]

Wow the get-off on that pancake is awesome, he's practically blocking with one hand and snapping with the other

 

[theENGLISHseahawk]

I read an article somewhere saying that J.R. Sweezy was bad for Britt. That Sweezy's preference for alpha-male dominance rather than good technique was getting into Britt's head or some such. Can't find it now.

Either Tom Cable or Pete Carroll made a direct reference to that in an interview on ESPN 710 -- can't remember which one it was.