Junior center Cesar Ruiz has declared for the NFL. He spent the past two seasons as Michigan’s starting center after playing a backup role mostly at guard as a freshman in 2017. He was ranked as the nation’s #1 center in that 2017 class and was the #47 player overall.
The Draft Network has Ruiz ranked as the #198 overall player, but I have also seen him projected as a 2nd- or 3rd-rounder. It’s too early to say which team(s) might be interested.
Personally, I thought Ruiz was a weakness in 2018, and then he had some slip-ups early this season. But then he started playing pretty darn well. If you’re not blowing protections and/or getting worked by nose tackles, you’re probably pretty good and it might be time to leave if you’re eligible.
Michigan now has 88 guys slated to be on scholarship in 2020, so three more guys still have to disappear between now and August (LINK).
Related:
- Change is Coming: Offense in which I discuss how the center position looks going into next year.
- A History of #1 Rated Center Recruits, in which I discuss top-ranked centers throughout the modern recruiting era.
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Ouch, ouch, ouch
If your guess in “Changes are Coming” post comes true, we will have all five positions new. Our depth guys got almost no live reps this year (two games, minus Hayes), and will be led by a new & inexperienced Center
In five seasons, we’ve had countless communication & execution blunders at OL – including our most experienced units in 16 & 19 – this could hurt, bad
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I was confident in the beginning of the year that he’d leave and we’d be replacing four of five so I’m not sucking my thumb over this news. That being said, time for those left to get together and carve their future out.
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This lowers my expectations for the 2020 offense significantly. Too bad for Michigan.
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