04-10-2020, 01:20 PM
Q and A: Ex-Bears center Olin Kreutz breaks down how Garrett Bradbury can take the next stepAs the Minnesota Vikings head into the NFL draft, they will likely be looking for more talent on the offensive line to solidify a position that has been on rocky ground during the entire Mike Zimmer era. But no matter who they pick, the performance of the line in 2020 will rest in major part on the growth of 2019 first-round draft pick Garrett Bradbury. This week we got together with former Chicago Bears center Olin Kreutz, a six-time Pro Bowler, All-Pro and recently one of players who made the first cut of the Hall of Fame nomination process. Kreutz broke down the long road to becoming a great center, the next step for Bradbury and how to become a leader in the process….
Matthew Coller: Olin it’s great to talk with you. Let’s start with the difficulty of transitioning quickly from college to the NFL. What makes that so tough for linemen and specifically centers? You rarely see a lineman enter the league and make a major impact in their first year. And what’s the steps that need to be taken for someone like Garrett Bradbury to reach his full potential?
Olin Kreutz: When I got drafted I came out of the University of Washington, I got [to Chicago] and pretty much had to dump my whole game. I didn’t play the first year. Casey Wiegmann was in front of me and he went onto have a 16-17 year career. Thank god he was in front of me and I got to learn for a whole year because I remember we had a nose guard by the name of Mike Wells and I went to execute a reach block — which is zone, try to get my head across, easy step to my right — and he firmly planted me on my back. Tony Wise, who was our O-line coach at the time, ran up to me and he screamed at me and he said, ‘that’s the block you were drafted for.’ I thought, ‘man, I don’t know if I can ever make that block.’
There is growing pains at center. The game is a lot faster. A guy like Eddie Goldman with his hands, maybe you face a guy like him once in your whole career in college. Just learning how to actually block those guys, create leverage on those guys, what kind of angles you have to use to get these guys blocked. What I did was turned on a lot of film. I watched Tom Nalen for the Denver Broncos, who would be interesting for Bradbury because that’s the scheme that they’re trying to run with Kubiak. I figured I’d watch Tom because I thought: If a guy went from practice squad to All-Pro he probably figured something out along the way. His angles, his footwork, his hand placement, the way he got his head across in that zone scheme was like artwork to watch for me. I loved watching stuff like that.
I watched Bradbury a ton because he was a first-round center and Rick Spielman drafted me, I had some interest in watching that young kid play football. He has a lot to learn about body positioning and angles and getting his hands inside and punching guys when you’re a smaller center. A lot of those things he has to learn and work on but there is a ton of film of guys doing what he’s trying to get accomplished and you can see why he got drafted early when he gets his head across on zone plays and those one-on-one blocks and cuts the defense off and gashes guys when Dalvin Cook was running all over people. He has a lot to learn but he definitely can develop what he needs if he takes his time and studies film and studies the guys who came before him.
MC: Bradbury seemed to be effective in the run and screen game once he got comfortable in the NFL but his pass protection against those monster defensive tackles looked like it needed work. What would be your process in improving pass protection when you’re at such a significant size disadvantage almost every week?
https://www.skornorth.com/2020/04/q-and-...next-step/
Matthew Coller: Olin it’s great to talk with you. Let’s start with the difficulty of transitioning quickly from college to the NFL. What makes that so tough for linemen and specifically centers? You rarely see a lineman enter the league and make a major impact in their first year. And what’s the steps that need to be taken for someone like Garrett Bradbury to reach his full potential?
Olin Kreutz: When I got drafted I came out of the University of Washington, I got [to Chicago] and pretty much had to dump my whole game. I didn’t play the first year. Casey Wiegmann was in front of me and he went onto have a 16-17 year career. Thank god he was in front of me and I got to learn for a whole year because I remember we had a nose guard by the name of Mike Wells and I went to execute a reach block — which is zone, try to get my head across, easy step to my right — and he firmly planted me on my back. Tony Wise, who was our O-line coach at the time, ran up to me and he screamed at me and he said, ‘that’s the block you were drafted for.’ I thought, ‘man, I don’t know if I can ever make that block.’
There is growing pains at center. The game is a lot faster. A guy like Eddie Goldman with his hands, maybe you face a guy like him once in your whole career in college. Just learning how to actually block those guys, create leverage on those guys, what kind of angles you have to use to get these guys blocked. What I did was turned on a lot of film. I watched Tom Nalen for the Denver Broncos, who would be interesting for Bradbury because that’s the scheme that they’re trying to run with Kubiak. I figured I’d watch Tom because I thought: If a guy went from practice squad to All-Pro he probably figured something out along the way. His angles, his footwork, his hand placement, the way he got his head across in that zone scheme was like artwork to watch for me. I loved watching stuff like that.
I watched Bradbury a ton because he was a first-round center and Rick Spielman drafted me, I had some interest in watching that young kid play football. He has a lot to learn about body positioning and angles and getting his hands inside and punching guys when you’re a smaller center. A lot of those things he has to learn and work on but there is a ton of film of guys doing what he’s trying to get accomplished and you can see why he got drafted early when he gets his head across on zone plays and those one-on-one blocks and cuts the defense off and gashes guys when Dalvin Cook was running all over people. He has a lot to learn but he definitely can develop what he needs if he takes his time and studies film and studies the guys who came before him.
MC: Bradbury seemed to be effective in the run and screen game once he got comfortable in the NFL but his pass protection against those monster defensive tackles looked like it needed work. What would be your process in improving pass protection when you’re at such a significant size disadvantage almost every week?
https://www.skornorth.com/2020/04/q-and-...next-step/
