TAMPA, Fla. — Think of Connor Williams as a young, talented baseball pitcher who is having location issues.
Sometimes the fastball’s a little high. Sometimes the curve can’t hit the corner, and every once in a while there’s a dribbler get gets past the catcher.
The former Dallas Cowboys offensive guard the Miami Dolphins signed to a two-year, $14 million deal this offseason with the vision of having the 25-year-old switch positions to center, hasn’t been horrible in his new spot.
He’s not spraying the ball all over the field in his fifth month of snapping the ball. But the quarterback-to-center exchange has been far from perfect in the first three weeks of training camp.
Thursday’s practice provided a solid sample size of Williams’ current location issues. Tua Tagovailoa had to jump for a couple of the 11-on-11 snaps during Thursday’s joint practice against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and then there was one snap that was so low all Tagovailoa could do was fall on the football and eat the play for a would-be sack.
If Miami were playing a game, snaps like those could kill drives, which is why these occasional off-the-mark snaps have become one of the team’s bigger concerns heading into the preseason games.
“That’s kind of harsh,” Williams responded when I told him that his snapping wasn’t ideal from a targeting standpoint so far in camp. “Obviously it’s just perfecting your craft. It’s day in and day out, just trying to hit the [strike zone].
“We get reps whenever we can, however we can. It’s just being able to get it in the box every time,” Williams continued. “Even in those stressed-out situations where you know you’ve got to move wide really quick — right at the snap of the ball — being able to snap it and then get out, and being able to perfect that.”
That’s the thing about this wide zone run scheme that new coach Mike McDaniel and his staff are installing. The center isn’t just window-dressing for this offensive line. Whoever plays that position is an active participant when it comes to creating running lanes, and helping tailbacks get to the second level.
That’s why the Dolphins opted to move Williams there instead of investing another season into Michael Deiter as the starting center, or addressing the position in free agency by signing a veteran, or selecting one with a draft pick.
The Dolphins saw Williams’ run-blocking prowess with the Cowboys, had knowledge that he was a student of the game, and proposed the position switch that Williams bought into immediately, knowing that if he succeeded he’d potentially extend his NFL career a couple of seasons since quality centers are hard to find.
And seemingly, they’re just as hard to develop.
“You have to block these guys that are trying to murder your quarterback, and you have a ball between your legs and you have to snap it,” McDaniel said describing a center’s role. “That is different. That’s something that you just don’t half-heartedly pursue.
“It takes a particular type of person as well as athlete for you to have a shot [at center] is what I’ve learned,” McDaniel continued. “It was obvious from the first week that I knew him that Connor Williams had the type of disposition that it would take. You have to be obsessed. You have to be confident, but hard on yourself.”
Seemingly, you also have to be patient.
Fortunately for the Dolphins, two of the team’s assistant coaches are former centers.
Lemuel Jeanpierre, who served as the lead offensive line coach last year before getting retaining as the assistant O-line coach on this staff, played center in the NFL for six seasons.
And Frank Smith, Miami’s new offensive coordinator, who happens to have a background as an offensive line coach, was actually Ben Roethlisberger’s college center during the former Steelers quarterback’s days at Miami of Ohio.
So there are plenty of pointers and guidance being dispensed.
“The biggest thing he’s said to me was [be] like Avatar, like that connection to riding that [flying creator],” Williams said, referring to the blockbuster, science fiction film about a mining colony threatening a humanoid species of indigenous blue people in the Alpha Centauri star system. “That’s what me and Tua [Tagovailoa] have to have. That’s what we’ve been forming.”
That explains why Williams and Tagovailoa sit next to each other in team meetings.
The chatter mostly focused on “snap locations on certain plays that will help us execute the play that much better,” Tagovailoa said. “Then just our timing with everything. He’s taking care of the front, I’m taking care of the back end with things. Just us being in sync will help this offense go.”
The quarterback-to-center exchange is where every play begins, so the hope that by the time the regular season arrived Williams will have addressed his location issues, curtailing the off-the-mark snaps.
