The Baltimore Ravens selected center Tyler Linderbaum in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft. The former Iowa star has already developed into one of the best players at his position in the league and has fit in seamlessly with Baltimore’s offensive line.
“Yes. It’s an interesting dilemma with centers because a lot of times, guys who play center in the NFL don’t always play center in college. Tyler [Linderbaum] was one of the rare guys who played center in college and knew he was going to be a center in the NFL. [It’s] probably because there are such good players in college [that] they don’t put them at center. It’s a different position in the NFL because more is demanded of them, athletically. But the other part of it [is] you can definitely measure [those qualities] from a guy when he’s a center in college, and he had all those traits, obviously. You do look at it, and it really is important. I think we have the best.”
When discussing Linderbaum, Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh mentioned how the second-year pro avoided a preconceived notion entering the NFL. Harbaugh talked about how players that line up at center in college sometimes don’t play the position in the NFL, and Linderbaum knew he would be lining up in the middle of the offensive line, distancing himself from that dilemma.