Congratulations to New York Giants center John Michael Schmitz on welcoming a newborn into the world last week. The 27-year-old wound up missing a couple of days of practice because of it, so when Week 4 against the Arizona Cardinals rolled around, head coach John Harbaugh opted to start Bryan Hudson at center instead.
Hudson had been practicing well enough for Harbs to seriously consider working him in already, and with JMS missing practice time before the game, the coaching staff felt like the change made sense given the circumstances. It also gave Hudson his first NFL start.
The Giants came away with a 36-24 win, and Hudson did just about everything he could to make Harbaugh’s decision at center a little more complicated moving forward.
Harbaugh told reporters after the game that the switch was “not a long-term thing,” but after watching Hudson outperform what New York has gotten from Schmitz for most of 2026, riding the hot hand suddenly doesn’t sound like the worst idea.
Bryan Hudson gave John Harbaugh every reason to reconsider Giants' center plans
Hudson couldn’t have asked for a much better first start. The 25-year-old played all 62 offensive snaps and was awesome at keeping quarterback Jameis Winston upright, allowing zero pressures on 37 pass-blocking snaps.
And when you put his first start next to what New York has gotten from Schmitz this season, things get interesting (courtesy of Pro Football Focus):
Bryan Hudson
Run-blocking grade | Pass-blocking grade | |
|---|---|---|
78.5 | 74.1 | 77.7 |
John Michael Schmitz
Run-blocking grade | Pass-blocking grade | |
|---|---|---|
45.7 | 49.7 | 42.3 |
We’re four games into Schmitz’s fourth season in North Jersey, and it still feels like we’re having the same conversations we’ve had every single year. He’s just unreliable, and for a guy in a contract year, you’d think he’d be doing a lot more to cash in on his next deal.
Apparently not.
Hudson isn’t exactly coming out of nowhere. He's been with the team for nearly two years, and he spent a good chunk of training camp working with the first-team offense while Schmitz was working through a concussion.
There’s also the Kendrick Green practice squad signing from last week, which felt interesting before Sunday and looks even more interesting now that Hudson has given Harbs a reason to reconsider the position altogether.
Maybe Harbaugh goes right back to JMS against the Washington Commanders in Week 5. He did pour cold water on Hudson being the full-time starter almost immediately after the game.
But I’m just not sure why he has to.
The Giants have spent more than three years waiting for Schmitz to play like a starting-caliber center. Hudson needed one Sunday to show them what they’ve been missing, and after how long New York has waited for things to click with JMS, Harbaugh might as well see where this goes.
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