New York Giants center John Michael Schmitz struggled terribly through the first three games of the season before missing practice last Friday for the birth of his child. That opened the door for backup Bryan Hudson to start -- and dominate -- in Week 4, although head coach John Harbaugh quickly called the switch “not a long-term thing,” explaining that Schmitz’s missed practice time made the move sensible given the circumstances.
Right. And giraffes have short necks.
I’d be more willing to believe the “circumstances” talk if JMS hadn’t already been the Giants’ starting center for three-plus seasons. Seriously, what exactly are the G-Men doing at practice on a Friday before a Week 4 game that suddenly made Schmitz too unprepared to start?
It’s all but impossible not to read into the decision, especially after Hudson went out and played as well as he did in his first NFL start. And with Wednesday’s news that the Baltimore Ravens traded for Eagles star center Cam Jurgens, it feels like Big Blue might’ve missed a golden opportunity to pawn off its struggling center on a team that was clearly shopping for one.
Ravens’ Cam Jurgens trade feels like a missed opportunity for the Giants
Advanced analytics won’t tell the whole story, but holy moly, do they paint a terrible picture for Schmitz. Out of 33 qualified centers, here’s where the 27-year-old ranks via Pro Football Focus:
Overall grade | Run-blocking grade | Pass-blocking grade |
|---|---|---|
45.7 (32nd) | 49.7 (30th) | 42.3 (30th) |
But yeah, maybe if he hadn’t missed practice on Friday, he would’ve magically turned his fortunes around. The reality is, the former Minnesota standout hasn’t finished higher than the 29th-best center in any of his first three seasons hiking the ball. Maybe the Ravens saw what we’ve all been seeing. Still, instead of waiting for Baltimore GM Eric DeCosta to come calling, Joe Schoen could’ve been proactive and tried selling him on Schmitz before the Ravens got the Eagles on the phone.
Baltimore’s center room has been a disaster pretty much all year. Three-time Pro Bowler Tyler Linderbaum left for Las Vegas in free agency, and the Ravens haven’t been able to catch a break since.
Danny Pinter went down before the season, Jovaughn Gwyn and Ethan Pocic followed in Week 3, and eventually they were asking rookie guard Vega Ioane to play emergency backup, backup, backup center because, well, Lamar Jackson wasn't going to do it.
Nobody knows whether the Ravens would’ve had any interest in Schmitz, and Jurgens is obviously the better player. But that’s why Schoen should’ve at least made the call. If Baltimore was desperate enough to give up a 2027 fifth-round pick and a 2028 second-rounder for Jurgens, maybe there was a Day 3 pick sitting there for JMS before the Eagles swooped in.
Schmitz is playing out the final year of his rookie deal anyway, and Hudson gave Harbs a pretty compelling reason to see what else he can do.
So if Hudson is going to get another crack at the starting job eventually, it would’ve been nice to get something back for JMS while there was a center-desperate team looking for quite literally anybody, especially with Kendrick Green already sitting on the practice squad as extra depth.
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