Titans First Round Options: John Michael Schmitz

Let's talk about Minnesota center John Michael Schmitz on the latest Titans First Round Options.

Share This Post

The 2023 NFL Draft takes place April 27-29 this year, emanating LIVE from Kansas City, Missouri. As it stands, the Tennessee Titans have one first round draft pick. New general manager Ran Carthon and head coach Mike Vrabel currently hold the 11th overall selection. Over the next couple of months, I’ll be taking a look at some of the prospects who are either rumored to be tied to, have met with, who make sense for the Titans, or who are for some reason being mocked to the Titans even though they don’t really have a need at the position. Whatever – there are no rules here. Today, we’re lookin’ at Minnesota center John Michael Schmitz.

Could the Titans really take the best center in the NFL bahgawd Draft at #11 overall?!?! Why not? There are no rules here on SoBros Network. So, we can at least entertain the thought, right? I put it this way on The Unofficial Titans Podcast a couple of weeks ago – being at #11 sucks right now in a draft that is loaded with potential starters, but short on elite All-Pro caliber prospects. They’re going to miss out on one of those elite prospects, and I look at this draft in the sense that there’s not a whole hell of a lot of difference between the type of prospect they’ll get at #11, and the type of prospect they’ll get at #41. So, it might not be a popular opinion right now. But, if they’re going to overdraft, why not overdraft a guy who is #1 at his position in this class and could start at center for the next 10 years?? Worse decisions could be made, people!

JMS is the guy. Plain and simple. He was named First-Team All-American and First-Team Big Ten in 2022, a year after being named Second-Team Big in 2021. He played six seasons at Minnesota, so there are some concerns about his age entering the league, but he has the pedigree of a solid starter, and while he does offer center/guard versatility, it looks like center is where he’ll make his hay in the NFL.

It’s just like last year with Tyler Linderbaum…JMS is probably one of the safest high-floor prospects in this draft, but he just so happens to play a position that doesn’t usually warrant a first round selection (for the record, I don’t think he’s Linderbaum – I’m just illustrating a point). Despite that, he may outlast this entire draft class as a whole in terms of the length of his career. He absolutely blew me away down in Mobile at Hancock Whitney Stadium.

The first thing I noticed about him was his first step. He’s an easy lateral mover that plays with good balance and technique. He can climb to the second level and pop dudes. And, he displayed tremendous footwork in Mobile, being able to plant his feet and use leverage to hold the point of attack. I jotted down at one point, “he simply can’t be driven back.” The name of his game is “anchor and flow.” He is a natural, fluid athlete that pairs the technique with it.

But, the thing that impressed me the most about JMS is that he’s a real field general. Apparently, he sees all that is happening on the field in front of him based on how he was coaching guys up at the Senior Bowl. After every play, it seemed like he was pulling dudes aside and helping them out. All of the buzz from the guys on the field that week was about how he was practically running the drills. I’ve seen other writers critique the pad level and the flexibility, but honestly, I haven’t seen such issues yet. I mean, for crying out loud, I’ve heard him called the “Northern Ben Jones.” What more needs to be said about his potential fit with the Titans?!

Ultimately, even though we’ve had some fun talking about it here today, and I do love me some John Michael Schmitz, #11 absolutely is too early to take him. I would also think that Aaron Brewer and/or Corey Levin might impact the decision to take a center in the first round. But, if they are able to trade back, down to the 20s let’s say, I wouldn’t complain about adding JMS to this offensive line.

Further Reading: How John Michael Schmitz became one of the stars of the Senior Bowl

2023 TITANS FIRST ROUND OPTIONS

If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to The Unofficial Titans Podcast on Apple Podcasts, follow us on Spotify, or wherever you take in your podcasts! 

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.

Subscribe to the SoBros Network Patreon here – $5/month gets you instant access to an exhaustive content library of articles, podcasts, and videos created exclusively for our subscribers!

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Get updates and learn from the best

More To Explore