The New England Patriots have wrapped up their organized team activities and mandatory minicamp sessions, so they’re now off of the practice fields outside of Gillette Stadium until late July when training camp begins.
As we enter the slow period of the offseason, we start arguing about who the best players are at each position, and Pro Football Focus has been putting together their rankings at each position.
Recently, PFF’s Thomas Valentine released his list of the top 32 centers heading into the 2024 season, and Patriots center David Andrews came in at No. 6.
Here’s what Valentine wrote about New England’s man in the middle:
“Andrews has been the Patriots’ starting center since his rookie season and hasn’t looked back. His 51.2 pass-blocking grade was a career low, but his 71.2 overall grade ranked 12th in the NFL. Andrews has posted a 75.0-plus run-blocking grade in each of the past three years.”
Valentine ranked Erik McCoy (New Orleans Saints), Ryan Kelly (Indianapolis Colts), Tyler Linderbaum (Baltimore Ravens), Frank Ragnow (Detroit Lios) and Creed Humphrey (Kansas City Chiefs) all above Andrews.
New England will lean heavily on Andrews, who recently signed an extension, this season with an inexperienced offensive line and potentially a rookie quarterback behind him. A lot of intangible parts of his game will have to shine through if the Patriots want to reach their peak in 2024.