A Move To Guard Could Be A Draft Boost For Notre Dame's Jarrett Patterson
On the surface, it can be unsettling moving a player to a new position, especially when they have excelled at that position like Jarrett Patterson has at center for the Notre Dame program. That comes from a program perspective. Too many moving parts can be counterproductive. This is true even when the move is done because another player is performing so well, and that could be the case at Notre Dame this fall after the spring emergence of Zeke Correll.
From an NFL Draft perspective, however, the move has significantly more positives than negatives. The center position is one that has been somewhat undervalued from a draft perspective. Everyone knows that offensive tackle is the money making position but offensive guards also traditionally have higher paydays than true centers.
The fact that teams need to fill two guard spots compared to just one center spot also opens up more draft opportunities. In the last 10 NFL Drafts (2013 to 2022), 18 centers have been taken in the first and second rounds of the during. During that same stretch 33 guards have been taken, so a move to guard would clearly open up more opportunities for Patterson, and the center options also don't go away.
The fact of the matter is, if a team likes Patterson at center a move to guard isn’t going to change that. He has 34 career starts at center and teams obviously know what he can do at the position. What a move to guard can do, however, is open up more possibilities to a more valuable position.
Some teams would have wondered if Patterson could potentially transition to guard, but now a year of tape will answer that question quickly for them. If he is successful then it’s a win-win and Patterson now becomes a legitimate option for teams at guard and center.
The absolute baseline is a sticking point long term as well. If Patterson doesn’t develop into a starting caliber offensive lineman on the next level like many envision, being versatile is a huge chance to continue to make a roster. For many backup offensive lineman, the flexibility to backup multiple positions is the separation of the long term fixtures and the ones who don’t make the roster.
Purely from a draft perspective, there really isn’t much negative to making the move.
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