David Chao, MD
2 min read • November 13, 2022
Posted in
Although the NFL center position doesn’t get as much recognition as tackles or guards, it is undeniably important to the quality of a team’s offensive line. The center controls most of the adjustments made on the line, pass protection, and performs other functions. So, who is the best NFL center?
The center position requires extraordinary intelligence to successfully and consistently reinforce an interior offensive line. All through the history of the NFL, only a few centers have earned great respect playing the position throughout their NFL career. Here are 3 of the best NFL centers entering the 2022 season.
Creed Humphrey entered the NFL as a second-round selection out of Oklahoma -63rd overall- by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2021 NFL Draft and has wasted no time establishing himself as one of the NFL’s best centers.
He and fellow teammate Trey Smith started all 17 regular season games in 2021, becoming the third pair of teammates in the league’s history to start all regular season games in their first-year campaign.
His 91.9 Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranking led all centers last season, and his 0.55 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) ranked fourth, right behind the top three best offensive linemen, Trent Williams, Joel Bitonio, and Zack Martin. This implies that he surpassed Rodney Hudson of the Arizona Cardinals. However, he needs a bigger body mass to earn lots of movement run blocking, so he would have to work on his strength.
Though he allowed only one sack -seven yards- in the 2021 season, he made blocks and hardly lost in the run game. This earned him negative run-blocking grades at rates lower than other centers, making him one of the best run-blocking centers and a home-run selection for the Chiefs. Like Ben Jones at Tennessee Titans, he has become a key team component. While not as experienced as Ben Jones of the Tennessee Titans, he shows great potential.
Creed Humphrey, now a second-year offensive lineman, enters his second NFL season with the Chiefs in 2022.
The Houston Texans initially selected Ben Jones in the fourth round -99th overall- of the 2012 NFL Draft. He was later signed by the Titans in 2016 during the free agency period to provide experience and leadership to the offensive linemen as a center.
Jones has appeared in 160 of 161 regular season games from 2012 to 2021, beating Rodney’s statistics for the number of starts. This includes all starts, except one game in his first six seasons with the Tennessee Titans. Being a versatile offensive lineman, he has done a good starting job at center, left guard, and right guard positions throughout his NFL career.
In 2018, Jones started all 16 games as a center, recording five consecutive seasons with a start in every competition. He has played crucial roles in opening lanes and contributed to the Titans averaging 137.7 rushing yards per game since 2016, the second-highest average in the NFL. He also made a league-high 4,503 rushing yards in 2019. These are sound statistics, even though he has a high percentage of negatively graded blocks in the run game.
Although he hasn’t made an All-Pro team like Rodney Hudson or Pro Bowl in 10 NFL seasons, Ben Jones has been the NFL’s third-most-valuable center according to the PFF’s Wins Above Replacement metric since 2019. In the future, there is a good chance he will join the ranks of Rodney Hudson by being selected to the All-Pro team.
Hudson was selected to join the NFL by the Kansas City Chiefs in the second round -55th overall- of the 2011 NFL draft. He played his first four seasons with them before joining the Raiders in 2015. And in 2021, Hudson was acquired by the Arizona Cardinals in a trade with his previous team.
He started 139 out of 159 games played during his career and started all 120 games in the last eight seasons. In 2021, his first season with the Cardinals, he started all 12 regular season games he appeared in and anchored an offense that ranked in the NFL’s top 10 for passing yards, rushing yards, and rushing TDs.
Hudson also assisted the Cardinals in scoring the second-highest points (449) and second-highest total net yards (6,352) in the league's history, surpassing the two other players on our list. For most of his career, he has been a gold standard at the center position recording the highest pass-blocking grades in five consecutive seasons, from 2015 to 2019.
His debut with the Cardinals last season was interrupted due to injury and a stint on the COVID-19 list. However, the Cardinals are looking forward to a new season with the three-time Pro Bowler and a 2019 second-team All-Pro selection center. While Rodney may not be viewed as an instant contributor due to his strength and size, compared to the two other players on this list, Rodney, no doubt, has more laurels to boast of.
Topping the list of the best NFL centers is 33-year-old American center, Rodney Hudson. A master in the art, Hudson plays for the Arizona Cardinals with domination on the pitch. He has continually stayed ahead of his competition in pass protection in the last decade, earning him a spot in the top five highest pass-blocking grades for centers since 2015.
Even after he stepped aside from his usual position, Rodney Hudson managed to finish the year as the seventh most valuable center in the NFL.
The top five best centers in the history of the NFL are:
Mike Webster (1974 - 1990), who had 9 Pro Bowl and 5 All-Pro selections.
Jim Otto (1960 - 1974) had 12 Pro Bowl and 10 All-Pro selections.
Jim Ringo (1953-1967) had 10 Pro Bowl and 6 All-Pro selections.
Dwight Stephenson (1980-1987) had 5 Pro Bowl and 4 All-Pro selections.
George Trafton (1920-1932) had 2 Pro Bowl selections.
The best center to have ever played in the NFL is arguably the Oakland Raiders’ Jim Otto. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of being eligible. From 1960 to 1974, Otto played 210 consecutive regular season games with the Raiders, never missing a contest due to injury.
Otto made the first-team All-AFL in every one of his 10 seasons in the league (1960-1969) and earned three Pro Bowl nominations from 1970-1972. He was one of only 20 players to play for the entire 10-year existence of the AFL and one of three to compete in all of his team’s AFL games.
His intelligence as a center launched the Oakland Raiders from the bottom of the AFL to become the league champions in 1967. He also won seven divisional championships within the Raiders in eight consecutive years (1967-1974) and led the AFL in points scored from 1967-1969.
No doubt that the Los Angeles Rams’ Jalen Ramsey has no intentions of letting go of the NFL’s best cornerback title. In 2021, this exceptional cornerback had an exceptionally good year. The 28-year-old made the first-team All-Pro for the third time, a Pro Bowl for the fifth consecutive season, and a Super Bowl trophy.
Ramsey was acquired from the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for two firsts and a fourth. As one of the league’s best run-defending cornerbacks, Ramsey influences the game in many ways, but his versatility makes him more valuable. He has also played 153 snaps in the box, second-most among NFL corners.
Jalen Ramsey is rapidly creating a Hall of Fame portfolio, and if he continues to do well even beyond his thirties, he could end up as the best cornerback of his generation.
A center’s brilliance and split-second decision-making dexterity make this position crucial on a team's offensive line. Although the market for this offensive position struggles, teams are beginning to realize its importance and scout heavily for the best NFL centers to improve their offense.
Written by David Chao, MD
