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Rimington Award Has Eyes on Schmitz
7/22/2022 9:00:00 AM | Football
Preseason All-American collects more accolades
University of Minnesota center John Michael Schmitz was named to the Rimington Award Watch List today. The award is presented annually to the best center in the nation.
This year, the Trophy committee worked with Pro Football Focus (PFF) to narrow down its list to the top 40 centers. PFF grades every player on every play of every game on how well they execute their given assignment. That play-by-play grading allowed the Trophy committee to create a watch list based both on nominations from the schools and data provided by PFF.
Schmitz, who has been named a preseason All-American by numerous media outlets, has received multitudes of praise from PFF in the past.
He is ranked as PFF's No. 4 interior offensive lineman (second center) entering the 2022 season. The outlet described him as: Schmitz, one of the more under-the-radar offensive linemen in the Big Ten over the past few years, enjoyed his best season yet in 2021. His 88.1 PFF grade ranked third-best among FBS centers, and he earned an 87.5 run-blocking grade while also not allowing a single sack or quarterback hit in pass protection. Since 2019, Schmitz has been the second-most valuable center in the Power Five — behind only Iowa's Tyler Linderbaum, now with the Baltimore Ravens. Schmitz has a real chance to take home the Rimington Trophy in 2022.
Schmitz was named All-Big Ten Second Team last season by the coaches and All-Big Ten Third Team by the media. The four-time Academic All-Big Ten standout has played in 44 career games and has made 23 starts at center for the Gophers.
This year, the Trophy committee worked with Pro Football Focus (PFF) to narrow down its list to the top 40 centers. PFF grades every player on every play of every game on how well they execute their given assignment. That play-by-play grading allowed the Trophy committee to create a watch list based both on nominations from the schools and data provided by PFF.
Schmitz, who has been named a preseason All-American by numerous media outlets, has received multitudes of praise from PFF in the past.
He is ranked as PFF's No. 4 interior offensive lineman (second center) entering the 2022 season. The outlet described him as: Schmitz, one of the more under-the-radar offensive linemen in the Big Ten over the past few years, enjoyed his best season yet in 2021. His 88.1 PFF grade ranked third-best among FBS centers, and he earned an 87.5 run-blocking grade while also not allowing a single sack or quarterback hit in pass protection. Since 2019, Schmitz has been the second-most valuable center in the Power Five — behind only Iowa's Tyler Linderbaum, now with the Baltimore Ravens. Schmitz has a real chance to take home the Rimington Trophy in 2022.
Schmitz was named All-Big Ten Second Team last season by the coaches and All-Big Ten Third Team by the media. The four-time Academic All-Big Ten standout has played in 44 career games and has made 23 starts at center for the Gophers.
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