The 2023 NFL Draft quietly has an abundance of talent on the interior offensive line, with an intriguing center class on the horizon. Whether you’re looking for a natural, experienced center, or a position-switch candidate who has the tools to win in the middle, there’s plenty of tape to peruse.
2023 Center Draft Class
These are the centers for the 2023 NFL Draft, listed by last name in alphabetical order:
Centers
- Alan Ali, TCU
- Nick Amoah, UC Davis
- Spencer Anderson, Maryland
- Jake Andrews, Troy
- Shea Baker, Rice
- Tyrese Bobbitt, Shaw
- Drew Bones, Illinois State
- Johari Branch, Maryland
- Brad Cecil, South Florida
- Brandon Council, Auburn
- Eric Douglas, South Carolina
- Trevor Downing, Iowa State
- Warren Ericson, Georgia
- Patrick Flynn, New Hampshire
- Alex Forsyth, Oregon
- Jon Gaines II, UCLA
- Jacob Gall, Baylor
- James Jackson, South Alabama
- Johnny Jordan, Virginia Tech
- Brent Laing, Minnesota-Duluth
- Corey Luciano, Washington
- Ahofitu Maka, UTSA
- Chris Murray, Oklahoma
- Brett Neilon, USC
- Olusegun Oluwatimi, Michigan
- Alex Pihlstrom, Illinois
- Nick Saldiveri, Old Dominion
- John Michael Schmitz, Minnesota
- Manase Mose, North Texas
- Juice Scruggs, Penn State
- LaQuinston Sharp, Mississippi State
- Erik Sorensen, Northern Iowa
- Ricky Stromberg, Arkansas
- DJ Stuckey, UNLV
- Joe Tippmann, Wisconsin
- Kevin Toote, Pace
- Alama Uluave, San Diego State
- Nick Weber, Florida Atlantic
- Matthew Weimann, Saint Thomas
- Dacquari Wilson, North Carolina A&T
- Luke Wypler, Ohio State
- Josh Zacher, Duquesne
Who Are the Top Centers in the 2023 NFL Draft?
The 2023 NFL Draft center class experienced a minor setback when Georgia’s Sedrick Van Pran-Granger opted to return to the Bulldogs. Van Pran-Granger would have been an early-round prospect at the position in 2023. But even with his loss, the class still holds up fairly well under scrutiny.
On the surface, there isn’t a prospect quite at the caliber of Iowa’s Tyler Linderbaum — who was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. But there are a number of strong prospects at the top, including an underrated first-round candidate in John Michael Schmitz.
Schmitz is a bit older than your average early-round prospect, but the byproduct of that age is lots of high-quality tape from his Minnesota career. He’s a plus athlete, a mauler in tight spaces, and a strong, flexible blocker with exceptional leverage and awareness.
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Schmitz is commonly viewed as the top center in the 2023 NFL Draft, but he’s joined by several others in the early-round conversation — most notably Wisconsin’s Joe Tippmann and Ohio State’s Luke Wypler. Both battle-tested in the Big Ten, Tippmann is a freak athlete with elite power, while Wypler is a stout, well-leveraged middle man with good athleticism and core strength.
Without Van Pran-Granger, the top group in the 2023 NFL Draft center class is a bit thinner, but there’s plenty of depth. Olusegun Oluwatimi, Alex Forsyth, and Ricky Stromberg could all have futures as NFL starters, along with Penn State’s Juice Scruggs.
Past those options, there are several intriguing position-changing linemen with upside anchoring the line. Maryland’s Spencer Anderson, UCLA’s Jon Gaines II, Minnesota-Duluth’s Brent Laing, Old Dominion’s Nick Saldiveri, and Oklahoma’s Chris Murray all took center reps during the all-star circuit, and all showed promise in that role.
One more sleeper to keep an eye on is TCU’s Alan Ali. Ali transferred to TCU from SMU in 2022 and took the starting center job while Steve Avila moved to guard. Ali has experience at all five positions, and like many other linemen mentioned here, that versatility could help in the search for a roster spot.