Brahms named the best center in the SEC

[aubiefifty 16,755]

Auburn's Nick Brahms named the best center in the SEC

Zac Blackerby

 

September 2, 2021 7:00 am CT

 

The preseason love for Nick Brahms isn’t going away.

Earlier this week, SEC Network analysts and WJOX radio host Cole Cubelic posted a graphic of his top five centers in the SEC.

Auburn’s Brahms was on top of the list.

Cubelic is a former offensive lineman and is an expert on all things that happen in the trenches. His endorsement is a big deal and something that Auburn fans should be excited about.

He has Brahms ranked ahead of Missouri’s Michael Maietti, LSU’s Liam Shanahan, Alabama’s Chris Owens, and Ricky Stromberg from Arkansas.

Brahms and the Tigers start their season this Saturday against the Akron Zips at 6:00 pm CST. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.

[80Tiger 899]

Cole Cubelic certainly knows more about it than I do, but his play has never seemed to that level to me.

[woodford 3,655]

If he ends the season as the best center in the conference then we might have a good season 

[steeleagle 2,945]

16 minutes ago, 80Tiger said:

Cole Cubelic certainly knows more about it than I do, but his play has never seemed to that level to me.

Unless he's gotten stronger, he gets whipped too much at center. Unless there is not many veteran centers returning, I expect someone else to show up and be 1st team center, but not Brahms...

[W.E.D 11,070]

25 minutes ago, 80Tiger said:

Cole Cubelic certainly knows more about it than I do, but his play has never seemed to that level to me.

 

8 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

Unless he's gotten stronger, he gets whipped too much at center. Unless there is not many veteran centers returning, I expect someone else to show up and be 1st team center, but not Brahms...

Tried to find some old tweets from Cole but couldn't.  Maybe it was video.  He's been pretty critical of Brahms in the past on pretty much all of these points.  I think someone posted some stats before and he's about the only returning true center.  So maybe that's it.  I hope he plays well.

[Hopsing 577]

He needs to dominate his opponent next 2 games in prepping for the real season, as well as direct this new look O-line in an efficient manner. By game 3 we should be able to see improvements that would justify this to start the season. 
As season progresses we should see some progression as well albeit may be slower as the competition.

I’m not from Missouri, but show me anyways!

 

[Howard Roark 195]

57 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

Unless he's gotten stronger, he gets whipped too much at center. Unless there is not many veteran centers returning, I expect someone else to show up and be 1st team center, but not Brahms...

This might have been addressed.  From what I have read, he was not able to do the necessary work in the weight room until this offseason.  With the new training staff, I am hoping he as able to be much stronger at the point of attack.  You are right, that has been one of his biggest issues. Hopefully the emphasis on getting stronger (strange that was not the focus before) will help across the LOS.  

[DAG 33,977]

The hype is real. Let's produce please.

[SRBautigerfan 1,040]

I'm pulling for the guy to deliver on the hype and put the past in the past. 

[W.E.D 11,070]

17 minutes ago, Howard Roark said:

This might have been addressed.  From what I have read, he was not able to do the necessary work in the weight room until this offseason.  With the new training staff, I am hoping he as able to be much stronger at the point of attack.  You are right, that has been one of his biggest issues. Hopefully the emphasis on getting stronger (strange that was not the focus before) will help across the LOS.  

Why?  has he ever been hurt?  I don't recall it.

[gravejd 3,270]

I'm excited to see Brahms and the rest of the OL have a great season. They need to change the current AU narrative that has a soft OL and that we don't develop players at that position. 

[Howard Roark 195]

1 hour ago, W.E.D said:

Why?  has he ever been hurt?  I don't recall it.

Yeah apparently he had an injury that limited him in the weight room in 2019 and then they were no allowed for much of the offseason in 2020.  

[cole256 17,043]

Lol. Nope nobody really believes this, everybody has their assistants who are assistants in the game of football for a reason but they don't know crap about football and they just say things......but coincidentally everybody that doesn't know anything about football picks the same guy out of all the guys to pick to be the best.....

And of course this would go against the o line is so horrible that you couldn't expect a QB no matter how good he is to be decent.

Also people think this about him before he even received quality coaching. I wonder how good he'll end up being once he learns how to read defenses and stuff. We certainly have tools, we just need to get the job done.

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

Brahms really wasn’t that bad last year. I think he just has a bad rep from 2019 when he consistently got blown off the line. Another factor is there aren’t a lot of experienced centers in the SEC. Cole wasn’t a great center but he does know a lot about the position. 

[IronMan70 3,277]

Congrats to Brahms on some recognition. I think we're about to see the results of better coaching, better schemes and proper strength training on the OL. If there was ever a time for a big jump in Auburn's OL performance it would be now with all these seniors. Let's get this done.

[alexava 6,973]

He’s gotta show me. That would be hellacious improvement. I thought it more likely Irvin beat him out. 

[W.E.D 11,070]

2 hours ago, cole256 said:

And of course this would go against the o line is so horrible that you couldn't expect a QB no matter how good he is to be decent.

Stay salty, my friend.

[cole256 17,043]

50 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

Stay salty, my friend.

Not at all. Been fighting for the o line since before you'vebeen posting on here. I could reverse what you just said to show you and make a point but I don't think I will

[W.E.D 11,070]

9 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Not at all. Been fighting for the o line since before you'vebeen posting on here. I could reverse what you just said to show you and make a point but I don't think I will

I do find this funny

[cole256 17,043]

2 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

I do find this funny

Cool

[JDUBB4AU 5,112]

He has to get mean . He was downy soft last year . I hope he kills it this year . Hopefully the new strength and conditioning program worked 

[aubiefifty 16,755]

6 hours ago, W.E.D said:

 

Tried to find some old tweets from Cole but couldn't.  Maybe it was video.  He's been pretty critical of Brahms in the past on pretty much all of these points.  I think someone posted some stats before and he's about the only returning true center.  So maybe that's it.  I hope he plays well.

maybe he took that next step under harsin and the new line coach? how often has he played hurt? i trust cubelic to know more about it than i do. more people have come out and praised several members on our line so maybe they just needed coaching up?

[W.E.D 11,070]

7 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

maybe he took that next step under harsin and the new line coach?

I mean, I hope so...but no one knows that.

15 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

i trust cubelic to know more about it than i do.

Agree, he's also been really Harson on him in the past, which makes it surprising.  Hopefully he's much improved. 

[AURex 1,994]

Auburn's Nick Brahms named the best center in the SEC. Really?

So, is this an indication of how crappy the entire SEC OL players are? or is it an indication of how awful SEC OL are compared to other teams nationally? Or is itr some sort of notion of how sh*tty the crop of Centers is Nationally this year? Because in most years, he definitely would grade out nationally as a very late round draft pick.

Of course, that's just me............. Maybe Cleveland thinks he is Da Man!

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

9 hours ago, AURex said:

So, is this an indication of how crappy the entire SEC OL players are?

Brahms is the most experienced center in the league who didn't transfer in from somewhere else. Numerous SEC teams are starting transfer centers this season. Numerous others have young guys. I'm pulling for him to fulfill this expectation but it isn't based on game tape. 

 

23 hours ago, 80Tiger said:

Cole Cubelic certainly knows more about it than I do, but his play has never seemed to that level to me.

Cubelic had a highly inflated preseason prediction for our OL last year, too. He's usually very objective when he discusses AU football- can actually be a fairly harsh critic- but as a former OL he tends to lean forgiving when it comes to our big fellas up front.