The best offensive lines function as one. Chemistry is so important to the success of this position group, and it’s most important for the center who’s calling the protections.
This is why I was mildly surprised the Falcons shipped Ryan Neuzil off to the Ravens just before the trade deadline on Tuesday. The NFC South is a mess, every team is currently sitting with three wins, and winning the division is still very possible. Michael Penix Jr.’s early career and development have been disrupted by injury
and Kirk Cousins, and switching out centers in the middle of the season doesn’t seem like the smoothest path to his success.
You know who isn’t worried about the chemistry with his teammates? New starting center Corey Levin. For Levin, it’s all about building trust with his teammates.
“First and foremost, just proving to them that they can trust me with everything that they trusted Neuzil with,” Levin said Wednesday. “And then, obviously, I’m a different player than Neuzil. We play our own style and things like that. So them getting comfortable with how I may do a certain thing or communicate a certain way — just building that as quick as possible, and we get plenty of reps of practice to do it. So we really have no excuse.”
While Neuzil would have gotten the first-team practice reps to prepare for each opponent up to this week, the backup center does take some early reps with the starter in each practice and in warmups before each game. In the immortal words of legendary Falcons safety William Moore, “How am I supposed to get ready when I stay ready?” That’s the goal for the backup center — to stay ready in case the next man up is needed. And now Levin is.
When asked about the differences between his play and Neuzil’s, Levin noted the difference in their builds and athleticism.
“Like, he’s extremely athletic, and I’m not saying I’m not athletic. But I might weigh a little bit more than him, so different ways to play center. And I try to emulate him when he’s here, for the offense that we’re running, and now that he’s not here, just kind of doing… not entirely my way, but still within my way.”
And now that Levin is the Falcons’ starter, he got about 60 practice snaps per day with the starting offense in this week’s practices to prepare for the Chiefs this week.
His teammates describe Levin as a high-energy, happy guy. His experience as an NFL journeyman certainly impacted that attitude.
“[I’m] just kind of always a positive, upbeat guy,” he said. “I’m happy to come to work with a smile on my face. Just because I’m grateful. Like you said, I bounced around. I know what it looks like to not have exactly the situation you want to be in. So when you’re in the building every day, it’s a blessing.
Sunday’s game against the Chiefs will be Levin’s eighth NFL start. He’s played 14 offensive snaps and 36 special teams snaps so far this season.
