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Draft Focus
Draft Focus: Wisconsin Junior Is Top Center
Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
Name: Peter Konz
Position: Center
College: Wisconsin
Height/Weight: 6-5/314
Age: 22 (born June 9, 1989)
Strengths: Konz has a lot of experience playing at a very high level, as Wisconsin routinely fields one of the nation's top offensive lines. A tackle when he first arrived on campus, he was moved to center after his redshirt year, and has great athleticism for an interior lineman. With so many starts under his belt, he looks very natural and smooth in his technique and has great awareness. He's able to anticipate blitzes from the defense and is decisive in his pre-snap calls.
Weaknesses: His height makes it tough to win leverage battles against linemen with a lower center of gravity, and he is rarely able to simply overpower defenders, instead needing to box out and steer them away from the play. He raised concerns about his overall strength by bench pressing only 18 reps of 225 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Sound Bites: On the reason he was switched from tackle to center: "It was decided in a series of unfortunate events for other people. John Moffitt, who's now in Seattle, tore his pec that summer. Billy Nagy, who's now with Dallas, had a terrible moped accident that wasn't his fault. Travis Frederick, who was the backup center at that point and is playing left guard for us right now, was in there and he got rolled up on a play and hurt his ankle. Coach (Bob) Bostad, instead of having the next center in, he grabbed me from the tackle spot and threw me in at center and we never looked back."
Where He's Headed: Considered by some the draft's second-best interior lineman behind David DeCastro of Stanford, Konz is expected to come off the board by the end of the first round, but could slip into the second.
How He Helps the Cowboys: If the team drafted Konz, it would most likely be after trading out of the 14th overall pick, or moving up later in Round 1 by trading multiple selections. Such a decisive move would signal the club's intention to insert him as the starting center right away. While the Cowboys like the progress Phil Costa has made, it would be tough to pass up a potential Pro Bowl center if he dropped all the way to their pick in the second round, No. 45 overall.
Draft Focus: Wisconsin Junior Is Top Center
Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
Name: Peter Konz
Position: Center
College: Wisconsin
Height/Weight: 6-5/314
Age: 22 (born June 9, 1989)
Strengths: Konz has a lot of experience playing at a very high level, as Wisconsin routinely fields one of the nation's top offensive lines. A tackle when he first arrived on campus, he was moved to center after his redshirt year, and has great athleticism for an interior lineman. With so many starts under his belt, he looks very natural and smooth in his technique and has great awareness. He's able to anticipate blitzes from the defense and is decisive in his pre-snap calls.
Weaknesses: His height makes it tough to win leverage battles against linemen with a lower center of gravity, and he is rarely able to simply overpower defenders, instead needing to box out and steer them away from the play. He raised concerns about his overall strength by bench pressing only 18 reps of 225 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Sound Bites: On the reason he was switched from tackle to center: "It was decided in a series of unfortunate events for other people. John Moffitt, who's now in Seattle, tore his pec that summer. Billy Nagy, who's now with Dallas, had a terrible moped accident that wasn't his fault. Travis Frederick, who was the backup center at that point and is playing left guard for us right now, was in there and he got rolled up on a play and hurt his ankle. Coach (Bob) Bostad, instead of having the next center in, he grabbed me from the tackle spot and threw me in at center and we never looked back."
Where He's Headed: Considered by some the draft's second-best interior lineman behind David DeCastro of Stanford, Konz is expected to come off the board by the end of the first round, but could slip into the second.
How He Helps the Cowboys: If the team drafted Konz, it would most likely be after trading out of the 14th overall pick, or moving up later in Round 1 by trading multiple selections. Such a decisive move would signal the club's intention to insert him as the starting center right away. While the Cowboys like the progress Phil Costa has made, it would be tough to pass up a potential Pro Bowl center if he dropped all the way to their pick in the second round, No. 45 overall.