John
Michael Schmitz.
John
Michael Schmitz.
Minnesota· 6'4"· 301 lb
"A sixth-year mauler who won with hands, leverage and a finisher's edge at Minnesota, Schmitz projected as a plug-and-play NFL center whose only real cap was ordinary athleticism."Pre-draft read
Schmitz is a throwback pivot who wins with leverage, grip strength and a mean streak rather than raw athleticism. As the fulcrum of Minnesota's run-heavy attack he displaced nose tackles on duo and inside zone with powerful first contact and real leg drive, and his hands land inside immediately — once he latches, defenders rarely shed.
In protection he anchors against power with a wide base and passes off twists like a veteran. The ceiling is ordinary: he labors in space, can be beat across his face by quick interior rushers, and his 5.35 forty confirmed the tape. His signature is reliability — he almost never loses the same rep twice.
John Michael Schmitz is a scheme-versatile center who fits best in an inside zone or gap/power run blocking scheme due to his exceptional strength and ability to displace defenders.
He projects as a Day 1 starting center capable of anchoring the offensive line and elevating the run game immediately, with a ceiling as a multi-year Pro Bowl anchor.
His value diminishes in a pass-heavy spread RPO system that prioritizes athleticism and quickness in space over raw power at the point of attack.
Schmitz offers immediate stability and a high floor as a starting center, providing a physical presence that can dictate the tempo in the run game.
John Michael Schmitz Center Highlights
John Michael Schmitz Highlights: 2017 Gopher Football Signing Day
Giants Center John Michael Schmitz Film Breakdown (Minnesota)
A sixth-year senior from Homewood-Flossmoor (Ill.), Schmitz rebuilt himself from a redshirt afterthought into the best center in college football. After spot duty in 2018-19 and five starts in the shortened 2020 season, he started 25 games over his final two years, earning AP and Walter Camp first-team All-America honors in 2022. Everything about the profile is bankable: technique, toughness, intelligence.
Minnesota's gap-and-duo scheme asked him to do exactly what NFL run games ask: move people. He dominated Big Ten nose tackles one-on-one and ran the offense's pre-snap protection calls for a young line, then answered the biggest question at the Senior Bowl, where he was arguably the best lineman in Mobile all week. The flags are athletic, not football: a 5.35 forty and 1.85 ten-yard split, both bottom-five percentile at the position, limit him in space, and at 24 he was older than most of the class.
Boards slotted him as the top pure center in the class, with a pocket of evaluators carrying first-round grades and the consensus settling in the 35-55 range. The Giants, desperate for a long-term answer at the pivot, took him at 57 without blinking. At that slot the bet was simple: a Day 1 starter with a high floor, even if the ceiling topped out below the All-Pro tier.
- 01
Hand placement
Strikes inside with immediate, violent hands and resets quickly when his first punch is beaten, rarely letting rushers into his chest.
- 02
Anchor strength
Sits down against the biggest nose tackles in football and simply does not get walked back into the quarterback's lap.
- 03
Run-game displacement
Generates real movement on duo and inside zone, rolling his hips through contact and driving defenders off the ball with a finishing edge.
- 04
Pre-snap command
Ran Minnesota's protection IDs for two seasons, sorting blitzes and twists for a line that trusted him to set the entire agenda.
- 05
Toughness and durability
Started 25 games his final two years and plays with the mean, finish-every-rep temperament coaches covet at center.
- 01
Limited athlete in space
Labors pulling and climbing to the second level; the 5.35 forty showed up on tape whenever Minnesota asked him to run.
- 02
Quick penetrators beat him
Can be crossed up by explosive 3-techniques and undersized gap shooters before his hands are set.
- 03
Below-average length
Shorter arms let long defenders into his frame first, forcing him to win with technique on every single rep.
- 04
Older prospect
Entered the league at 24 with most of his physical development already baked in, leaving less projection than a typical second-rounder.
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Minnesota | 2 |
| 2019 | Minnesota | 4 |
| 2020 | Minnesota | 6 |
| 2021 | Minnesota | 13 |
| 2022 | Minnesota | 12 |
| Career | — | 37 |
Games/starts verified via StatMuse (matches Sports-Reference). Redshirted 2017 with no appearances, so that season is not listed. AP and Walter Camp first-team All-American in 2022; started 25 games over his final two seasons.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
A decade-long, scheme-proof starter whose hands and intelligence keep him entrenched even as the athletic testing grades out ordinary.
If everything scales: a multi-time Pro Bowl pivot who wins with technique, grip strength and pre-snap command rather than athletic traits.
A sturdy but limited starter who holds a job on toughness and anchoring while never fixing the athletic gaps in space.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
John Michael Schmitz started 13 games at center for the New York Giants in his debut season. He established himself as a foundational piece of their offensive line.
Schmitz opened as the Giants' starting center from his first training camp and has never given the job back. As a rookie in 2023 he started 13 games and landed on NFL.com's All-Rookie Team while learning on the fly behind a battered line. In 2024 he started 15 games — his most complete season — before an ankle injury cost him the final two weeks. He entered 2025 entrenched again, logging 788 snaps before a finger injury sent him to injured reserve on December 27; the tape was solid if unspectacular, a 60.8 overall grade that ranked 29th among 40 qualifying centers, with his run blocking grading ahead of his pass protection.
In hindsight, the evaluation landed almost exactly where it should have. The team that bet on hands, anchor and processing got a three-year starter who has never been the problem on bad offensive lines — but also never the Pro Bowl anchor the most bullish first-round grades imagined. The athletic limitations are real in space, and the injuries that clipped each of his last two seasons are worth monitoring as he nears the end of his rookie deal. At pick 57, a dependable multi-year starter at a premium position is a hit, even a modest one. The honest grade: floor realized, ceiling unreached — and 2026 decides whether the second contract happens in New York.
Data note: Games/starts verified via StatMuse (matches Sports-Reference). Redshirted 2017 with no appearances, so that season is not listed. AP and Walter Camp first-team All-American in 2022; started 25 games over his final two seasons.