When news broke that starting center David Andrews would miss the entire 2019 season due to blood clots, the Patriots knew right away that they lost their tone-setter on the offensive line.<\/p>\n
Along with bringing a nasty attitude to the trenches, the Pats center was Pro Football Focus\u2019s eighth-best center in 2018 and has never dipped below a 67.0 grade as a starter.<\/p>\n
Andrews also gave up the ninth-fewest quarterback pressures among starting centers and was the top-graded center in the postseason during New England\u2019s run to a sixth Lombardi Trophy.<\/p>\n
Although he filled in admirably, backup center Ted Karras had an uphill battle to replace Andrews who was a top ten player at his position.\u00a0In his last healthy season, Andrews was seventh in blown block rate while Karras finished 27th among starting centers in 2019, according to Football Outsiders. Plus, after two consecutive seasons ranking in the top five, the Pats ranked 24th in stuff percentage, or the percentage of runs where the running back is tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old brings remarkable consistency with a well-rounded skill set of football intelligence, sound technique, and athleticism that makes up for lack of ideal measurables.<\/p>\n
Andrews\u2019s ability to reach blocks on the line, make blocks on the move, and work well with others gives the Patriots\u2019 OL a gear that it didn\u2019t have with the bigger Karras in the middle.<\/p>\n