Film room: Could Jarrod Hufford win backup center job?

Undrafted free agent’s pass protection skills could earn him a roster spot

Behind Jackson Powers-Johnson, the Las Vegas Raiders currently have a question mark at backup center. While projected starting guard Dylan Parham can factor into the equation, 2023 undrafted free agent Will Putnam and 2024 undrafted free agent Jarrod Hufford will be battling for a roster spot behind Powers-Johnson on the depth chart.

Hufford is one of the more intriguing UDFAs that the Raiders signed this spring, primarily due to his pass protection skills. He never allowed more than 15 pressures and two sacks in a single season during his four years as a starter, according to Pro Football Focus, while lining up at four different positions.

This past season, the Iowa State product took nearly 1,000 snaps at center (559 in pass protection) and only gave up 13 pressures, with just one being a sack. Also, he’s an impressive athlete who earned an 8.67 RAS at the NFL Combine. That’s worth diving deeper into, so let’s flip on the tape and see what the former Cyclone can bring to Las Vegas.

Hufford’s athleticism stands out the most in pass protection, especially with his get-off. As seen above, he’s quick out of his stance to get to his landmarks and be in a position to stay in front of pass rushers.

On top of that, Hufford has fast hands when throwing his punch, allowing him to make the first significant contact and disrupt defensive linemen’s pass-rush moves. In this clip, it looks like the defensive tackle goes to work a swim move, but the center lands his punch with great timing to prevent the defender from finishing the move.

Finally, the Iowa State product maintains a wide base while dropping his butt and re-setting his hands to anchor as the pass-rusher transitions to a bull rush, giving the quarterback a clean pocket and plenty of time to get a good throw off.

Additionally, the former Cyclone has good eyes and is smart in pass protection to sniff out or find potential threats.

Here, Kansas runs a simulated pressure where the inside linebacker blitzes, but they only have four pass-rushers since the left outside linebacker drops into coverage. Meanwhile, the two defensive tackles slant to the strong side of the formation, to replace the outside backer on the edge and create an opening in the B-gap for the blitzer to attack.

With the center turning to the offense’s right, the right defensive tackle (No. 92) is hoping to catch the center off guard and win by being a physical pass-rusher. However, Hufford recognizes that the left defensive tackle (No. 58) is working wide and gets his eyes inside to look for work.

That allows him to brace for contact against No. 92 and keep the defender at the line of scrimmage. Granted, the simulated pressure worked as the defense created confusion for the left tackle and ended up getting the sack. But this is a quality rep from our subject/the player we’re concerned about.

Building on the section above, Hufford’s football IQ and eyes in pass protection also help him be effective against line games.

Off the snap, he steps left and engages with the defensive tackle in the strong side A-gap. However, he feels the defender slow down and start to loop around on the defensive tackle twist, so Hufford expects something is up and shifts his eyes to the right. That allows him to anticipate the penetrator coming from the other defensive tackle spot.

As a result, the center can drop his pads and fight fire with fire by being physical with the penetrator instead of getting caught off guard and knocked off-balance or to the ground. Thus, the stunt is effectively picked up, and the quarterback has plenty of time to get the pass off. Well, except for the right tackle getting beat…

We’ll see another line game from the defense in the clip above, but it’s a T/E stunt from Cincinnati this time. That means instead of Hufford picking up the penetrator, he’s responsible for passing the penetrator off and taking on the looper.

Now, he does benefit from the defensive end tripping as the end loops around his teammate. But, regardless, Hufford does a good job of recognizing the defense’s play call to pass off the nose tackle to the right guard and right tackle, and then being in a perfect position to take on the looper had the looper stayed on his feet.

To be honest, Hufford isn’t impressive as a run blocker. The highest PFF run-blocking grade he earned as a starter was a slightly above average 64.4 mark last season, and he doesn’t have the strength to be an ass-kicker in the running game at the next level.

However, he can be effective on zone runs with his ability to push defensive linemen where they want to go, and the clip above is a perfect example of what’s meant by that.

Iowa State calls inside zone to the defense’s right, and the defense responds by having the defensive line work wide to the right. So, Hufford uses the defensive tackle’s momentum against him by pushing him where he wants to go and washing the defender outside or past the hash mark.

Additionally, the former Cyclone’s athleticism helps him be an effective reach blocker on outside zone concepts. While technically the play above is a pin-and-pull concept, every offensive lineman except for the left tackle is blocking as if it’s an outside zone run, including the center.

Hufford has a tough responsibility here as he’s responsible for reaching a 2i-technique defensive tackle, meaning he needs to get outside positioning post-snap on a defender who has a pre-snap advantage with a wider alignment. However, the offensive lineman’s initial quickness and agility erase the defender’s advantage as he’s able to flip his hips and seal the defender inside.

Overall, like any undrafted free agent, Hufford faces an uphill battle to make the Raiders’ roster during training camp. But if he can prove to be reliable in pass protection and just good enough to get by in the running game, the second-string center job could be the Iowa State product’s in September.