Choosing the UW Starting Lineup: The Center Has to be Great
The guy in the middle is required on each play to call the huddle, lead everyone up to the line of scrimmage, listen for audibles, point out any blitzing players, hike the football accurately and on command — and hit someone.
It's not a job for everyone. Guys who don't multi-task well need not apply.
At the University of Washington, the center position goes only to the versatile and the highly motivated, and the Huskies' list of accomplished short snappers is a long and glorious one.
Rudy Mucha, Roy McKasson, Ray Mansfield, Bruce Jarvis, Ray Pinney, Blair Bush, Tom Turnure, Bern Brostek, Ed Cunningham, Frank Garcia, Olin Kreutz, Coleman Shelton and Nick Harris.
All of them played in the NFL except McKasson, who turned up in the CFL. Mansfield and Pinney played in the Super Bowl. Brostek, Kreutz and Garcia had reputations for being extremely nasty and unforgiving, with Kreutz drawing unwanted headlines for it. Jarvis blocked for O.J. Simpson. Mucha was a World War II-era terror.
With the graduation of yet another superlative center in Harris, it's time for the Huskies to unearth a new guy who will enthusiastically lead everyone in and out of the trenches.
In Montlake, if the younger players recruited to play center aren't ready to take on this enormous responsibility, the Huskies will scan the roster until they locate someone who fits the profile.
That's where they found Harris. And Shelton. Thriving at other positions.
Harris was as good as any Husky center in modern times, twice being named first-team All-Pac-12. Whoever steps in for him will be asked to perform at an exceedingly high level.
The Huskies always make sure this position is in capable hands. When was the last time you heard that a UW center struggled to get the job done?
With the football season in a pandemic pause, we're putting all of the moving parts of college football into consideration and choosing an opening lineup for whenever this team plays next.
New Huskies coach Jimmy Lake can consider these guys and their Husky Maven assignments fully vetted.
Leading center candidates: Luke Wattenberg, 6-5, 297, senior; Matteo Mele, 6-5, 305, sophomore; Myles Murao, 6-2, 304, freshman; Cole Norgaard, 6-5, 285, junior.
Center starting experience: Mele started one game in 2019.
Our selection: Wattenberg. Offensive-line coach Scott Hoff tipped everyone off that this move was in the works in April. Once more, the Huskies don't let just anyone take on this crucial leadership role. In 2018, Harris was summoned from right guard, where he was a proven commodity for two seasons, to replace the departing Coleman Shelton. This time, the Huskies will relocate Wattenberg from left guard, where he spent two seasons, to replace Harris, who's now with the Cleveland Browns. Wattenberg is hardly the flashy type, receiving no all-conference recognition of any kind in his three seasons of work so far; he just does the job. Kind of like Ed Cunningham from the national title team. Luke hasn't heard any complaints either. Bottom line, Wattenberg, with his combined 32 starts at left tackle and left guard, is a solid, dependable player who should provide an adequate stopgap and enable the UW to groom another center for the future.
Other options: Mele resembles a tackle more than a center, hence the Huskies' reluctance to hand him the starting job right now and make him the No. 1 guy without a competition. Murao was recruited with the full intention of turning him into the quarterback's new best friend as soon as possible. In fact, if he's as advanced as a football player as advertised, he could possess star quality. Murao might claim the position all to himself midway through whatever season is pieced together and send the good-soldier Wattenberg back to one of his other front-line duties.
Greatest Husky center: Rudy Mucha. He was the Huskies' first consensus All-America selection at any position and the program's initial first-round pick, going No. 4 in the 1941 NFL draft to the Cleveland Rams. He was a mainstay for the 1944 NFL championship team. Physically, the Chicago product was ahead of his time as a bulked-up collegian, carrying a 6-foot-1, 235-pound frame when he played for the Huskies.
Other legendary UW centers: Olin Kreutz, a first-team All-American selection in 1997 and known for his infamous punch that broke a UW teammate's jaw; Roy McKasson, the starter for the Huskies' 1960 and 1961 Rose Bowl teams and a first-team All-American selection as a senior; Ray Mansfield, the 18th player taken in the 1963 NFL draft and later a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers; Blair Bush, second-team AP All-American and 1978 Rose Bowl starter; Ed Cunningham, the starter for the UW's 1991 national championship team; and Harris, the two-time, first-team All-Pac-12 selection.
The UW Starting Lineup:
Left tackle — Victor Curne
Left guard —
Center — Luke Wattenberg
Right guard —
Right tackle — Henry Bainivalu
Tight end —
Tight end —
Wide receiver —
Wide receiver —
Running back —
Quarterback —
Kicker —
Punter —
Outside linebacker —
Defensive tackle —
Defensive tackle —
Outside linebacker —
Inside linebacker —
Inside linebacker —
Cornerback —
Cornerback —
Nickel back —
Strong safety —
Free safety —
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