Ryan Neuzil may be the Atlanta Falcons' starting center, but it may not be that way for long if James Brockermeyer has anything to say about it. The undrafted free agent center has stood out among Atlanta's UDFA class throughout the spring, and is making a major bid to stick around on the roster.
Undrafted rookies are built to ignite chaos throughout the spring, and Brockermeyer understood the assignment. He only didn't get selected because he's a bit undersized, but when you look at his track record, it doesn't take Albert Einstein to figure out what the Falcons see in this guy.
The 24-year-old has already stepped in as the Falcons' backup center, and even took some first-team reps when Neuzil missed a session of OTAs due to injury. New OL coach Bill Callahan clearly sees a lot of potential in this guy, and that could soon come at the expense of one of his handpicked guys.
James Brockermeyer is slowly giving the Falcons no use for Corey Levin
The Dirty Birds signed former Tennessee Titans center Corey Levin to a one-year deal in free agency because of his time playing for Callahan in Tennessee, but he may not even be the primary backup center anymore. It hasn't taken Brockermeyer any more than a couple of weeks to steal Levin's job.
The 31-year-old isn't much more of a depth signing anyway, but it's pretty telling of Atlanta's stance on both guys to see such a change before training camp has even begun. This could very well morph into a competition for the backup job, but if I were a betting man, I'd put my money on the youngster.
The All-American center started for Miami's national championship team, and also had impressive stints with Alabama and TCU. Meanwhile, Levin is a career journeyman who's only success has been in two separate stints with the Titans. He's picked up seven starts across 88 career appearances.
He appeared in 17 games last year, but only made two starts. He's a rotational lineman who comes with no dead cap if the Falcons release him, so in the event that Brockermeyer wins the backup center battle, there's a real world in which Atlanta cuts bait with a Callahan guy to get younger at OL.
Even if James Brockermeyer's strong summer continues and he wins the backup center battle as expected, hopefully Corey Levin sticks around as a backup offensive guard. The UDFA has been the best one Atlanta has signed, so hopefully that doesn't come at the expense of a low-key FA signing.
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