John Michael Schmitz is only a rookie, but he is ready to retire one of his skills if asked.
Schmitz brings to the Giants an unusual preference through his college offense for his shotgun snaps to float back end-over-end instead of the traditional spiraled fastball.
He is competing to be the fourth different center in as many seasons for quarterback Daniel Jones, but the first who practices the so-called “dead snap.”
“It’s whatever is comfortable for Daniel in the back,” Schmitz said. “I’m flexible doing the dead-ball snap or the regular snap. It doesn’t change a thing for me.”
The second-round draft pick used the dead snap Saturday during seven-on-seven drills in rookie minicamp because coaches just wanted him to “feel most comfortable” getting off the snap on his first weekend in the NFL, working with rookie third-string quarterback Tommy DeVito and tryout invites Bryce Perkins and Hunter Johnson.
Whereas Jones is used to rotating center-quarterback exchange partners, Schmitz almost exclusively worked with 47-game starter Tanner Morgan at Minnesota.
“There’s a lot of calls and a lot of different things that maybe we call things that he didn’t at Minnesota and maybe some more protections,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “Playing offensive line in this league — whether it’s tackle, center, guard — is a challenging position early on in your career.”
Minnesota offensive line coach Brian Callahan taught Schmitz to palm the nose of the ball rather than grip it by the laces at a time when the dead snap was gaining steam across the Big Ten.
It is supposed to eliminate bad snaps at the cost of arriving in the hands a split-second later, which is an advantage for pass-rushers.
“It just stuck with me and went from there,” Schmitz said. “I felt the dead snap was a lot more controllable with that position. It just came natural when I kept doing it over and over again. We’ll see if I stick with it or change it up.”
Pads are prohibited during rookie minicamp, but that doesn’t mean that Schmitz was vacationing as skill-position players ran all over the field.
“You have to keep getting better with your technique and fundamentals every day,” Schmitz said. “That’s really important for individual work with your pass set and your run blocking. You can do that without any hitting.”
Nothing about Schmitz should surprise Giants offensive line coach Bobby Johnson, who met with the top-ranked center prospect at the Senior Bowl (where he snapped traditionally) and again over dinner the night before Minnesota’s Pro Day.
One of Schmitz’s agents, Jeremiah Sirles, played guard for the 2018 Bills when Daboll was their offensive coordinator, so Schmitz felt an instant level of comfort when talking schematics with Giants coaches.
“Jeremiah was a very smart player,” Daboll said. “What we did when I was with him is probably a little bit different now, but certainly I think having someone like that for John Michael is probably a benefit. I’ve stayed in contact with Jeremiah on a lot of different things. I’ve got a lot of trust in him, so it’s good to be able to bounce some things off of him regarding players that he may represent.”
Schmitz is one of only two true centers (J.C. Hassenauer) on the roster.
He is expected to compete with versatile guards Ben Bredeson and Shane Lemieux to start.
To the winner goes the “prize” of battling second-team All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence in training camp.
“Being able to compete against one of the best there is, tremendous opportunity to have that,” Schmitz said. “Can’t wait to grow closer with him and compete.”
Same goes for his relationship with Jones.
They’ve only briefly met but will begin to spend more time together soon.
“It’s important to have a connection between your center and your quarterback,” Schmitz said, “making sure everyone is on the same page.”
Starting with testing out snap methods.