{"id":184517,"date":"2024-08-09T10:57:54","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T14:57:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=184517"},"modified":"2024-08-09T10:57:54","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T14:57:54","slug":"cooper-beebe-brock-hoffman-battle-dallas-cowboys-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/08\/09\/cooper-beebe-brock-hoffman-battle-dallas-cowboys-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooper Beebe And Brock Hoffman: The Battle For Dallas Cowboys Center"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The battle for Dallas Cowboys center could finally be over. After the exit of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/03\/11\/tyler-biadasz-signs-contract-washington-commanders\/\" target=\"_self\">Tyler Biadasz<\/a>, the position for center is now being sought after by both Cooper Beebe and Brock Hoffman. Which player will win the battle? Well, one of them is already tipping the scale.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Will Cooper Beebe Or Brock Hoffman Be At Center?<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Need for a Good Center<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although it seems minimal, the position of center is one of consistency. A poor snap can throw an entire play into turmoil, wasting a down and maybe even yardage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is why there\u2019s such a hot debate on which player should be center. Without a smooth snap, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/07\/29\/jerry-jones-struggling-renewing-dak-prescott\/\" target=\"_self\">Dak Prescott<\/a> will not be able to create the offense that the Cowboys have been known for. He needs a guy he can trust at that position.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where Brock Hoffman Shines<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Throughout college and in the NFL, Hoffman has played nearly every position on the O-Line. In his <a href=\"https:\/\/hokiesports.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/season\/2021\/player\/brock-hoffman\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">final season at Virginia Tech<\/a>, he played three different positions: center, left guard, and right tackle. Clearly, he&#8217;s a talent, no matter where you place him on the field.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, when the spot opened up for center, Hoffman hopped on the chance to be the one in the driver\u2019s seat. During the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Wkriojgs_TE\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Blue and White scrimmage<\/a> of Cowboys defense vs. offense, Hoffman played center for Dak Prescott. Being on the first team provides huge advantages to players like Hoffman because of the opportunity to play in a similar scenario to live gameplay.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During those snaps, Hoffman looked smooth. He snapped quickly and then moved to where his assist the other linemen in blocking. There was intentionality with how he found where he was needed and assisted there. It helped create plays for the offense that might not have been present without him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If Hoffman can replicate this kind of play in preseason, the spot is looking more and more like it could be his.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where Cooper Beebe Shows His Rookie Colors<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beebe was drafted 73rd in the third round of the draft. Playing at Kansas State in college, Beebe moved around just as much as Hoffman. He played every position except for center in college. The reason the Cowboys drafted him was to be considered for center, as they already knew Biadasz would not return for another season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, you could see in the Blue and White game that Beebe struggled a little with the new role. After watching him, it was easy to see why Hoffman was on the first team while Beebe covered <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2023\/03\/17\/cooper-rush-signs-contract-with-dallas-cowboys\/\" target=\"_self\">Cooper Rush<\/a> on the second team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beebe just doesn\u2019t have Hoffman\u2019s fluidity. It isn\u2019t as seamless for Beebe to find out where he needs to be on the field. His snaps were also a little sloppy, one of which caused a fumble by Rush. Obviously, Beebe is still a rookie and learning the position. With more practice, he could be a formidable center.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But not this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Preseason Reps for Beebe and Hoffman<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The difficulty about football is in the tightness of the roster. While both Beebe and Hoffman will more than likely make the 53-man squad, it\u2019s unlikely that they\u2019ll trade the position back and forth. Only one of them will play as a center for Dak Prescott.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And if I had to bet, I\u2019d say it\u2019ll be the one with three years of NFL experience, Brock Hoffman. Better luck next year, Beebe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Main Image: Chris Jones &#8211; USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rookie Cooper Beebe might have originally been drafted to play center, but Brock Hoffman isn&#8217;t handing over the job easily.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5238,"featured_media":184535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[54,19],"tags":[10329,32551,2769,2318],"class_list":["post-184517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","category-cowboys","tag-brock-hoffman","tag-cooper-beebe","tag-nfl-training-camp","tag-offensive-line"],"modified_by":"Isaac Zuniga","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}