Dakota Dozier ~ ~ ~

[kelly]

I checked in with Dakota Dozier on Friday to see how his move to center has gone, since he was and is listed as Nick Mangold's only backup on the center depth chart. As luck would have it, Dozier made his NFL regular-season debut vs. the Browns in the third quarter when Mangold had to leave due to injury for one play. That play was the 1-yard TD pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Brandon Marshall for the Jets' third TD.

How did Dakota wind up being a center after coming out of Furman last year as a tackle?

"I knew coming in that I would move to guard, so I got every bit of advice I could and just focused on that last year. And I kind of took the same mindset going to center. Obviously I've got Nick — who else better to learn from? He's been a real big help.

"I'm just accepting it and knowing that, hey, this is going to be the best role for me. I want to help the team as much as I can. I'm learning the calls, being vocal, because at tackle and guard, you're communicating, too, but at center, you're setting it, you've got to tell everybody the different combination blocks, what protection we're in, so it's really big to be vocal."

What are the easiest and most difficult parts of playing center?

"I really do feel comfortable taking the steps, the actual physical parts of playing the position. There's still stuff that the reps will help me get better at. As far as something I struggle at? I try my best to be as vocal as possible, but that's something that's new to me, so that's an area where I'm really trying to focus."

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