Hogs Haven
It was no secret Nick Allegretti struggled in Kliff Kingsbury’s gap-centric scheme in 2024, and his play could, at best, be described as up and down. He was considered a possible cut candidate headed into this offseason as his cap hit escalated in the third year of his contract. Following the release of Tyler Biadasz, the team ended any such speculation by restructuring Nick’s contract and making him the presumptive starter at the center position. The addition of Matt Gulbin in the sixth round of this year’s draft is more of a vote of confidence in Allegretti than representation of a significant challenger for the starting role.
Last Friday, Barry Svrluga of the Athletic published an article detailing what we learned about the Commanders new offense in minicamp and Allegretti confirmed the scheme shift fans and analysts have been discussing all offseason.
Under-center snaps with some wide zone — with some pulling — I’ve done it before,” said Nick Allegretti, who is moving from guard to center. “But it’s gonna be a bigger part of the bulk of that offense. I’m just getting out in space.”
Will a shift to zone-heavy scheme improve Allegretti’s chances of succeeding at the center position for the Washington Commanders? In this article, we will look at what we currently know about Allegretti’s abilities at the pivot, and how his skill set might mesh with a zone-blocking scheme.
Playing center requires a high football IQ. The position processes complex defensive alignments on the fly, calls out blocking assignments, and delivers the ball to the quarterback smoothly and consistently. None of this changes with a shift in scheme, but even Allegretti’s most ardent detractors are hard-pressed to question his ability here. During the Commanders 2024 playoff run, Nick called the protections for backup center Michael Deiter and Sam Cosmi recently confirmed the former Kansas City guard’s ability to process the necessary information.
He’s a smart dude and you’ve got to be pretty smart to play center,” Sam Cosmi said of Allegretti. “I always say if you can play guard really well, you can play center so he was able to do it in the 2024 season the whole year. I have full and utter confidence in his ability to play center at a high level.”
To top it off, Allegretti tied for the second-highest Wonderlic score in the 2019 draft with a forty-two. The average score for centers is twenty-five.
Calling the protections is a key component of the center’s responsibilities and Allegretti should be able to handle it regardless of the blocking scheme the Commanders offense chooses to employ.
This is where the scheme change really makes a difference. While the 6’4″, 310-pound Allegretti might have a mauler’s attitude, he struggled to generate movement at the point of attack in a gap scheme. A review of his snaps filling in at the center position to close out the season shows a mixed bag performance-wise.
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