Photo by Dan Owen USA Today Sports

Height	Weight	Arm Length	Hand Size
6'3"	301 lbs.	32 5/8"	9 1/2"

40 Yard Dash	Bench Press	Vertical Jump	Broad Jump	3-Cone Drill	20 Yard Shuttle
5.35 Sec	26 Reps	29.5"	8'8"	​N/A	4.56 Sec

Pros

• Highly intelligent center prospect that has consistently made correct calls at the line.

• Great natural power in his frame.

• Quick and choppy feet in his pass protection.

• Highly aware of blitzers and defensive movements targeted at his gap.

• Powerful punch off the line stuns pass rush.

• Nasty blocker in pass protection with his unrelenting goal of throwing defensive tackles on the ground. 

• Elite hand fighter in the trenches allows him to keep chest clean from defensive lineman.

• Comes off the line with low pads and establishes excellent leverage with consistency.

• Trunky lower half has immense power for stout anchor against bull rushes.

• Wrestling background helps him take on bigger and stronger defensive tackles by utilizing excellent blocking angles.

• Powerful leg drive when run blocking to move defensive tackles off the ball quickly.

• High football IQ and powerful build helps him turn lineman out of the rush lane quickly.

• He's a menace on double teams as his aggressiveness allows him to man handle defenders out of the play.

• Maulers mentality when blocking 1-on-1 that often leads to him winning.

• Pancakes 2nd level defenders with ease when getting up field.

• Played in cold weather conditions. 

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• Highly competitive lineman with an run relenting motor.

Cons

• Average athleticism for the position.​

• Pad level tends to rise through a plays progression.

• Lacks explosiveness out of his stance.

• Can be too eager to finish blocks at times rather than moving onto the next.

• Has been beaten by defensive lineman that can simply "out-athlete" him to the quarterback.

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• Flexibility can be an issue on occasion.

Overview

The NFL is a sport that often allows and encourages skills from other sports to be blended and implemented with positions inorder to find successful athletes and players. We see this with basketball players a lot at both the tight end and offensive tackle positions where big man that can move often make an impact at those positions, centerfielders in baseball often make excellent safeties and wide receivers when transitioning into the NFL, but no position has a better transition rate than heavy weight wrestlers playing in the trenches and John Michael Schmitz accomplished wrestling background certainly makes his life in the middle of the trenches a much less daunting task. He's rarely been overwhelmed by power in the interior and his technical prowess allows him to counter act highly proficient pass rush defensive lineman. His best attribute however is his football IQ pre-snap to recognize and any team with young quarterback in need of highly intelligent voice when reading defenses should have him high on their draft board. Centers have a pretty good return on investment as rookies when entering the NFL and despite him being a 24 yr old rookie, I don't hold that agianst him because it shows an enhanced level of maturity and development. He's one of the higher floor prospects in the draft and should hit the ground running in the NFL.