Tribal Warfare
08-27-2011, 12:22 AM
Versatile Hudson does the work of two (http://www.kansascity.com/2011/08/26/3102516/versatile-hudson-does-the-work.html)
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
Rookie guard Rodney Hudson was the Chiefs’ busiest player on Friday night.
Hudson, the club’s second-round draft pick from Florida State, opened the game at left guard and played the entire first half in place of veteran Ryan Lilja.
As if that wasn’t enough, he played the entire second half at center.
All didn’t go perfectly for Hudson, who started 48 games at Florida State, mostly at left guard, where he was a four-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection.
Hudson was called for a holding penalty that nullified a 7-yard touchdown run by Jamaal Charles in the first quarter. He didn’t make any excuses.
“I was blocking a guy, and they called holding,” Hudson said. “So it’s holding.”
But Hudson put that play behind him and showed why he was the Chiefs’ highest-drafted interior lineman since 1990 when center Tim Grunhard — the player whose No. 61 jersey Hudson wears — was taken in the second round out of Notre Dame.
“I was prepared mentally for both positions,” Hudson said. “It’s all inside. Usually when you are a center, you know what the guards do, too. It was pretty easy to move over.”
At Florida State, Hudson played left guard for most of his career after playing some tackle as a freshman. But center is new to him, especially snapping from the shotgun formation.
“That’s the difference. One, you have to snap the ball and then go, and the other, you don’t have the ball, you just take off and block.”
Although Hudson started for Lilja — who moved into Waters’ left guard spot this season — he was drafted with the idea of being the heir apparent to Casey Wiegmann, who has taken more than 10,000 consecutive snaps since 2001 but just turned 38 years old.
So coach Todd Haley wanted to give Hudson as much work at both positions as possible.
“He’s had position flexibility,” Haley said. “That’s something we really like about him.
“We’ve seen him at both guard and center.”
Haley also noticed Hudson’s one big mistake.
“He was one of the culprits there on a play where it would’ve been nice to get into the end zone,” Haley said. “We’ve got to make sure everybody understands that we need to be a more disciplined team, and he’s one of them. (But) we’re excited about him and his versatility and his ability in general.”
Wiegmann has been impressed with what he has seen in Hudson, both as a blocker and as a leader of the line.
“To know what’s going on in the middle of the line, and having to declare everything.” Wiegmann said of the center’s making line calls, “he’s done a really good job of doing that.
“He’s a guy who has a lot of experience at the college level, and the more experience he gets here in the NFL, he’s going to be better. What he’s shown in practice and what’s he’s been on film in games has been good stuff.”
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
Rookie guard Rodney Hudson was the Chiefs’ busiest player on Friday night.
Hudson, the club’s second-round draft pick from Florida State, opened the game at left guard and played the entire first half in place of veteran Ryan Lilja.
As if that wasn’t enough, he played the entire second half at center.
All didn’t go perfectly for Hudson, who started 48 games at Florida State, mostly at left guard, where he was a four-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection.
Hudson was called for a holding penalty that nullified a 7-yard touchdown run by Jamaal Charles in the first quarter. He didn’t make any excuses.
“I was blocking a guy, and they called holding,” Hudson said. “So it’s holding.”
But Hudson put that play behind him and showed why he was the Chiefs’ highest-drafted interior lineman since 1990 when center Tim Grunhard — the player whose No. 61 jersey Hudson wears — was taken in the second round out of Notre Dame.
“I was prepared mentally for both positions,” Hudson said. “It’s all inside. Usually when you are a center, you know what the guards do, too. It was pretty easy to move over.”
At Florida State, Hudson played left guard for most of his career after playing some tackle as a freshman. But center is new to him, especially snapping from the shotgun formation.
“That’s the difference. One, you have to snap the ball and then go, and the other, you don’t have the ball, you just take off and block.”
Although Hudson started for Lilja — who moved into Waters’ left guard spot this season — he was drafted with the idea of being the heir apparent to Casey Wiegmann, who has taken more than 10,000 consecutive snaps since 2001 but just turned 38 years old.
So coach Todd Haley wanted to give Hudson as much work at both positions as possible.
“He’s had position flexibility,” Haley said. “That’s something we really like about him.
“We’ve seen him at both guard and center.”
Haley also noticed Hudson’s one big mistake.
“He was one of the culprits there on a play where it would’ve been nice to get into the end zone,” Haley said. “We’ve got to make sure everybody understands that we need to be a more disciplined team, and he’s one of them. (But) we’re excited about him and his versatility and his ability in general.”
Wiegmann has been impressed with what he has seen in Hudson, both as a blocker and as a leader of the line.
“To know what’s going on in the middle of the line, and having to declare everything.” Wiegmann said of the center’s making line calls, “he’s done a really good job of doing that.
“He’s a guy who has a lot of experience at the college level, and the more experience he gets here in the NFL, he’s going to be better. What he’s shown in practice and what’s he’s been on film in games has been good stuff.”