Cesar Ruiz, C, Michigan
 

Seems like he has solidified himself as the top C in this class. Just about everybody has him #1 and in the top 32-40 range overall.

I think he’d be a great pick at 32 and an even better one after trading down a few spots if possible.

I just think this team has such pressing concerns in our back seven that we really have no choice but to go there.

1. We haven’t even gone through free agency.

2. IOL is also a huge need.

3. You don’t go into a draft saying you have “no choice” but to pick a _______ with your first pick. You stick to your board. If Baun, Gladney, Murray, Queen, Fulton etc. are gone, then there’s a good chance Ruiz is at the top at a position of need.

4. I’d be hesitant to say I want a C after pounding the table for Erving too.

Cesar is this years Garrett Bradbury. Excellent C prospect to have and would immediately bring credibility, but I’m not sure we do that due to Andy’s history of not wanting to take 1st rd OL (the one he took was a bust).

Have to see what FA brings first, but I’d love the pick not gonna lie

Not a sexy pick, but I wouldn't be mad at it. Gotta protect the franchise.

If we are going to take him you might as well do it at 32 and have his rights for 5 years. We need to start building the line around new young talent. Center or OT if we are spending a pick early

Cesar Ruiz measurables at combine -
6026 height, 306 weight, 11 inch hands, 33 1/8 arms, 79 5/8 span.

I was hoping he was a little taller, but damn with a 11 inch hand, should be able to hike the ball.

I get that it's not a sexy pick looking at all those WR's because we'll have to dump Watkins but you can still get a good WR in the 2nd round plus if Ruiz is the real deal and Mahomes gets time guys like Pringle will be very productive.

Really starting to get the feeling this could be our guy at 32. I think we re-sign Breeland and it opens this perfect fit up.

I agree.

I remember either listening to a podcast or reading somewhere that Cushenberry was an unmovable beast at C. Not sure how I would feel about him in the 1st though.

I think Breeland only comes back if they miss out on a corner early in the draft. Going to take something significant to get enough cap to retain him and sign a draft class.

I just don’t see any way they go into the draft with what they have at corner. They’ll free up space somehow and add somebody.

I don't see any reason for them to do anything for now.

To open up your draft? Because you basically have Ward and a bunch of unproven late round picks and UDFA’s?

As it stands right now, we almost have to take a corner at 32.

They can sign a FA corner after the draft if they like a fatty more. LMAO

Teams are going to slow dance to not **** up comp picks for awhile. Settle down Francis.

"Because Mahomes" is the reason and makes IOL a very high priority

If Cesar Ruiz is there at 32 you draft him and don't think twice about it. Great way to start retooling the line with a 20 year old center! But I don't think he fall to us.

I’m just not sold that he is elite. He happens to be #1a/b at his position in an average-below average IOL crop. Some people want to compare him to Garrett Bradbury from last year, who is a good player, but Bradbury also had his share of struggles last year in the middle of that Vikings offensive line. I don’t think Ruiz is as good of a prospect as Bradbury, and I don’t think the drop off is as significant if the Chiefs wait until the mid rounds to pick up an interior offensive lineman. There is greater talent at other positions in rounds one and two.

Can't even fathom going through something this heartbreaking at 8 years old. Pretty wild to see the obstacles some people can overcome in life.

Deceased dad of Michigan’s Cesar Ruiz is still at center of his NFL draft dream
By J. Brady McCollough Staff Writer April 11, 2020 5 AM

When evaluating potential investments, NFL general managers and scouts like to know a player is not a risk to lose motivation with the first big paycheck he receives. It helps, in that case, to play the game for a bigger purpose, which has never been a problem for Michigan center Cesar Ruiz.

Ruiz was 8 years old when his father, also named Cesar, was hit by a car on the side of a South New Jersey highway, ending his life at 26. The elder Cesar had reportedly pulled over to help another driver change a flat tire.

“This whole entire experience is dedicated to that whole situation, that tragedy,” Ruiz said at the NFL scouting combine. “I still do it, every night, every day, I think about it. If my dad was here to see what I’m doing right now, he would be mind-blown. So I’m still playing for my dad, I still play through my dad, my dad still lives through me. And that’s how it’s always going to be.”

It wasn’t just his father’s death that shaped the mentality of one of the draft’s top interior linemen, but how he died — being a good Samaritan.

“That’s really what I pride myself on is just doing things for people and being a good person,” Ruiz said. “And the fact — the way it happened, he was doing something good, being a good person, you really wouldn’t want it any other way if something were to happen like that.”

Ruiz had not started playing football before his dad passed away. Looking back, he believes the tragedy is what drove his mother, Latoya, to encourage Cesar to join a team.

“Football came into my life when I was 10 years old,” said Ruiz, a native of Camden, N.J. “I really played because my mom really wanted me to get out of the house. It was kind of a therapeutic thing for me because I was still mourning the death of my father. And she saw it. Basically what she did was try to find something that would help me out.”

Ruiz took to the game quickly and would transfer to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., before his junior year of high school. That gave him an opportunity to get out of his rough Camden neighborhood and focus on football and his academics. There, he blossomed into the top center recruit in the country and made such an impression at Michigan that he started five games as a freshman.

“At Michigan, I was always in my playbook, always studying the offense,” Ruiz said. “I just have a thing for football. That’s where I think I stand out with these interviews, because I just know so much about football and I love football.”

Ruiz is projected as a borderline first-round pick entering the draft, but he’s confident he should be picked on the first day.

“Because if you look at the film, if you look at how I dominate people, if you look at my character, how smart I am, I have everything for a first rounder,” Ruiz said.

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