Cincinnati Bearcats Recruiting: Center Tyler McGarr Signs With UC

Center Tyler McGarr has officially signed with the Cincinnati Bearcats for their 2015 recruiting class.

Here’s a snippet from his full recruiting profile.

OVERVIEW

McGarr uses his hands well at the point of contact with defenders, ensuring that he’s continuously putting his assignment off balance. Younger, inexperienced offensive linemen tend to fall back on their sheer size when creating a running lane for a ball carrier or protecting the quarterback. Not McGarr.

He understands that the use of his hands can negate a pass rusher’s repertoire of moves he tries to implement to get by. It also allows McGarr to pivot the defender at his will rather than visa versa. Additionally the offensive lineman continuously drives with his feet, not settling for winning the initial battle but aiming to gain ground on the defender. All three aspects of his game project to a very technically sound offensive lineman.

OUTLOOK

While a decent height and weight for his age, Tyler McGarr could be staring at a redshirt his freshman year. This isn’t uncommon for offensive linemen transitioning from the high school to collegiate level for the first time. While he sits out the season and learns from the sidelines, McGarr will not be using up a year of eligibility while fine tuning his game.

The only way I see this plan changing, and it’s a good chance mind you, is if the coaches opt to make him Deyshawn Bond’s backup at center from the get go in 2015. At that point McGarr will likely see the field in garbage time, getting his feet wet with the game well in hand (for the Bearcats, hopefully). Either way, we could be looking at Cincinnati’s center of the future.