Buccaneers to move Ali Marpet to center

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter announced that guard Ali Marpet is expected to permanently move to center in the upcoming season, according to ESPN’s Jenna Laine.
The former second-round draft pick’s career is going exactly the way Tampa Bay envisioned it as he took a big step forward in 2016 and ranked 13th among guards with a grade of 84.5 after earning an overall grade of 75.5 in his rookie year.
Furthermore, Marpet is part of a group of elite guards in the NFL, as his run-blocking grade of 84.4 ranked fifth last season, ahead of the likes of Oakland’s Kelechi Osemele and Buffalo’s Richie Incognito.
Marpet has also been one of the most reliable and consistent guards in the NFL as he graded below average in only three games last season and played the second-most snaps among guards with 1,135 snaps in the regular season, just three shy of New Orleans’ Jahri Evans.
The former Hobart guard was not bad in pass protection either as he ranked 18th in pass-blocking efficiency with a score of 96.9 as he allowed 26 total pressures on 643 passing plays.