Dolphins center Matt Skura took snapping issues ‘personal’

The Miami Dolphins had ample opportunity to address the center position in the 2021 NFL draft. But ultimately, much like the running back position, they determined heavy investment was unnecessary. As of now, the clear starter at the center position is former Baltimore Raven Matt Skura, who signed a 1-year contract back in mid-March.

If this were 2019, Skura would be considered one of the best centers in the NFL. His blocking prowess is highly regarded. His ceiling is much greater than Miami’s recent centers (Daniel Kilgore, Ted Karras). However, there is one fatal flaw that has Dolphins fans understandably concerned. After recovering from a gruesome ACL, MCL, and PCL injury in his left knee in 2019, Skura reclaimed the starting center position in Baltimore in 2020, only to be benched late in the season after two straight games of wildly errant snaps in crucial moments.

I will never want to see Mark Ingram and Matt Skura in a Ravens uniforms again. Fire Greg Roman too.

pic.twitter.com/d0AMz9OtTX

— Mo (@LamarHeisman) November 16, 2020

Following these incidents, Ravens fans went after Skura and his family, which prompted a response from both Skura and his now former Ravens teammates, including QB Lamar Jackson, who spent the most time catching snaps from him.

#Ravens C Matt Skura with a message to the fan base after last night’s disappointing loss to the #Patriots. pic.twitter.com/Ax7i7Bj3cX

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) November 16, 2020

"People shouldn't be messing with Matt's family. That's my teammate, my brother." @Lj_era8 pic.twitter.com/Mdprpivi3r

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 18, 2020

Naturally, that made the situation very personal for Matt Skura. Eventually he was benched altogether, as ‘the yips’ – to use NFL jargon – continued plaguing Skura. As a result, he had to test the free agent market instead of remaining with Baltimore. Now he finds himself with the Miami Dolphins. With a new environment, Skura hopes to reset himself back to his Pro Bowl caliber self.

“I didn’t really have any problems with it and the things with the snaps; it was the Patriots game where we were having a little bit of a torrential downpour, but I’m someone who really doesn’t like to make excuses. I don’t care if it’s a blizzard, a hailstorm or whatever it is.” Skura said back in March. “That’s something that I have to take responsibility for, so that’s been one of the main things in this offseason literally every day – snapping – whether it’s getting 10 snaps in or 30 snaps in. Whenever I can that time basically permits for myself, I’m doing snaps, doing o-line drills, doing everything I can to make myself feel prepared.”

This past Monday, Dolphins OL coach Lemuel Jeanpierre offered some insight into how he’s handling Skura to ensure the problem doesn’t continue.

“I think it happens in golf, when you’re shooting.” Jeanpierre said. “You’ve got to know your rhythm and you’ve got to first be able to identify the mistakes. I know we’ve talked to you guys about linemen. We don’t make excuses. The difference between an excuse and a reason is very slight. I think it’s just the person who is listening and how they take it. What we do is we just rep it. It has to be multiple reps over and over again. Like when we’re doing drills, he’s doing it pre-practice, he’s doing it of course during practice, he’s doing it even after practice. You want to do it before something happens. So if it doesn’t feel right, even if you didn’t get a good snap, you want to get more snaps anyway to be preventative, not reactive.”

As a former center, Jeanpierre is well-acquainted with small details that throw centers off their game.

“If there are any issues – of course because I played it, I’ll be able to talk to him and try to see some things.” He said. “Sometimes you want to move the ball a little bit to the center of your nose. You might be off. Sometimes you may want the ball more tilted up, which can affect the pendulum swing. There are many things that could have affected him; but this year so far, when he’s been in there at center, he’s been good. I saw his interview.

“He’s been snapping like crazy because that’s the type of guy he is, where he took that really personal. It’s another chip on his shoulder like a lot of the guys on the line are. He’s worked at it. I’ll be preventative and so will he. We talk to the quarterbacks, ‘did you get that snap? Good. Is it left? Is it right?’ Things like that.”

It’s clear the Dolphins have faith in Matt Skura. Their decision to not draft the likes of Creed Humphrey in the draft indicate they feel comfortable he’ll fix his snapping troubles. With QB Tua Tagovailoa and his fellow offensive linemen primed to make a jump in their development, clean snaps will be crucial to their success. There is no apparent Plan B, as Matt Skura is miles ahead of the likes of Michael Deiter as a blocker.

It’s often said that no player touches the ball more than a quarterback. Technically speaking, that is untrue. The center touches it more than anyone, and Skura will have to prove he can deliver it accurately and on time in 2021. So far, he seems to be off to a good start.

Luis Sung has covered the Miami Dolphins for numerous outlets such as Dolphins Wire for seven years. Follow him on Twitter: @LuisDSung

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