Jonah Monheim talks transition to center, why move is mutually beneficial

USC is perilously thin on experience at the offensive tackle spots, yet the Trojans are moving their most experienced tackle away from the edge this year.

And there is actually a lot of logic to the decision.

Fifth-year senior Jonah Monheim, who started at left tackle last season and right tackle the year before, is taking over at center to fill the void left by veteran Justin Dedich.

The move positions USC's most cerebral offensive lineman -- at least, as he's been described by coaches over the years -- to the most mentally-demanding position on the line, and Monheim gets to build experience and film the position that will best help his NFL draft stock.

"Just based off my frame and how I'm built, center's more likely for me to play that in the future than tackle," Monheim said this week as the Trojans started spring practice. "... I think it was mutual. It was both ways. It was obviously something I've had interest in playing inside in the past, and they're always just trying to get the best group of guys on the field that they can, however that works. I've just been for whatever we need to do up front, whatever's best for the group."

Said head coach Lincoln Riley: "He's going to step inside and play center for us, which will be great for our program this year and will be great for his career long-term as well. So I thought it was a really mature decision on his part that will pay dividends down the line."

Moving Monheim to center certainly answers one major question, as the other options there would be walk-on Kilian O'Connor (who served as Dedich's backup last season) or true freshman Jason Zandamela.

But it leaves the Trojans razor thin on the outside, as redshirt freshman Elijah Paige is now almost a lock to start at left tackle with redshirt junior Mason Murphy locked in on the right side as of now.

Behind them, the Trojans have zero tackle experience with a collection of first and second-year talent still developing there. Riley acknowledged the Trojans will likely need to add a tackle through the post-spring transfer portal window.

"Depth at tackle is – the quality is good, the depth is a little bit of a concern right now. There’s certainly a possibility that we may look to add someone there, obviously just kind of see spring unfolds," he said. "Some of these young guys are going to get a ton of reps. A Tobias Raymond, a Justin Tauanuu who just got here, because of the depth they will get a million reps, it’ll be fun to see them progress. But right now, Paige and Murphy right now would certainly be the first two in there. But we’re going to experiment, we’ve got a couple of the other body types out there that we feel like athletically can move around and do some things and obviously we've still got a few freshmen that will be here with us this summer.

"So we’re going to toy around with the lineups a little bit, move some guys around, but certainly of all the positions, that's one of the few that we know that we’re going to either probably have to move somebody or bring somebody in."

Meanwhile, Monheim is learning a position he's never played in a game -- not since youth football, he said.

Former Trojans' four-year starting center Brett Neilon was in town recently preparing to go through USC's Pro Day (since he was injured and unable to showcase himself to scouts last year) and spent time working with Monheim on some of the nuances of the position.

"He was obviously a great player for us. He's got a lot of great knowledge and advice," Monheim said. "A lot about communication and everything, but really the things I'm trying to take away are his mentality with his steps and with his body placement and his hand placement, things like that. Things that you really only get from live reps."

Monheim and quarterback Miller Moss, meanwhile, have put in extra time together watching film and getting on the same page in terms of Moss understanding what Monheim is seeing when he makes certain pre-snap calls.

"Jonah’s a super cerebral guy, so he makes it easier on a lot of us," Moss said. "Obviously, he hasn’t played this position before. Brett has actually come back and helped him a little bit, which has been cool to see. And those guys played pretty similarly, they’re both really, really intelligent. So Jonah’s definitely coming along. And he needs to be really good there. Just happy to have a really intelligent guy to take some stuff off of me.”

Again, this move didn't come totally out of the blue this offseason. Monheim has worked on snapping a little behind the scenes in recent years, and getting to showcase himself at a position that gives him the best chance a successful NFL career was surely an enticing factor in deciding to return for his fifth season.

With an entire spring and fall camp, not to mention offseason player-run practices, Monheim is confident he'll have a command of his new position by the time the season starts.

"I've always worked on it kind of a little in the background, a couple extra here and there. But to actually be snapping and doing everything live is obviously a big difference and a big change, just something else to keep in mind," he said. "Obviously, it's a whole new set of muscle memory you have to build -- snapping, stepping, all the different types of plays and all that. It just takes reps, like anything else."