re: Has the coaching staff considered making a change at Center

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I wish they could because we need help there badly is there anyone else who can do it

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I think what we're witnessing is "practice bias", and not just for C; has to be the same for LBs. Maybe S's.

All coaches have a tendency to go there, it's the nature of the beast. Les did it, especially with RBs.

Practice is where starters are determined. It is indeed the best place/way to do that. But what happens when you have a team struggling you give those already starting (e.g. TDP, Shanahan, Clark) all those first team reps to try to get improvement and the guy who just might be better is not getting those practice looks. So the coach convinces himself that "X or Y had a better week of practice".

And then the results on the field aren't good enough. So you work with the guy more to try and get improvement... rinse and repeat. What it results in is the guy behind the starter lacks the "trust" of the coaches. It's really that he hasn't been given the chance to show that they have nothing to fear. But given the absence of that chance, they have nothing else to go on.

I will say it is different for QBs, C's, and S's. Those 3 have to demonstrate a knowledge of the concepts beyond every other position AND they have specialized skills you can't ignore. For example, if no one can snap the ball as consistently as Shanahan, then nothing else matters. That's step 1. Fail at that, there is no step 2. But again, "practice bias" just might be blinding you there too.

ETA: Can no one else do it?
- I fear that, truly, the answer is no. Hines has regressed and he didn't work so well as a snapper. Turner is worse than Shanahan at blocking and his snaps increase the QBs reaction time too much (not crisp, not on target).
- Really don't know if Martinez, Hill, or Bradford can shotgun snap. Big question mark there. In order of priority I'd say Martinez first. If he can, let's let him build experience. I think he's going to be one of our best OL in the future.
- Not against checking out Dellinger. Can't hurt for him to get experience inside and then move outside to OT later when needed.