Upgrade or Downgrade? Center
Maiava (No. 51) will be anchoring the Bruin OL in 2009. Photo Credit: dabruins07 (flickr)
In 2009, I'm pretty sure Kai Maiava will lock down and dominate the center position. I doubt there will be any controversy here on whether he is an upgrade or not. Kai was a freshman All-American starter at Colorado in his first season. From what I've been hearing, he might be our offensive line's biggest stud. Last year, he transfered to UCLA and was ineligbile due to transfer.
He will be replacing Jake Dean (5 game starter) and Micah Reed (7 game starter, starter vs USC). While I can't recall their specific performances in 2008, I do think Center was a weaker position for us in 2008. While we bask in the 98% chance of an upgrade at center (I'm guessing obviously) let me know what you guys have heard or seen personally about Kai Maiava. I'm sure we'd all love to hear it!
Is Kai Maiava an upgrade, downgrade, or about the same as last year's combination of Jake Dean and Micah Reed?
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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About the same because...
Maiava was injured last year and missed most of the scout team work.
Then this spring he got injured again and missed half the sessions.
I will be surprised if he plays in half the snaps this fall.
Last year Dean was a step down from Reed.
This year I expect Dean to improve to better than Reed,
but having Dean and Maiava swapping in and out due to Maiav’s injuries will hurt continuity.
So overall, the Center output will be about the same.
I pray I’m wrong, and Maiava in injury free.
Good information
I wasn’t aware he was injured last offseason. I hope he remains injury free as well.
Fantastic effort to date captain
Thanks so much again for taking the initiative to do this. I will be honest because of your effort I might not do the depth chart analysis I usually do in August during the camp (plus time crunch has been especially difficult this year for me). If some one else on BN wants to run the point on that … they can go for it.
But based on news reports, other posts etc when I zero in on any specific positions (and it will probably happen because I try to keep my blogging as organic as possible) I will certainly be referring back to your posts as much as I can.
Once again … great stuff. I have really enjoyed it and THANK YOU.
No problem
I’m having fun as well and I like to hear what BN has to say about a lot of these guys.

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