The Green Bay Packers signed South Florida center Sampson Genus Monday night.
Genus was not on the Packers official visit list prior to April’s NFL draft. He weighs in at 315 pounds and stands 6-1, prototypical measurements for a center.
At his pro day, Genus ran the 40-yard dash in 5.51 seconds, bench-pressed 225 pounds 28 times and had a vertical leap of 27 inches. His 20-yard shuffle time was 4.80 seconds. He was invited to the NFL combine but didn’t workout.
College summary
Genus arrived at South Florida as an offensive line prospect, but switched to defensive tackle in the spring of 2008 (sophomore year). While he was attracted attention at that position, Genus switched back to the offensive side of the ball in ’09.
Starting at center for the Bulls, Genus was a second-team All-Big East in ’09 and followed that performance up with a first-team selection in 2010. He started all 12 games in ’10 and was named team captain.
Commentary
The Packers are always in search of bodies along the offensive line, and Genus looks like one of those for camp. CBS Sports ranked him as their 21st best center for the 2011 draft, but it’s hard to judge him without seeing more tape and time in practice.
The Packers have two, and possibly three, capable centers in Scott Wells, Evan Dietrich-Smith and Nick McDonald. McDonald may be more of a guard, but he does have a past at the position. Genus could be a practice squad possibility.
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——————Zach Kruse is a 23-year-old sports journalist with a passion for the Green Bay Packers. He currently lives in Wisconsin and is working on his journalism degree, while also covering prep sports for The Dunn Co. News.
You can read more of Zach's Packers articles on AllGreenBayPackers.com.
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Thanks for keeping up on this all, Zach. Being the Packers, some of these guys are virtually guaranteed to end up making the squad. So it’s good to get some background on them. Thanks.