PROSPECT SUMMARY – CREED HUMPHREY

As an Oklahoma native, Humphrey grew up as a lifelong fan of the Sooners. Going back to his childhood days of sitting in the living room with his family, they all used to gather around to watch the team compete on Saturdays. Outside of watching OU football, wrestling was Humphrey’s other addition. His father, Chad, attended Central Oklahoma where he was a three-time All-American. Creed started wrestling at the age of four and it is an area that’s helped him to this day. His older brother also has a diverse background on the mats, as he was an all-state selection. A product of Shawnee High School, Humphrey quickly climbed the rankings of the top prospects in the country. An all-state selection during his final season, signing with the Sooners was a surreal feeling after being a die-hard fan and cheering for the program growing up. After redshirting during his first season in Norman, he was named as the team's starting center prior to the following season (2018). At the center of the Sooners' offense front, he started 12 of 14 games. Humphrey was at the controls of the group that won the Joe Moore Award—the highest award in the nation given to the best offensive line in the country. After having some prior issues with it, Humphrey had left hand surgery (Jan. 2019). Prior to his redshirt sophomore campaign, he was named as one of four team captains.

Humphrey is a wide-bodied interior blocker that has a wealth of experience along the interior. With 37 career starts (36 straight), he’s been a three-year starter that’s been a key cog of one of the most explosive offenses in the country. As a left-handed center, he’s one of the few in the country. While being a limited athlete, he has the smarts of knowing how to use his frame, strength, and football IQ to his advantage. Hardly ever asked to exit outside of his parameters in the A-gaps, he’s quick to mark his territory and isn’t one to waste time jostling back and forth with interior defenders. In the right scheme, he has the chance to go on to eventually become a long-term starter in a power-centric offense that keeps his demands in short areas. He graduated with a degree in Finance (Dec. 2020).

Ideal Role: Starting Center

Scheme Fit: Man/Gap/Power scheme

FILM EVALUATION

Written by Jordan Reid

Games watched: TCU (2020), Iowa State (2020), Florida (2020), Texas (2020), Texas Tech (2020)

Best Game Studied: TCU (2020), Florida (2020)

Worst Game Studied: Iowa State (2020)

Competitive Toughness: Humphrey is a highly competitive center that’s a bit of a lethargic mover that attempts to turn battles with interior defenders into quick wins. Not known as a tussler or one that will constantly go back and forth with the opposition, Humphrey instead wants to cancel out the opposition and simply wants to stay in front. When his gaps are uncovered as a pass protector, he searches for extra work over each shoulder prior to thrusting his body into new situations. A player that plays through the whistle, he can have plays that humiliate matchups.

Balance: Being that he plays so upright and mainly in tight quarters, his flaws with staying on his feet are hardly ever seen. When forced to exit outside of his normal zones, his lack of athleticism is noticeable. Defenders who exhibited repeated waves of short-area quickness or have length have presented problems for him, resulting in his body being in bad positions

Anchor Ability: Humphrey’s shorter arms and lack of reach are often masked by his consistent patience. The reasoning behind his patient approach is because his arms aren’t able to overcompensate for mistakes. In turn, he first allows defenders to reveal their plan of attack, but he quickly latches and drives when within striking distance. Rushers who are powerful combined with possessing long arms have presented issues because of his inability to reposition and regain control. His strong and filled out lower body enables him to anchor and stop vertical push from the opposition.

Lateral Mobility: Humphrey can be a bit too timid when climbing to the second level to make certain that he doesn’t overrun horizontally moving targets. Timidness results in being inaccurate with covering up second-level defenders. Humphrey has stiffness throughout his body and climbing vertically reveals that he’s a bit of a labored mover due to the wariness in delivering contact.

Power at the P.O.A.: Not an overly-aggressive type of blocker. Humphrey is more of a stick, move, and position type of blocker. While performing this type of blocking, Humphrey has the ability to latch and turn the body of blockers while keeping his lower half in sync with the rest of the techniques that he’s attempting to accomplish. Back blocks on nose tackles are secure and pressure-free because of his wide frame and measured approach.

Hand Technique: He's fierce and forceful with his hands. He's particular with landing spots with his hands as a run blocker and pass protector. Heaviness and accuracy lead to minimal losing reps. He makes it essential to be the first person to initiate contact at the point of attack and he's not just a blocker who strikes and hopes to make contact. Latches on and drives defenders in ways of his liking. His prior days as a wrestler shine bright throughout his game, as he has a very high amount of awareness of blocking angles and where exactly on each defender's body to attack them in order to sustain. He has a mature lower half and he seeks to remove nose tackles from their original spots. He's patient in his approach and although physical, he never becomes over-eager to force contact with players along the interior.

Football IQ: He's a left-handed center, which may be a bit of an adjustment for the QBs of the team that drafts him because of the alternate path of the spin on the ball from the shotgun. Humphrey entered Norman and immediately became a starter as a redshirt freshman. He quickly became the Commander in Chief of the unit that won the Joe Moore Award (2018). Despite all four surrounding parts departing, his leadership continued to shine as he transitioned from being the youngest member to the oldest of the group. Humphrey is frequently seen communicating up-and-down the line of scrimmage to others as well as pointing them into proper directions on protections and run game concepts. He's a vocal leader that isn’t afraid to change initial calls upon structure changes from defenses.

Versatility: Humphrey’s deficiencies as an athlete are glaring when his play demands expand wider than the B-gaps. Specifically on screen passes and quick pulls during play-action fakes, he plays heavy-footed, but his natural power and ability to consistently win at the point of attack have helped him significantly. Only a center throughout his career for the Sooners, he also is possibly capable of playing either guard spot even though he’s never done it before—but he must be involved in an offense that keeps his play in short areas relying on creating vertical push.

Pass Sets: Humphrey isn’t an explosive athlete by any stretch of the imagination, but he seems to always be aware of what’s happening in the three directions that he’s assigned. Forward and over either shoulder, he was involved in lots of slide protections while at Oklahoma, but when there were head-up threats directly over the top of him, he’s more of a backward shuffler than a true pass setter. The shuffle technique has been effective for him as he has to keep his shoulders square and in front prior to making contact instead of trying to match and mirror the athletic movements of matchups.

Flexibility: A round and stout build, but the full-growness of his body can be a hindrance to him. Being powerful and so easily able to dislodge defenders has created bad habits on occasions and it is revealed when facing upper-tier talents. Standing upward out of his stance and chest-bumping during some stretches were apparent. When not able to land his hands accurately or defenders are able to get inside of his chest with moves, the former Sooners center will opt to duck his head and perform a last resort all power technique with throwing his upper and lower body forward into matchups. As a result, he loses balance, power, and control at the contact point. Learning to consistently readjust his hands while also anchoring will be an area that could be developed over time.