Cesar Ruiz

Early life

Ruiz was born to an African-American mother and a father of Puerto Rican & Dominican descent and grew up in Camden, New Jersey. Ruiz's father, Cesar Edwin Ruiz, was killed when he was struck by a motorist while helping a driver change tires when Cesar was eight years old. He attended Camden High School before transferring to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida after his sophomore year. Ruiz was named an Under Armour All-American as a senior in 2017. Rated a four-star recruit and the top center in his class nationally, Ruiz committed to play college football at Michigan over offers from Florida, Auburn, LSU, and several other top-level programs.

College career

Ruiz played in ten games as a freshman, starting five games at right guard and long snapper with his first career start coming against Minnesota. Ruiz started all 13 of Michigan's games at center as a sophomore and was named third-team All-Big Ten Conference by the league's coaches and was an honorable mention selection by the media.

Ruiz was named to the Watchlist for the Rimington Trophy going into his junior season. Ruiz started all 13 of Michigan's games at center, allowing only eight total quarterback pressures in 447 snaps and was named the best pass blocking center in college football by Pro Football Focus, and was named second-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and third-team by the media. Following the end of the season, Ruiz announced that he had decided to forgo his senior season in order to enter the 2020 NFL draft. Over three seasons, Ruiz played in 36 games for Michigan with 31 games started.