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Kansas City Chiefs: Offensive Line Will Be Better in 2016

By Leigh Oleszczak

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The Kansas City Chiefs have struggled to put a decent offensive line onto the field in the past few seasons. The 2016 season should be different though.

The offensive line has been an area of concern for the KC Chiefs over the past few seasons, but fear not, Chiefs Kingdom! The o-line should be better this upcoming season and I’ll tell you why.

First of all, it’s do-or-die for former first overall pick Eric Fisher. Fisher was signed to an extension this past offseason, but that doesn’t mean he’s permanently on the team for the duration of that contract.

The Chiefs could decide to part ways with Fisher to save money, so the former Central Michigan standout really needs to step up and prove he was worthy of the number one overall pick three years ago.

I feel like Fisher has gotten better in each of his years in the pros. Last year, he completely owned J.J. Watt in the AFC Wild Card game against Houston, and he showed a lot of grit in that game.

Mitch Morse will be locked in at the center position and had a sensational rookie year last season. Morse struggled with staying healthy in 2015, but the former Missouri Tiger has what it takes to be an elite center in the NFL. He stepped in for Rodney Hudson and didn’t miss a beat.

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Mitchell Schwartz is probably the team’s best free agency signing this past offseason and he’ll be slotted in at right tackle.

Schwartz has been one of the few guys in the league to actually be able to handle Von Miller. That will be huge for the Chiefs, as they square off against Miller and the Broncos twice a year.

Schwartz may be the new guy in town, but he’s a seasoned veteran and will be able to gel well with the rest of the linemen.

The open positions are the two guard spots, which will be up for grabs between Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, rookie Parker Ehinger, Zach Fulton, and Jah Reid.

While LDT, Fulton, and Reid all have starting experience along the line, don’t rule out rookie Ehinger. Ehinger was a fourth-round draft pick by the Kansas City Chiefs and the hope is for him to become the future at one of the two guard spots.

It’d be nice to see Ehinger step into one of those starting roles, and it appears that he’s been given the same opportunities as the veterans during minicamp.

As of June 16th, Terez Paylor of The Kansas City Star reported that the first-string offensive line currently looked like:

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  • Left Tackle – Eric Fisher
  • Left Guard – Parker Ehinger
  • Center – Mitch Morse
  • Right Guard – Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
  • Right Tackle – Mitchell Schwartz

"“Yeah, I think I feel pretty good about it,” Reid said of his first-string offensive line. “Again, let’s see them hit and bang around a little bit, see how they do in game. But I think we have a nucleus there that’s good — I’d even stretch it into the two-deep.”"

It’s not surprising that Fulton isn’t on the first-string o-line, as he provides the ability to jump in at virtually any position along the line. He filled in admirably for Morse at center last season, which is huge for this team.

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Overall, I like the look of this line. I might swap LDT for Jah Reid, but other than that, this line should be able to do well and offer some protection for Alex Smith.

So, what do you think, Chiefs Kingdom? Is this the offensive line you want to see come opening day at Arrowhead Stadium?

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