Kansas City Chiefs: Projecting the offensive line

Center: Mitch Morse

The Kansas City Chiefs will welcome back starting center Mitch Morse in 2018 after placing the young center on Injured Reserve in December. Morse was originally hurt against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week Two last season but came back after a couple of games off. I don’t think they handled the injury properly along with a mixture of Morse trying to play through it.

The result was Morse going down again last on and finally being placed on Injured Reserve in December. Luckily, Kansas City had Zach Fulton to step in a while playing at a high level. The Chiefs don’t have that benefit this season with Fulton gone. There have been reports that Cam Erving has been taking the starting reps at offseason workouts and looks to play Fulton’s role for the offensive line with experience at both center and guard.

If Morse can come back fully healthy for the start of preseason, I have little worry about the position. He has brought extreme versatility to the center position in Kansas City the last few seasons. Mix in the fact that he’s entering the final season of his rookie deal and will want to earn a long-term deal, I expect good things from Morse in 2018.

Not having Morse not only hurt the passing game at times but was more so a fall for the rushing attack. Fulton was a great fill-in center, but the two are complete opposites. Morse can get out in space and be a lead blocker for the running backs on the outside while Fulton is more of a power center in the middle.

Given what Kansas City wants to do with their offense in 2018 and spreading everyone out, Morse could be a major part of the run game. There’s nothing better than a player who is playing for a contract and wanting to prove himself following an injury.