KC Chiefs: Four position battles to watch for in 2019
By Chris Clark
Center
Free agency is an unfortunate reality when it comes to players that a team and its fanbase would like to keep. One such reality was seeing former Chiefs starting center, Mitch Morse, sign with the Buffalo Bills. While Morse is talented, he did struggle to stay healthy at times as a Chief. Fortunately, that allowed Kansas City to see how things might look without him.
When Morse was injured in 2018, Austin Reiter took his place and the offense didn’t seem to look much different without him. Now that Morse is gone, the starting center role is up for grabs. Although Reiter’s experience may give him the leg up to become the starter, he will still face some competition to get there.
The Chiefs used a seventh-round pick to select Nick Allegretti, who has experience at both center and guard. Kansas City seems to like offensive linemen who offer versatility and Allegretti fits the bill. The 6’4″, 310 pounder plays aggressive, yet scored a 42 out of a possible 50 on the Wonderlic test, which bodes well for him in Reid’s complex offense.
Other offensive linemen like Cam Erving and Jimmy Murray may compete for some of the snaps at center, although it’s not likely they’ll take any meaningful snaps away from the competition between Reiter and Allegretti.
One thing is for sure, the Chiefs understand the importance of having their best center snapping the ball to their reigning MVP and as early as possible. Look for this position battle to be one of the more highly contested.