The Countdown to Kickoff series continues on with a look at Kansas City Chiefs center Mitch Morse, who will be looking to take his game to the next level in 2016.
There are exactly 61 days until the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers open up the 2016 NFL regular season with a Super Bowl rematch. In the meantime, we at NFL Spin Zone are going to profile a player each day as we count down the days to kickoff.
The Countdown to Kickoff series began with a look at No. 99 Joey Bosa and has continued on everyday since (check out all of the posts here).
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There were plenty of strong choices to profile at No. 61, including Rodney Hudson, Russell Bodine and Matt Paradis. However, another starting center seemed like the best bet here.
Let’s take a look at Kansas City Chiefs center Mitch Morse.
The Chiefs made Morse a priority in the 2015 NFL Draft, taking him in the second round (49th overall). Morse showed great ability at multiple positions up front in college at Missouri, particularly shining as the team’s left tackle late in his career.
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Despite Morse’s success at left tackle at Missouri, he was not really a great option for the outside at the next level. His lack of length made Morse strictly an interior offensive line prospect in the NFL.
The Chiefs immediately made Morse their starting center and he thrived in the role right away. His quickness and athleticism is elite for the center position, and he uses his skills extremely well as both a pass protector and in the run game.
He is not the biggest and strongest guy on the inside, but he protects the interior well and can reach the second-level with consistency in the run game. Morse’s incredible quickness also makes him fantastic when pulling as a lead blocker from the inside.
Morse has incredible upside at the center position, but there were times where his lack of bulk and functional strength were an issue during his rookie season. The quickness and athleticism are legitimately elite, but Morse was bullied by the bigger and stronger interior defensive lineman at times.
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According to Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star, Morse realizes that he needs to bulk up in order to take his game to the next level, and he learned the lesson the hard-way by getting man-handled by Cincinnati Bengals DT Geno Atkins.
“On one (play) — and Geno Atkins, who is such a monster, bulled me — Coach goes, ‘Man, Mitch, maybe you should drink a milkshake; you wouldn’t have gotten bulled right there.’ Because I had good technique and everything, and he just bulled me,” Morse said. “It was the truth.”
Realizing that he had to get bigger and stronger in order to reach his ultimate goals on the field, Morse is up to 308 pounds. Paylor also notes that Morse “is notably bulkier this year — particularly in his upper body.”
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With his elite-level quickness and athleticism, Morse is already a great starting NFL center. However, if he can learn to keep his weight up and hold himself better against power, Morse could legitimately become the best player at his position in the entire NFL.