The Kansas City Chiefs are done practicing before they play their preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night. Head coach Andy Reid has been shuffling the starters up front for the better part of two weeks, but over the last five days has settled on a group.
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Reid confirmed after practice on Wednesday that from left to right, the Chiefs will start Eric Fisher, Ben Grubbs, Mitch Morse, Zach Fulton and Jeff Allen, according to Herbie Teope of Chiefs Digest.
The left side of the line is no surprise. We have known for the entire offseason that Fisher and Grubbs would be holding down the fort, which should represent an upgrade over second-year Eric Fisher and the corpse that was/is Mike McGlynn. The surprises start at center, where a rookie has emerged.
Morse was drafted in the second-round, so general manager John Dorsey is clearly excited about his prospects. The camp opened with third-year center Eric Kush getting the first-team reps, but Morse was able to overtake him. This makes me wonder whether Morse is simply that good, or if Kush is underwhelming. When the Chiefs pushed hard to keep Rodney Hudson in free agency, it made me think the organization didn’t have much confidence in Kush.
At right guard, Fulton was able to earn the job despite getting second-team reps at the beginning of camp. I like that Fulton gets the spot for a few reasons. The youngster was a sixth-round rookie in 2014 and started 16 games. When I watch him on tape, this is a big man with great feet. He is only going to get better. He was also much better by Week 17 than he was in September. He has much more upside than Paul Fanaika.
The man who was getting all the first-team reps at right guard, Jeff Allen, is now sliding out to right tackle. Donald Stephenson was suspended for the first four games of last season for performance enhancing drugs and never regained his job. When he did play, he struggled badly. Apparently those struggles have continued.
At this point, is Stephenson going to be cut? He has been known to pout through social media and with his contact ending after this season, maybe it is time for Kansas City to cut bait.
Thoughts, Addicts?