The Kansas City Chiefs have returned every offensive lineman who played a snap last year.
That, by itself, is reason enough to feel good about what the offense could look like heading into this season. That kind of continuity could only mean good things.
"We had real strong offensive line play last season, especially throughout the last half of the season," third-year center Mitch Morse said after Tuesday's OTA practice. "We had great continuity, guys stayed strong, took care of their bodies and they took the extra time outside of the facility to stay on the field. That's such a huge part of being an offensive lineman—the continuity.
"The only way we can do that is if we play together."
At left guard—whether it's Zach Fulton, who started 12 games last year, or Parker Ehinger, who started four and was lost midway through the season with a knee injury, there's plenty of reason to feel good about this group.
Three of the starters—left tackle Eric Fisher, right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and right tackle Mitch Schwartz—are all on their second contracts. They have proven to play at a high level.
The fourth—Morse—has proven to be one of the league's better (and more athletic) centers.
Morse believes all that experience playing next to one another has carried over to OTAs and allowed them to be further along than previous years.
"We might have the grand scheme of how to work with one another, now we're working on tiny nuances of how to complement each other's play," Morse added.
It's oftentimes those details that mean the difference between a successful play or not, and the Chiefs don't have to worry about getting guys in that group up to speed this year.
For Schwartz—the five-year NFL veteran who joined the team as one of their prized free agents last offseason—the comfortability in any offense is a welcomed thing for him.
"This is the first year where I've had the same system in back-to-back years," Schwartz, who spent the first four years of his career with the Cleveland Browns, explained. "I've had a lot of offensive coordinators and even head coach turnover. It's been nice to get familiar with it and not have to learn the basics. You can begin to focus on the intricate details, which is what makes this offense so great.
"It's been fun to have that aspect of it when you're watching film from last season—you're actually on the film and you don't have to watch other people."
Schwartz said he already felt more comfortable playing next to Duvernay-Tardif last year.
"Being able to do things without communicating as much, knowing where we'll each be on certain plays, double-teams and things like that. There's definitely a progression that's happened over the past year," Schwartz explained.
When asked about his performance from last year, Morse didn't take it easy on himself despite not allowing a sack all year.
"There are games and plays that were exceptional, and then on the same drive you'll wonder if I've ever played football before," Morse, who was drafted in the second round (No. 49 overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft out of Missouri, explained. "So, right now, coach told me it's just about consistency and focusing on being more vocal."
Being vocal is something Morse said didn't necessarily come natural.
It wasn't something he was known for at Missouri, but something that's important for him now playing for Chiefs offensive line coach Andy Heck.
"I was silent," Morse laughed of whether or not he was vocal at Mizzou. "Half of it is continuity—just being comfortable with the guys, and coach Heck makes it so you have to be vocal—always asking us questions in the meetings. So, for me, especially at the center position as a rookie, [Heck] was making me talk a lot.
"He's an exceptional coach and is definitely bringing the best out of me."
Morse, Schwartz and the rest of a cohesive offensive line will continue to work on the finer details when they take the field Wednesday afternoon for their fifth OTA practice of the year.
"The great thing about this level is that guys are professionals, they know how to practice at a speed that we can still get better while keeping each other healthy and taking care of ourselves," Morse added. "Coach [Andy] Reid puts a competitive environment on the field and he gets the personnel to go out there and they know how to practice and how to compete. We can still get a lot done.
"It's great to have these four weeks of practicing. It's not live contact, but you can still get after it. We look forward to it every day and we need it. Practice is a necessary evil. It gets us to the next step where we're not thinking on game day and we're firing on all cylinders.
"We're just looking to build on that and we're looking forward to compete for the championship this year."
