The Kansas City Chiefs' offensive line had its fair share of ups and downs during the 2023-24 season. Coming into the year being touted as perhaps the best group of Patrick Mahomes's career, the front five ultimately fell short of that billing but was still very respectable en route to a Super Bowl win.
A good representation of that roller coaster was center Creed Humphrey.
Don't get it twisted: Humphrey was undoubtedly good this past season. Good enough, in fact, for the second Pro Bowl berth of his career. He started every game for the Chiefs, playing 1,092 snaps during the regular season and another 289 in January and February's postseason slate. In the process, he was Pro Football Focus' fourth-highest-graded center among all qualifiers.
There were a couple of issues, though. While still productive, Humphrey's PFF grades took a tumble relative to the two seasons prior (91.4 in 2021 and 90.0 in 2022 to 78.2 in 2023). He was penalized more than ever before. He also struggled to deliver on-target snaps consistently — something that plagued him at various points in the regular season.
Despite the snap concerns from the outside world, it doesn't bother head coach Andy Reid. Speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday, Reid said he isn't one bit worried about Humphrey in that regard.
"Yeah, listen, Creed is a diligent, diligent player," Reid said. "He'll take care of that. I'm not worried about that. He's a relentless worker, and we'll get all that taken care of."
Finding a public data source that tracks center-quarterback snap exchanges is like buying a lottery ticket and hoping to hit the jackpot. With that said, it's easy to recall low snaps from Humphrey very early in the regular season and very late into the playoffs. Those instances never truly went away, with a noticeable one even popping up in Super Bowl LVIII.
Blaming this on one particular element is unfair. Things like silent counts, quarterback cadence, pre-snap personnel, motion, crowd noise, weather conditions, injuries and much more can factor into a poor snap. The Chiefs switching formations from shotgun passes to a bit more under-center work later in the year also altered how the ball was exchanged. Humphrey isn't totally at fault.
He's also too successful of a player to not believe Reid when he says things will get fixed. No matter how many armchair offensive line coaches on social media suggest a position swap for Humphrey, it simply won't happen. He's young, cost-controlled on a rookie-scale contract and is one of the better players at his craft. Some rough moments in an otherwise quality third season won't change that. Reid remains confident in progress being made, with the offseason providing a perfect runway for it.
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