As the 2023 season came to a close, the Jacksonville Jaguars became ever cognizant of the fact that they would need help on the offensive line if they were to improve in 2024. That couldn’t be more true at the center position as the incumbent Luke Fortner struggled mightily, particularly as a run-blocker.
To remedy this concern, Jaguars’ Trent Baalke went straight to one of the league’s most proven veterans with a great relationship with Doug Pederson and an impressive history of quarterbacks he’s snapped to. That player was former Kansas City Chiefs’ and Buffalo Bills’ Mitch Morse.
Morse, originally selected by Kansas City in the 2015 NFL Draft, played for Pederson on that original Chiefs’ team before Pederson left to coach the Philadelphia Eagles. After his rookie contract ended, the Buffalo Bills came calling, making Morse the NFL’s highest paid center in the NFL at the time.
Morse has certainly played with some remarkable quarterbacks during his time in the league. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen are likely the two best in the league at their position and have helped their teams become perennial playoff contenders and in Mahomes’ case, perennial Super Bowl winners.
Morse spoke of his time with Mahomes and Allen, “Yeah, I'm not going to sit here and say I coached these dudes up. They were on a trajectory to be fantastic without me. The one thing I pride myself on is facilitating football for them in any way that I can and that's for the team in general. Offensive line room, whatever's required of me I'll do that. What I did learn in those rooms is, you have to have the locker room behind you.”
He then offered his thoughts on Trevor Lawrence, “For all intents and purposes what I'm hearing is that Trevor's [Quarterback Trevor Lawrence] got his finger on the pulse in the locker room, the guy is jam on it and being the quarterback. I know it's a long-winded answer but it's a tough one because I actually didn't play much of a role in any of those guys’ development. I was just here to help facilitate what was already going to happen.”
Morse is playing the humility game and I respect it. While he may not think that he played a pivotal role in the growth of Mahomes or Allen, a center is crucial to helping a quarterback recognize defensive alignments and call out protections. There’s a huge cerebral aspect of the game that is part of the center position.
That’s something the Jaguars will benefit greatly from. A player with Morse’s experience has the ability to help Trevor Lawrence put the offense in the best possible situations to succeed. It certainly doesn’t hurt that he has the experience of playing with two of the NFL’s best either. Let’s also not forget Alex Smith, who Morse also played with and had a very prosperous NFL career himself.
Morse’s experience, stability, and consistency are just some of the reasons the Jaguars looked towards the 2022 Pro-Bowler. He is familiar with Pederson’s coaching and brings 126 starts of NFL experience to a Jaguars’ offense looking to find itself. While the offensive line didn’t go through the major overhaul that many expected or had hoped for, the addition of Morse could pay dividends come 2024.
More must-reads: