Austin Reiter – Page 4 – Syndication Server

Chiefs C Austin Reiter says LG Kelechi Osemele is picking up the offense

Reiter took a unique path to the NFL. Now that he’s a starter he won’t get complacent, especially with a new starter at left guard beside him.

Kansas City Chiefs center Austin Reiter is going into his first season in the NFL as the established starter. A former seventh-round pick by the Washington Football Team, Reiter bounced around for his first few seasons in the league. It wasn’t until the Chiefs claimed him off waivers in 2018 that he’d find some consistency.

Reiter stuck with Kansas City throughout the 2018 season, primarily working as an extra blocker on jumbo packages. It wasn’t until Week 8 when starting center Mitch Morse was injured that Reiter would get his first opportunity to start in Kansas City. His performance in those four games led to a contract extension in December. The Chiefs had found their center of the future, at least for the next two seasons.

“It’s been pretty unique,” Reiter told reporters on Saturday. “Coming in as a seventh-round pick, practice squad guy and over the years just working myself up, working up my confidence to where I’m at now, night and day to when I entered this league. I credit that to probably all the coaches, all the organizations and people that believe in me and obviously the hard work. It takes thousands of reps to get there and confidence honestly, but I’m still trying to improve. There’s no complacency.”

As Reiter attempts to make improvements for the 2020 season, he’s faced with the challenge of getting chemistry down with a new teammate. He’s played next to new starting RG Andrew Wylie before, but he’s working on getting chemistry down with new starting LG Kelechi Osemele.

“Definitely a sense of urgency there,” Reiter said. “Kelechi’s (Osemele) come into a new system, but he’s a veteran guy, he knows how to play football and it’s kind of bringing up people when you got new guys, but for him, even though he’s played a lot of football, it’s really that communication part it. It’s speaking our language, knowing where the footwork is going to be, certain blocks, how we do things a little different. I think he’s picking it up very well. Credit to the coaching staff. I think we keep things very consistent. We’re specific in how we want them which honestly helps.”

Osemele is picking up the offense and doing a good job with it, but at the end of the day, it’ll take a lot of repetitions together for the chemistry and communication between the two players to grow. Reiter credits the coaching staff for getting guys ready to play and preparing them for different positions and situations.

“Lots of reps in practice, talking in meetings, making sure everyone’s on the same page,” Reiter explained. “Coach (Andy) Heck and the coaching staff does a great job with being able to plug and play guys when needed. The practice part of it especially with guard and center, kind of learning each other’s footwork, not tripping over each other, knowing on singles and all sorts of combination blocks, where guys are going to be, but I think it’s going very well. I think our system allows people to kind of plug and play as you will.”

No matter who ends up playing next to Reiter throughout the course of the season, he’ll feel comfortable and confident because of the way the offensive line room prepares. Even in this unique offseason, with a lot of new pieces, the learning aspect has remained the same. That’ll allow for consistent play along the offensive line and growth from its established players like Reiter and its newcomers like Osemele.

[vertical-gallery id=75254]

The NFL’s 11 best centers

Centers are the underrated captains of any NFL offense. Here are the 11 best in the game today.

A good center is the unheralded captain of an offense. While we all talk about skill position players, and maybe throw in the names of a few marquee offensive tackles if we’re feeling particularly smart, interior offensive linemen are crucial to the implementation of any offensive design.

And centers are just as important as anybody. Not that it’s a pleasant job at times. Imagine you’re an NFL center. You have to have all the plays in your head as much as (or more than) your quarterback does. Most often, you’re in charge of the adjustment calls that tell other blockers how to switch their blocking patterns to merge with defensive line changes. You have to know all your single-blocks, all your combo blocks, and you have to be ruthlessly accurate when hitting the second and third levels of a defense to block linebackers and defensive backs on certain plays — sweeps, screens, and more.

Oh, and there’s also the matter of getting the ball to the quarterback, whether he’s under center, in the pistol formation, or in straight shotgun, with at least one gigantic defensive tackle aligned to one of your shoulders or head-to-head. You have mere milliseconds to snap the ball before those one or more gigantic defensive tackles come down on you with the hammer of the gods.

Few jobs in sports test one’s mental acumen and physical endurance on every play more than this one. Centers never get the attention they deserve, but at Touchdown Wire, we’re out to change that. Here, after poring over advanced metrics and watching a lot of tape, are the top 11 centers heading into the 2020 NFL season.

Honorable Mentions

Rodney Hudson was Kansas City’s center from 2011-2014, Mitch Morse replaced Hudson in that role in 2015 and held it through 2018, so we should definitely keep an eye on Austin Reiter, who helped the Chiefs win their first Super Bowl in 50 years as Morse’s replacement. Both Hudson and Morse are on this list, and Reiter could certainly find himself there soon — he allowed just 11 total pressures on a league-leading 835 pass-blocking snaps in the 2019 season, and if he’s able to improve his run-blocking, the sky’s the limit. The Jets signed former Broncos center Connor McGovern (not to be confused with current Cowboys guard Connor McGovern) to a three-year, $27 million deal this offseason, and McGovern should be a great addition to a line in desperate need of help just about everywhere. For all their quarterback issues, the Bears have two linemen — James Daniels and Cody Whitehair — who have been excellent centers through their times in the Windy City. Washington’s Chase Roullier, a sixth-round pick out of Wyoming in the 2017 draft, is another young center to watch. Tampa Bay’s Ryan Jensen was a particularly tough omission, as he pass-blocked very well in an unpredictable deep-passing offense, and should be even more efficient in the switch from Jameis Winston to Tom Brady.

Now, on to the top 11.

Pages: 1234567891011