Chiefs working Cam Erving in at center

With Mitch Morse out of practice as he still continues to recover from last year’s foot injury, the Kansas City Chiefs are being creative with who fills in during OTAs.

Cam Erving is getting a shot.

“We’ve got him at center,” head coach Andy Reid told the media after day three of OTAs on Thursday. “Cam’s a guy who can play anywhere. He played center his last year at college and had a nice feel for it, so we put him in there with Mitch being down and we’ve given him some snaps.”

Reid is referring to Erving’s senior season in 2014 at Florida State. Erving spent the first nine games at left tackle, protecting EJ Manuel’s blind side, before switching to the center position for the final five games.

Erving earned third-team all-ACC honors at the center position despite the limited time.

“That’s a tough position,” Reid added. “He’s got a lot of responsibility as a transmitter between the right and the left side and making sure the protections are right and so on, so he’s done a good job with that.”

Erving has started three games at right guard and one game at left tackle (and one play at wide receiver) since the Chiefs traded a fifth-rounder to the Cleveland Browns for him back in 2017.

Earlier this month, general manager Brett Veach opted to pass on his fifth-year option (which I called a no-brainer), making this a contract year for the former 2015 19th-overall pick.

So what does it mean?

Well, nothing, but maybe something.

I still believe this is Mitch Morse’s center job to lose. Though he is not practicing yet, Morse said his injury is “coming along real well” back in mid-April.

In my mind, the position Erving is in the running for is the vacant interior swing position created by the offseason departure of Zach Fulton to the Houston Texans.

Fulton proved just how valuable that role can be for a team because though the Chiefs likely viewed him as a backup talent, he wound up totaling 46 starts over four years as different offensive linemen along the line went down.