Write On Sports LLC - " Front and Center Anchors of the AFC West. PT 3 of 4" by Mykle Van Hausen

Front and Center Anchors of the AFC West. PT 3 of 4

2008-04-12 11:56:33 | By: Mykle Van Hausen

The Kansas City Chiefs

Casey Wiegmann’s departure to Division rival Denver may or may not come back to haunt them, bu the only man listed at Center is 3rd yr man Rudy Niswanger.

Rudy joined the team as a Free Agent walk on in 2006 and has impressed with his smarts and versatility.

Niswanger, if called upon can not only play Center, but any other position on the Line.

Long snapper duties are handled by Jean Phillip Darche, the pride of McGill University of Montreal Canada and though a good Special teams player, the 9 yr man who spent his first 7 years with Seattle until a hip injury landed him on IR for the 2006 season.

Fully recovered now, KC picked him up as an unrestricted FA, but at 6-2, 240 lbs. One would think him too small for an every down Line man if he made it into the rotation at all.

He was hired as a Long Snapper, not as a replacement for the Denver departed Casey Wiegmann.

13 yr. man Wiegmann is the 3rd departure that will sorely be missed from one of the best Offensive Lines ever to play football.

Willie Roaf retired on April 16th of 2007 one day after long time team mate and fellow Line man Will Shields, who’s 12 consecutive Pro Bowls is a Franchise record and a testament to the gaping hole left in his wake.

With a decimated front line Center is as good as any place to start unless they think Niswanger is the man and if not they’ll need to find out who is if they are to remain the serious ground threat they’ve been known for.

Niswanger only this week started running "lightly" after a knee injury last fall, but after releasing John Welbourne, Chris Terry and with the imminent retirement of Kuyle Turley the Chiefs have a lot of holes to fill.