Chiefs’ Creed Humphrey Surpasses Jason Kelce as NFL’s Top-Ranked Center

 

Dec 25, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs center Creed Humphrey (52) and guard Joe Thuney (62) at the line of scrimmage against the Las Vegas Raiders during the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. 

Following the retirement of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jason Kelce, there is a new selection for who’s the NFL’s best center: Kansas City Chiefs’ Creed Humphrey.

The chase of Jason Kelce is no more for the 32 starting centers this season after the retirement of the Philadelphia Eagles stalwart. And now, there may be a passing of the torch for who can lay claim to being the league’s best center.

According to Pro Football Focus, with Kelce gone, the baton now passes to the Kansas City Chiefs’ Creed Humphrey.

“Humphrey surpassed Jason Kelce as the game’s best center in our 2023 rankings, and with Kelce now retired, Humphrey is the clear best center in the NFL,” PFF writes. “He allowed just 16 pressures in 2023, and his 78.2 overall grade ranked seventh at the position.”

The former second-round pick by way of Oklahoma has turned into everything and potentially more than the Chiefs were hoping for when they turned in his card on draft night.

Entering his fourth season in the league, the list of accomplishments is starting to be filled in. Humphrey is a two-time Super Bowl winner, a one-time second-team All-Pro, and is a two-time Pro Bowler.

Now, even after becoming one of just three players to play over 3,000 snaps this past season for the Chiefs, where he allowed just four sacks, Humphrey still has room for further improvement.

This makes being named the league’s No. 1 center all the more impressive, as Humphrey is 24 years old.