When the Kansas City Chiefs selected Creed Humphrey in the second round (63rd overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft, it may have been a symbolic move.

The Chiefs have a history of drafting stalwart centers in the second round. It was a point made by Tim Grunhard, who started 164 games for the Chiefs over 11 years after being selected in the second round (40th overall) of the 1990 NFL Draft, on the Bleav in Chiefs podcast.

(Disclosure: I am a co-host of the Bleav in Chiefs podcast.)

Grunhard was the first in a succession of Chiefs players who anchored the offensive line from the center position.

The Chiefs drafted Rodney Hudson in the second round (55th overall) in the 2011 NFL Draft. Hudson started 35 games for the Chiefs before signing a five-year, $44.5 million contract with the Oakland Raiders, for whom he reached three Pro Bowls. (This offseason the Raiders traded Hudson to the Arizona Cardinals, and they restructured his contract into a three-year, $30 million deal.)

To replace Hudson the Chiefs selected Mitch Morse in the second round (49th overall) in the 2015 NFL Draft. The Missouri product started 49 games for Kansas City before concussions and a foot injury took their toll.

Despite the health concerns, his performance with the Chiefs was so impressive that the Buffalo Bills signed him to a four-year, $44.5 million deal in 2019, which made him the highest-paid center in the NFL at the time. He has two years left on his deal.

The Chiefs went against history to replace Morse with Austin Reiter, a former seventh-round pick of the Washington Redskins.

Reiter was the center on back-to-back Super Bowl teams, but the interior of the line needed improvement — as evidenced by the loss in Super Bowl LV — and the Chiefs opted not to re-sign Reiter.

Instead, as part of a drastic overhaul, the Chiefs added eight new offensive linemen this offseason. That includes Lucas Niang and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who opted out of the 2020 season because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It also includes Humphrey, the rookie center who joins the Chiefs after starting 37 games at Oklahoma and not allowing a sack on his 1,297 pass plays for the Sooners, according to Pro Football Focus.

Humphrey — and the other five draft picks — have signed their rookie deals and are going through organized team activities (OTAs) this week.

His first work with the Chiefs came during the rookie camp earlier this month, which served as way to get familiarized with the offense.

“I’m excited about the playbook,” Humphrey said. “There’s a lot of stuff that I like: great run schemes, great passing plays, everything like that. I’m excited to dive into it deep and really get everything down.”

He’s also excited to be hiking the ball to a transcendent player in Patrick Mahomes.

“He’s so talented. He’s such a good player,” Humphrey said. “He can change the dynamic of a whole game.”

If Mahomes continues his current trajectory, he will be a lock for the NFL Hall of Fame.

Grunhard also snapped to a Hall of Fame icon. He said it fulfilled a dream to block for Joe Montana, a fellow Notre Dame alum who he rooted for while growing up in Chicago.

Montana was one of several quarterbacks Grunhard blocked for during a career that was so distinguished that the Chiefs announced on May 1 that he will be the 2021 inductee into the Chiefs Hall of Fame.

The Chiefs have repeated their draft history at the center position. They will be ecstatic if Humphrey’s career is reminiscent of Grunhard’s as well.