With 16 players vying for 5 offensive line positions, or a backup role, the competition at OL will be fierce this year. Even with the loss of Kyle Long due to injury, and we don’t know when he will get back, the struggle for starting roles on the Kansas City Chiefs Offensive Line will be something to watch. I can envision Offensive Line Coach, Andy Heck, plus Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy, all grinning from ear to ear in anticipation of “Training Camp,” which will follow the “Mandatory Mini-Camp” which started just this week.
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Brett Veach even added another OT this past week when he signed OT, Wyatt Miller, out of UCF. Miller was a 2019 UDFA with the New York Jets and has spent time as well with the: Bengals, Cowboys and Seahawks, but has never been made active for a game roster. Miller is 6-foot-5, 320 lbs. and has the heft that NFL teams appreciate. I have no clue as to the quality of his play, but he adds back the 16th offensive lineman in the Mini Camp, with Long being absent.
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What Heck is going to be watching has got to be a real joy, considering the Chiefs history over the several past years and this goes back to Reid’s arrival in K.C. in 2013. The reason is, contingent promise of linemen that didn’t work out during that time, or who did not ascend to the next level of play. One glaring example of this is Donald Stephenson as he was unable to take the next step and be a force on the Offensive Line.
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Fast Forward From Super Bowl LV
Prior to the Super Bowl finale, played this past February, the Chiefs fielded a patchwork offensive line and finished the regular season 14-and-2. They had lost Kelechi Osemele in week 5, Mitch Schwartz in week 6, and Eric Fisher in the AFC Championship game and Austin Reiter did not sign his tender this offseason.
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Adding insult to injury were two players who were counted on for 2020’s season, but Covid-19 got it’s interference and incoming Rookie OT Lucas Niang (Texas A&M), decided to sit out the season and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif(LD-T), former starting ROG for the Chiefs, chose to work in the medical field, his higher calling, to help combat the virus. That had significant applicability and effect on the mix and make up of the offensive line in 2020, along with the losses of Osemele, Fisher and Schwartz, who found their seasons ending prematurely. The end result? A miserable team performance, but especially the offensive line versus the Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV.
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An unfortunate reality in the NFL is fan favorite players such as Fisher and Schwartz were released. At the same time, Austin Reiter did not sign his tender. Now, both Niang and LD-T are back for 2021.
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What We Know
Brett Veach signed Free agent LOG, Joe Thuney, an experienced two time champion with the Patriots. Thuney will be the starter at the LOG position, and there’s no doubt about that. ROG Kyle Long, the former Bear, came out of retirement after three months and prepped for his comeback to the NFL and he was also snatched up by Veach. Long has experience at both Guard and Tackle, but was earmarked for the ROG role. His OTA injury will mean he most likely will not make opening day as a starter, but at some undefined point will return to the Active Roster.
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Veach then pulled of a big trade when a deal was made with the Ravens to obtain an Offensive Tackle and acquired Zeus, Orlando Brown, Jr. who will start, without a doubt as the LOT replacing Fish. Also acquired was LA Rams Free Agent OC Austin Blythe who was not retained and the reasons for that I really don’t fathom because he was rated 10th among 2020 centers by PFF. Well, he was a 7th round draft pick, but considering the valuation by PFF this came as a surprise to me. I was surprised when the Chiefs drafted Creed Humphrey (Oklahoma) with his second pick in round 2. I was not surprised that they drafted Trey Smith in round 6, but what was a surprise was how far down he had fallen due to the medical issue he had faced his last 2 seasons at Tennessee. To be truthful, I thought the Chiefs would pass on Humphrey because he was left handed. Most certainly he was the top Center in the draft. That he fell into round two was to the Chiefs good fortune and Veach selected him.
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Much was done to compare Blythe to departed center Austin Reiter and as I saw the comparison I felt that adding Blythe was an improvement, certainly so in run blocking. I wasn’t in favor of retaining Reiter in my observations, but if we had to do so I could understand it. Nor was I seeing OG Andrew Wylie as a player to be re-tendered for 2021, but he was.
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Even in this mix, Veach resigned OG Andrew Wylie. OG Nick Allegretti was under contract and things were looking very nice for the upcoming season, including depth. Both Wylie and Allegretti had experience as starters in 2020. Returning as well are three more 2020 Roster players, OT Yasir Durant (Missouri), Darryl Williams OG/C (Mississippi St) and OT Prince Tega Wanogho (Auburn) as well as having OT Mike Remmers and OT/OG Martinas Rankin return for the upcoming season. Then, Veach added OT Wyatt Miller. Among these UDFAs, Durant was highly thought of and kept on the active roster for 2020, presumably to prevent him from being poached by other teams. Both he and Darryl Williams were players that I thought would be drafted. Consider also that Martinas Rankin was a highly coveted offensive lineman drafted by the Texans… 3 positions in front of Orlando Brown.
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Even considering the fact that the Chiefs lost significant players from 2020, there is no offensive lineman on the roster who started opening day… who will start in this upcoming season. Andrew Wylie is highly unlikely to be a starter with the new mix of linemen, and Mike Remmers, who started at ROT did so only after Mitch Schwartz went out in week six.
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The Right Guard
At this point, I’m drooling about the upcoming season. No. Truly, I am salivating in anticipation of what might happen. I was sad to see Kyle Long’s injury but I knew there was competition for the ROG position with newcomer Trey Smith, OG (U of Tennessee), the returning LDT, Nick Allegretti, who won’t start on the left side, but might slot to the right.
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The Center Position
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So okay, I haven’t discussed the Center role, aside from listing Blythe and the draft choice of Creed Humphrey. My view? Humphrey is going to be the starting center for the re-constituted offensive line. He’s a superior player and will be such opening day, from snap one.
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I see the starting offensive line, Left side to center as: Brown, Thuney and Humphrey. That leaves the right side in question. I sit and wonder about the next thing because Kyle Long was injured. LDT was out of football for more than a year. Austin Blythe, a starter for 3 seasons at both Guard and Center should be in the mix to win a starting job. If Creed is going to be the hands down winner at center, Heck might consider playing Blythe at ROG. Why? Nick Allegretti’s native position from the NCAA and before was at Center. Darryl Williams might also vie for that role. An added thought about what might happen is that due to Humphrey becoming the starter at Center, Blythe could become part of a needed trade where there is a lack at other positions (namely DE, LB and CB: in no particular order, but that itself is another topic for another article altogether).
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I do have one abiding view of the player mix, since Kyle Long is out. I think Trey Smith now has an open field to win the starting role outright. I believe in him, he can be a bully in run blocking, and fits well the ZBS or Power Scheme. He is a very good pass blocking Guard as well. He’s a massive young man with very good feet and gets to the 2nd level smoothly. Smith, in my view, is the future for the Chiefs at ROG. That might mean that LDT must make a decision to be a #2 (a backup) or waive his no trade clause and go to a team where he will be able to start.
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Keep in mind, what happened with Kyle Long will happen with other teams in camp or preseason games. Other GM’s might come calling quickly at One Arrowhead Way.
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The “Right” Tackle
I don’t think there is any mystery about the ROT competition. Mike Remmers and Lucas Niang will be going at it to win the role. May the best man win. I watched tape of Niang, but he is, effectively a Rookie, so like Seth Keysor observed in the an article of “Chiefs in the North”, Remmers will be the likely starter at ROT.
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The Resulting Competition
All of the remarks above are not meant to disparage players, or be a statement of my disdain. It is merely my observation of the quality of play each of these men bring to the table. As an example: as much as I would like to see Trey Smith win the starting ROG position, I like Kyle Long a bunch too, ditto Lucas Niang. When Brett Veach brought Austin Blythe to the mix, I thought, bye-bye Reiter and that is what happened. I was pleased with the signing. Then when the Chiefs drafted Creed Humphrey, I began to extrapolate and came to my own conclusions. All of these observations are the reason that I stated above that Andy Heck has got to be pleased as punch… this group is going to be fun to watch and this offensive line is going to be the best thing to happen for Patrick Mahomes, the RB’s, WR’s and TE’s… since… well.. Super Bowl LIV. We won’t have to think about the prowess of the offense as it was in 2019.
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The Awkward Stage
The Offensive Line is indeed at that awkward stage with many players vying for 5 starting positions or a depth role. Will they keep 10 on the active roster? I’d say absolutely. My real question is: “Will it be 11 considering what happened in 2020?” We will all be fantasizing about multiple Super Bowl appearances for the foreseeable future. It’s going to be a joy to watch it unfold. I cannot wait to see them on opening day! No matter who starts. This is the best shape that the offensive line has been in for two decades, at least. Maybe since the 1960s. Maybe ever.
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David Bell – ArrowheadOne
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