Does Andy Reid Play His Rookies?

There’s been some disagreement about whether or not Andy Reid allows his rookies and first-year players to play in their inaugural season. The idea that his West Coast Offense is so hard that rookies often need time to assimilate that offense rings true in many cases but there are plenty of players who have been inserted into the starting line-up right out of the box.

Perhaps this perception of Reid not playing his rookies began in Reid’s rookie season as a head coach. When the Philadelphia Eagles hired him as their head coach in January of 1999, he, like many other first-year head coaches before and since, drafted a franchise QB with his first pick in the draft: Donovan McNabb. McNabb’s started 6 games in his rookie year and appearing in 12.

On the flip side, when WR DeSean Jackson was a rookie, he was the Eagles leading receiver with 912 yards and no other receiver had half as many yards for the Eagles that year. The year before Jackson’s rookie year, veteran Kevin Curtis played his first season under Andy Reid and was the team’s leading wide receiver with 1,110 yards.

In 2009, RB LeSean McCoy was the Eagles leader in rushing yards and played in all 16 games but only started 4 games. What appears to be more of a pattern with Andy Reid is… he plays his rookies a lot, adding them into the rotation while keeping them from being called “the starter” in name only. Otherwise, it’s hard to explain LeSean MCoy’s stats in 2009.

Since Andy Reid has arrived in Kansas City, he’s started rookies and first-year players that include: LT Eric Fisher, TE Sean McGrath, TE Travis Kelce (his second season was his first-year), OL Zach Fulton, OL Parker Ehinger, DB Marcus Peters, C Mitch Morse, WR/RB/KR Tyreek Hill, and DL Chris Jones.

So, there are plenty of examples of rookies and first-year players getting tons of starting minutes and snaps under Andy Reid… there are also many examples of rookies and first-year players who are weened onto the system both offensively and defensively. 

The special teams unit is often littered with rookies so there’s no question there.

The big question is… why is it important?

The reason this topic is coming up more than usual may be, many fans are anticipating that John Dorsey will be drafting multiple players in this draft who will either be instant starters this season, or be heavy contributors. When you have drafted guys like Marcus Peters, Chris Jones and Tyreek Hill — and 2-out-3 of those have already made the Pro Bowl — in the past two years, it’s easy to expect that Dorsey would match his drafting performance again this year.

In fact, if the Chiefs are going to take a big step forward in the AFC this coming season, they will probably need their rookies to contribute right away. In a big way.