Chiefs: Five New Starters on the Offensive Line

by David Bell

Is The OL Close to Mastering the Three C’s?

Consistency, Cohesiveness and Continuity

The Kansas City Chiefs have a very young starting offensive line with experienced depth behind it. The worry is the lack of time the crew has had to play as a unit. In three preseason games, the players accomplished a lot in that short time span and the last game versus the Vikings was what we needed to see. Now? It needs to carry over to Week One.

An OL Flowing Deep and Wide

The depth of the OL Group is very good as well. Four of the five players have been starters in a Super Bowl or the playoffs: Allegretti, Wiley, Remmers, and LDT. Plus, those four players have “Chiefs” experience. All five depth players have been starters and also have played in post-season games. That is solid depth on the Offensive Line. What is more is the fact that after week six, Kyle Long returns to active duty. He is a Pro Bowl player at both Guard and Tackle so his versatility when he returns is valuable. Versatility is going to be important as a 17 game season rolls along and the depth players have it, playing more than one position.

The Age Old Question

Were you wondering about the age and experience of the Chief’s Offensive Line? LOG, Thuney(28)-great OG with a tactician’s approach to blocking, Brown(25)a behemoth of a man followed to the right with big, powerful linemen. Humphrey(22), Smith(22), Niang(23). The average age is 24. That is one big surprise for all of us because they are starting three rookies but the way the rookies played in camp and the Preseason Games made it appear that we were watching a good group of players that deserved to be on the field as starters. Even if you look at the 53 man roster, the average age is less than 26.

Current Contractual Setup

We know that we must extend Orlando Brown. Joe Thuney is on a 5-year deal, so in 2022 they will be the most expensive players of the crew. All the rookies are in their 1st-year contracts (minimum of 4 years) which makes the cost of the OL an economical unit. What I am also considering here is that youth is more durable and apt to recover far more easily than the older players, so that’s very good as far as cost and durability is concerned.

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Worries About Five New Players Gelling?

Sure. I am concerned, especially due to the competition in the first five games. We face a talented, young Browns team in week one while also playing the Ravens and the Bills. We also must consider that they face a division foe in the Chargers in week three. The Eagles aren’t going to be as tough this year, but I don’t regard any game as an assured win. We play the Ravens and Eagles on the road with the other three teams at Arrowhead Stadium. I will, of course, sit on pins and needles as we wait for the early part of the season to unfold. Still, from watching a mostly vanilla offense operate in preseason, I have a good amount of confidence that the Chiefs very likely will come out on top in all five contests. Let’s take a look with greater granularity in examining the offensive line.

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Trey Smith

He’s going to make the rest of the NFL pay! – He is on a mission and he said he wouldn’t forget how he was slighted in the draft. After watching his game films was I was all hyped about Trey Smith becoming a starter for 2021. Better judgment, then pervaded my thinking so to speak. I got the second thought heebie-jeebies. I knew that Smith was going to be good, but projecting him as a starter might be over-reaching plausibility.

Then Kyle Long was injured and sent to the IR. After watching camp, and getting every piece of news on how well Smith was playing, it re-invigorated my view that he would be a very good starter at ROG for the Chiefs. Trey Smith says “I’m sort of a goon… I just really enjoy the violent aspect of playing football”. This one-liner is about as good as it gets. Camp and game performance in preseason games verify that my original assessment was valid.

One more Smith Quote:

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“It slapped me first [in the] individual period with (offensive line) coach (Andy) Heck — that it was brutal… but that was when I understood [the] winning culture in football — the expectations you have to meet every day to be a Chiefs football player.”

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Smith is a keeper. I had made up my mind about Smith from his Highlight film before the NFL draft. I saw some weaknesses, but decided that those weaknesses would be coached out quickly, and from what I’ve seen, that was accomplished early in camp. His 2021 Draft video:

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Because I like Trey Smith so much and there were questions about weaknesses he needed to have coached out plus the worry about his “feet”, I am illustrating that for me, Trey Smith is the “Dawg” that put those worries to rest.

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There is a lot more on Smith which will shout out to you, probably that he was the steal of the NFL Draft. I believe it.

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“Any worry that Trey Smith would struggle in NFL-level play was wrong. He demonstrated he is a “man moving run blocking machine”, he has feet that are good, he can pull along the LoS, and get to the second level as well. He proved it in preseason 2021.”

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Joe Thuney

Superb technician acquired by Brett Veach – Unfortunately, most of the video Coverage for Toonee (phonetical) is not in a KC Uni. What stood out for me about Thuney all along was that he was a top-level “technician” and that shows up in both pass and run blocking. I really admired the man’s play in 2019 and 2020 and even wrote about ‘how great it would be to get Joe Thuney on the K.C. Roster.

Then suddenly in 2021, Brett Veach made it happen. When I heard the news, I was almost ecstatic. For more information on Thuney, Matt Lane wrote an article called, “Joe Thuney, Patient and Technical Football.“

Joe Thuney has been great since reporting to camp. He is now a “Chief” and in the right place. Thuney signed a 5 year, $80m contract that runs through 2025. He’ll be 33 by the time he plays out his final year of that contract. The funny thing is, his playing partners on the Chiefs OL are all physical monsters and Joe can appear somewhat dwarfed if that can be said of a man who is 6-5, perhaps 310 LB OG.

The Chiefs run-blocking scheme is going to shift towards gap-blocking for the 2021 season, but it will still employ the Zone Blocking Scheme as well. As JoeThuney observed about the group:

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“It takes more than beef and muscle to win at the line of scrimmage in the red zone. I think everyone’s got to be on the same page in regards to the defense and the blocking scheme… it just comes down to execution and trying to play hard for the whistle.”

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It’s tough for me to use a Patriots Highlight film for anything, but here is a Joe Thuney highlight video. You will see the best of a true technician. Here’s the Hook Cam breaking down his tape.

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Creed Humphrey

Starting OC in 2021 – I anticipated that Creed would be the starter early in camp. Although this podcast below deals with Trey Smith also, it buttresses everything I thought about Humphrey… er… except that he was a lefty and I didn’t think Veach would draft him. Boy was I wrong!

As a Draft Target, he was the right choice. I was big time, hat-eating wrong. This is a huge advantage for the Chiefs but not only that — he didn’t give up a sack or pressure in 44 snaps during Preseason. Take the time to view Ryan Trace and Nate Tice on Creed and Trey Smith! This session at RGR Football on Youtube is well worth taking the time to watch:

One thing that you can gather from watching Creed’s collegiate film is that he has some nasty built into his play. In one play, a defender had ripped off his helmet and Creed was attacking. Note the direction of movement in this photo–he is attacking the defender who is backing up as Creed, shown attacking–the play was not a designed run play:

The thing that I like about Creed is that he is technically very sound whether blocking for the run or in pass protection. He may not exemplify a true high level of athletic prowess over-all, but he is skilled at moving his feet, using his hands, and staying balanced with squared shoulders.

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Orlando Brown, Jr.

A Monster on Patrick Mahomes ‘blind side’ – The left side? We are now fielding a monster LT. Sure, Mahomes is not Lamar Jackson. The Chiefs offense is more vertical than a ground-and-pound type team. With the Ravens, he played mostly RT but also started as the LT. He was a Pro Bowl Player, two of his first three seasons.

Brown has something to prove with the Chiefs. Like it or not, Brown is a more technically proficient and successful OT. True, Eric Fisher was more mobile. With the Chiefs new format of a wall in front of Patrick Mahomes, Brown’s size and strength sets a tone. Brett Veach put together a front line of very big men that will protect Patrick Mahomes in Pass Pro. Orlando anchors the blindside. There is no doubt in my mind that he will be a success!

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Lucas Niang

Last but not Least- This was one of my early suggestions –> that Lucas Niang would take over the right side. I made that decision after watching his off-season training video. As with Trey Smith, I backed away from the idea that the Chiefs would really start 3 rookies in the same season but was confident that Creed would be the starting Center. It turns out my original thinking and view were correct. That is about to happen! To refer back to the training video of Lucas working with Bert Yarris, review the film, here:

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There is more to Niang’s importance than meets the eye. He performed like a real Pro in the preseason games. The Browns will work hard to test him and exploit the fact that he is a rookie in the Chief’s first game of 2021.

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Laddie Morse wrote a bit about Niang being better than people anticipated he would be. Although I was concerned that Niang appeared to report to camp 10-15 pounds over his anticipated playing weight, but the results that Niang put together with his play in preseason games, quietly put that worry to rest.

OL Starters & Depth Looks Very Strong

You can’t say that trading away Yasir Durant makes things worse, it brought the Chiefs a future draft pick. Two weeks ago, there were 16 potential players for the OL. Trading Durant was the right kind of move. The Depth Chart looks strong and we still have 3 men who are on the IR or the PUP, so the outlook might change. Both Blythe and LDT are active for week One. What this does is illustrate a positive view of the complete group!

In the finale of the preseason games, the Chiefs starting linemen looked very good and they played the Vikings top-level unit. Now we will watch it all unfold starting with Week One versus the Cleveland Browns.

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David Bell – ArrowheadOne

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