Chiefs: Flipping Bad News to Good News

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Over Zealous, then Wilting, Now Renewed

It’s been many weeks now since I flipped the starting Right Offensive Guard — RG — spot, observing that Trey Smith had an open road to be the starter on the right side for the Kansas City Front Five. However, keep in mind, in an earlier article, a presentment that the Chiefs could start three rookies on the OL. Oh, yea, that author is nuts and far too over-enthusiastic about Rookies coming into the NFL. After all, the idea of the Chiefs starting a rookie at Center was going out on a limb. Laddie Morse and I hashed this out in several conversations before my writing that Creed Humphrey would win the competition at OC. It now appears that Humphrey would have to sustain a tremendous setback to not make that prediction come to fruition. Corresponding to this, Trey Smith’s emergence has also occurred in Training Camp.

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Back in March, I also wrote about the possibility that Lucas Niang might become the starting RT, and then, heeding caution I backed away from that idea. One reason I did so was knowing the tendency of Andy Reid to roll with experienced players over rookies.

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It was Kyle Long’s tibia injury that provided the impetus for me to write that Smith had an open road to winning the RG role. After the draft, I sort of threw caution to the wind regarding Humphrey. Everything I read about him and every video that I reviewed, informed me that he was the “real deal.” That view prevailed from OTA’s onward, through rookie camp, and now has cemented itself, at least at this early stage as Humphrey has been with the “Ones” each day thus far in Training Camp. Certainly, Austin Blythe, the free agent Center from the Rams, who was signed by Brett Veach, is part of the picture. Blythe is also versatile, his last L.A. starting job was as their OC, but the two previous years he was a starter at Offensive Guard. This last fact bodes well for the Chiefs as Training Camp is unfolding and live-action began Tuesday as the Chiefs donned pads for the first time in 2021.

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Today? My confidence has been rekindled for both Humphrey and Smith becoming starters in 2021 as Rookies.

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Left Side is set in Concrete. Count On It

The prediction that the starting Left Tackle — LT — would be Orlando Brown, Jr. There can be no doubt about that. It is written in Browns’ stars. At the same time, the starting Left Guard — LG — is set in concrete as well. I wrote about Joe Thuney as being a player that the Chiefs should want to bring aboard in 2019. It was not even an inkling of possibility in 2019. Thuney’s career, is a great fit for the Chiefs with the personality, football experience and capability, and character that is an ideal matchup. Lo’ and Behold, in 2021, Thuney was exposed in free agency and Brett Veach snapped him up from the jaws of every hungry wolf GM and brought him to the Kingdom. This is a truly great signing. Not only that, but it was an economic acquisition whereas bringing Orlando Brown to the LT roll was, and will be considerably more costly. The paired veterans solidify the Left side of the offensive line for years to come (as long as Brow re-signs next year, which no one anticipates will be a problem.).

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Center and to the Right

Back to the rookies. It seems apparent that two rooks — Humphrey and Smith — will end up starting for Andy Reid along the OL. However, the RT, who was earmarked to be veteran Mike Remmers, took a setback over the last 4 days and has sustained a back injury. Other authors, pundits, and observers are fretting about the worry at RT… but I see it as an “opportunity” for Lucas Niang.

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First off, it might be that Andrew Wylie who started several games for the Chiefs in the 2020 season at RT, and who also played RT in the Super Bowl… could end up the starter. That said, I will observe that my view of Wylie as a starter at Guard was no longer positive for the Chiefs Offensive Line. His SB LIV performance at RT was not a success (to put it lightly).

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Also stepping in for Mike Remmers was 2nd-year rookie, Lucas Niang on Monday. The word is: he had his ups and downs, but also had straight sets against Clark and Jones that went very well. Such are the vagaries of rookie life in the NFL. So, Andrew Wylie was also given reps at RT. After the Super Bowl loss, I was pretty positive about Martinas Rankin being slotted for the RT in the future. However, he has been released and is now out of the picture.

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Offensive Coordinator — OC — Eric Bieniemy did have a moment of frustration with what he was seeing during Monday’s session and hollered it out, including an expletive. Monday was not a good day for the offensive line. Still, in all, I think the negative news about Mike Remmers’s back spasms is bad news and for now, the situation has been flipped. Why? With Lucas Niang the Chiefs have a ‘mountain mover’ at RT and having him start at the position would give the Chiefs a completed shift strategically into offensive sets which feature plays with the Gap Blocking formula. This creates a wall of big men in front of Patrick Mahomes for pass protection. I like that, thank you very much!

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Pass Protection

Big Men are difficult to move. OLB’s and DE’s struggle against a front-line such as is possible for Kansas City this year. At the same time, those players are not quite as nimble of foot. However, from all that I can see, the Chiefs will have “Dancing Bears” all across the front. They may not be as quick as the players that had manned the front line over the past 7 seasons, but stronger, bigger, and they still have some quickness.

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In the 2017 season, it was one in which our offensive line struggled to protect Alex Smith. Late in that year, coach Matt Nagy, then Chiefs OC who was tapped to become the Chicago Bears Head Coach in 2018, implemented a simplified version of blocking that reduced movement and responsibility to the blocking scheme which was highly successful the rest of the way, Both running play blocking, as well as pass protection blocking, improved. What I think I am seeing in the Chiefs approach to the upcoming season is that type of scheme, but with bigger men to play the part… and… that is a good thing.

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Final Thoughts

What I would have preferred is for Mitch Schwartz to maintain his role at RT in 2021, providing a season for Niang to break in as the Swing Tackle — SW/T — in preparation for the future. Niang is still a basic 2nd-year rookie. That would have been the optimum and efficient manner in which a rookie comes to earn the nod as a starter. The same would have been true for Trey Smith at RG. If Kyle Long resumed his career — without injury — Smith could have been the understudy and both players would have benefited from the learning experience.

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Alas, it was not to happen, as Long was injured early and is out on the PUP and Schwartz is gone.

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This brings to question LDT. He has been a Chiefs starter at RG for several seasons and who returns from his own opt out layoff of 2020. I have held that Kyle Long has been a far more capable player than LDT. I am not slamming the Canadian, but it’s evident from the careers of the two players. It was my view early that Trey Smith was an NFL starter-ready rookie and actually a steal in the draft in the 6th round. He is all of that. His size and stature and physical traits really give me hope that the Chiefs have added a ‘mountain mover’ to the front five.

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After following the workout videos of Lucas Niang, I was super enthusiastic about his outlook for 2021 and I still feel that way about him. On Monday, a door opened for him to be inserted as the starting RT. This opportunity for Niang may be conjured magic that has its risks, but he is the future there for the Chiefs.

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Age and Injuries

I have observed before, that back problems are the bane of offensive linemen and this is no different. With age comes wisdom and experience — and back problems. Mike Remmers is 31. Mitchell Schwartz is now 32 — and while it’s still possible for him to get back to football, he’s said his rehab is taking far longer than he anticipated. He is working out 5 days each week. He is not ready to roll and even then we don’t know that the Chiefs are interested in bringing him back to the team.

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Andy Reid’s View?

We all know that Reid’s preference is to use veteran players over rookies as a general rule, but, there is a but. Reid observed this past weekend:

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“I’ve started some rookies in there and they’ve done a good job, but sure, you like to have experience… But again, I’ve had success with rookies too, so it’s kind of individually based on how they step up and communicate and how willing the veteran players are to share with them their experiences. Then, fortunately, they have Andy [Heck] who played in the league for 14 years and has been coaching forever as their coach.”

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He went on to say: “Those veteran D-linemen help them out by talking to them on certain things.” It is this camaraderie that builds champions and it is evident at training camp.

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The last thing that Andy said sustains my view that Niang may have had a door opened for him on Monday. He observed:

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“The young guys have done a nice job… They’ve stepped up I thought. They’ve been working their tail off. It’s been a good exercise with very few mistakes, so you look at that now and that becomes important.”

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Where the Three Rookies Stand

This may just be that my early in the offseason view of the starting offensive line actually comes to fruition. However, how odd would that be? I would say this is not something that was in the plan from the offset, but it appears to be far more likely now than it was when I wrote about it in March. Indeed, I am not stating it is inevitable — it is not. Maybe, it just a maybe that three Rookies will start for the Chiefs on the offensive line in 2021. Yes. I am still “overenthusiastic” and an eternal optimist these days. However, I do see that things as having flipped to the positive. Let’s hope that I am correct in my outlook!

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David Bell — ArrowheadOne

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