Chiefs OL: Does Andy Reid Get it?

Laddie Morse | May 14, 2019

Ever since his days as an OT at Glendale Community College, Andy Reid has had a certain idea about who or what an Offensive Lineman can do or should be. It’s as if Reid believes that putting an OL together can be done with a shoestring approach and a patchwork kit of lesser players. It makes me wonder, when it comes to creating the Chiefs offensive line: does Andy Reid get it?

If you look around the league, every OL is put together with players that come to the team as: mid-round picks… early round picks… UDFAs and free agency leftovers, or trade rejects, in many cases. So, to say Andy Reid doesn’t draft enough high round OL, doesn’t seem to carry much clout, at first glance. On the other hand, you have to admire the way some teams place a premium on early round OL picks. I like the way the Dallas Cowboys have constructed their OL:

• LT: Tyron Smith – 9th overall pick in the 2011 draft.
• LG Connor Williams – 50th overall pick in the 2018 draft.
• Center – Travis Frederick – 31st overall in the 2013 draft.
• RG – Zack Martin – 16th overall pick in the 2014 draft.
• RT – La’el Collins – UDFA with a first round grade signed with legal issues.

On the other hand, Dak Prescott was sacked the 2nd most number of times in 2018, absorbing 56 sacks (and that’s more than twice the amount as Patrick Mahomes at 26). You could also argue that the Cowboys haven’t won a Super Bowl lately or even been considered a serious contender, but their future does look bright on offense and that’s mostly because of their OL.

My philosophy has long been, if you can create a dominant OL… or DL… your chances of winning go up dramatically. While Reid has never been considered a Defensive minded coach he has taken great pride in developing quarterbacks, wideouts and running backs, many of which still perform well across the league, but he hasn’t been much of a Protector of the Realm when it comes to Offensive Linemen.

Twenty years ago, Andy Reid had drafted what many believed to be a game changing QB in Donovan McNabb in his first season as a head coach, and his first for the Philadelphia Eagles. From 1999-to-2003… his first 5 years with a dynamic and new young signal caller who needed protecting… Reid drafted the following Offensive Linemen:

• 1999 – OG – Doug Brzezinski – 3rd Round, 64th overall
• 2000 – OG – Bobbie Williams – 2nd Round, 61st overall
• 2001 – none
• 2002 – none
• 2003 – OG – Jeremy Bridges – 6th Round, 185 overall

The next season after that, Reid drafted Shawn Andrews who played Tackle in college but he was moved to the Guard position where he excelled for years. This is not to say that Reid didn’t sign OL in Free Agency but, his unwillingness to invest high picks in the draft for the offensive line in the five years after he had chosen a franchise QB, is nothing if not alarming.

So, how have the Chiefs done in drafting OL in the Andy Reid era? Here’s a list showing the players he’s drafted since his first draft in Kansas City (2013), ever since he selected LT Eric Fisher with the first overall selection that year:

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Reid has taken 5 offensive linemen in 6 years (6 drafts), since he and John Dorsey agreed on Eric Fisher with the first overall pick in the 2013 draft: a pick that is often seen as, not the best option. Since then, of those 5 OL taken, only OG Nick Allegretti, this year’s 7th round pick and Kahlil McKenzie (a conversion project), last year’s 6th round pick, are left on the roster. So, it’s Eric Fisher and two unknowns: one is a developmental OL (McKenzie) and the other hasn’t yet played a down.

Admittedly, both players could turn out to be very good. Reid has had “some luck” with selecting OL who are not in the first three rounds. However, having “some luck” is a relative term. Having some luck by finding an OL who can contribute, is very different than putting together a Juggernaut group. I wrote a piece 4 years ago called, “Chiefs OL: Building a Juggernaut” (a two part piece) in which I point out the kind of line the Chiefs could be creating. From that piece I shared:

T  Willie Roaf (Hall of Fame)

“Probably the best pure left tackle to ever play this game.” ~ Brian Waters

G  Brian Waters

6 Pro Bowls while playing for 4 different Chiefs head coaches. He also won the 2009 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

C  Casey Wiegmann

“…played 10,141 consecutive snaps, the longest stretch by an offensive lineman.”

T  John Tait

“A pure left tackle with no physical weaknesses.” ~ Sports Illustrated

You could get spoiled after watching that offensive line in front of Priest Holmes, if you’ve been around that long.

Of course, every team has to make sacrifices somewhere and has to use players from the backside of the draft, from the dregs of Free Agents to bolster weaknesses, or from the junkpile of UDFAs to fill in the blanks. The reality is, the bottom of the draft, Free Agency, a UDFA, or by trade, is exactly where players like these come from: LDT, Mitchell Schwartz, Andrew Wylie, and Cam Erving.

However… it’s also produced players like: Donald Stephenson, Jah Reid, Jeff Linkenbach, and Mike McGlynn. 

It appears that Andy Reid has a penchant for the unknown offensive lineman, the guy out of nowhere, the project no one else can fix (not even him). As long as your franchise quarterback is still standing, I guess it alright to take that approach but it only takes one injury to bring his great vision — a team created from his offensive mastermind — to a crumbling halt. This is not the 1980’s 49ers with Steve Young waiting in the wings, although I’ve heard Reid called the greatest offensive mind since Bill Walsh.

Preparing for an injury is probably a good strategy as teams are going to figure out that Mahomes is even more dangerous when he breaks out of the pocket… like Russell Wilson… and Wilson was the third most sacked QB in 2018 with 51.

Whether the Chiefs can develop a Juggernaut is a dream of the past. Now, I’d just like to see them create an excellent group that can be counted on to protect Patrick Mahomes. As much as I dislike talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers, they do have one of the better OLs in the league. PFF says this:

The construction of their group looks like this:

UDFA – LT Alejandro Villanueva

UDFA – LG Ramon Foster

1st Rd – C Maurkice Pouncey

1st Rd – RG David De Castro

UDFA – RT Matt Feiler

A couple of very good 1st round picks surrounded by some other players who develop appears to be their winning combo there. Villanueva came into the league as a TE with Philadelphia and then went on to DE before switching and becoming one of the most athletic LTs around.

These days, I’ve adjusted my expectations but still see the need for a stellar OL that can be Patrick Mahomes fortress for years to come. My hope this year, is that Austin Reiter develops quickly as the #1 Center (because I think Nick Allegretti is going to be a year away), Laurent Duvernay-Tardif comes back stronger than ever off an injury, and Kahlil McKenzie blossoms in Training Camp so that he is one of the best LGs in the league: well, I’ll settle for an excellent starter. At least Reid is done with guys like Mike McGlynn… I think.

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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