Chiefs Post-combine Outlook: OT Situation for the 2023 Draft

David Bell

I spent parts of four days watching the Scouting combine. Using that outlook directs me to examine the Chiefs and their Free agents. Who stays, and who goes?

The most Odd-Ball Thoughts about OTs

Both of KC’s starting OTs are free agents. So I asked myself: What factors provide the input for letting Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wylie depart?

Odd-Ball Thought #1: Orlando Brown, Jr. (LOT)

Option 1: Tag Brown and hope for the best.

Option 2: Let Brown slide into Chiefs obscurity.

Late Breaking News (from yesterday): Orlando Brown will NOT be tagged.

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That’s where the decision point truly is. I view Brown as valid at the tag amount but not beyond that amount. Brett Veach could Tag Brown, and then he would find a trade partner. What I think would happen is Orlando Brown would end up being a camp holdout. That would disrupt the team persona, something the Chiefs want to avoid.

In 2022 Brown started a holdout and then called his holdout off and reported to camp after a few days. So I am opting to let Brown slide away — editor’s note: and so are the Chiefs now — and move up in the draft to select Anton Harrison, OU’s LOT.

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OT Anton Harrison: OU

I discussed this with Laddie on Saturday and decided that this was going to be my primary approach to the OL. I watched Harrison closely in the OL drills and found him smooth, with quick feet and excellent speed. His college tape also presents him as a solid LOT at OU. He does have things to work on, but so does Orlando Brown. For that matter, so do Andrew Wylie and Lucas Niang. The results from the Scouting Combine has Harrison’s stock rising. He is either the 4th or 5th OT in the draft, but is a LOT, preceded by Peter Skoronski, Paris Johnson, and Broderick Jones.

Laddie re-posted this game day breakdown between OU and Nebraska on Sunday about Anton Harrison’s foot work, but I am going to add it to this article as well:

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Harrison’s highlight film is good as well. See it here:

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Though I believe he started the combine as the #4 OT and improved his draft outlook, NFLDraftbuzz.com has Harrison as the #5 OT:

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ProFootballNetwork.com offers this appraisal of Anton Harrison:

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“Few teams can boast the sheer amount of NFL offensive tackle talent that Oklahoma has produced [recently]. Since 2005, the Sooners already have four Pro Bowl offensive tackles to tout — Jammal Brown, Trent Williams, Lane Johnson, and Orlando Brown. Oklahoma and offensive tackle is one of those combinations you expect to produce NFL talent — and Harrison is on track to prove that notion right.”

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Whether Harrison moves up to the #3 OT in the draft or not, that is where he belongs. After watching his performance at Indianapolis, I am convinced he is the right kind of player to bring to the Kingdom.

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I also truly like Broderick Jones a lot, but Jones will be drafted inside the top 20 and that would be a high cost to trade up to select him. Harrison — on the other hand — is currently ranked somewhere between #31 and #33, but if my prediction is accurate, his evaluation will rise, but would still be a palatable distance to within a couple of picks of finding a trade partner to move up in the draft to take him.

GM Brett Veach allows ROT Andrew Wylie to slide out of KC as a Free Agent. He is worthy of cash elsewhere. How do I view his time in KC? Wylie could not hold a starting job as a starting OG. He is a great depth player as a ROT, but remember that two years ago, Lucas Niang earned the ROT role in camp and didn’t relinquish it… it was necessary to insert Wylie in his stead, because of Niang’s ruptured patellar in 2022 kept him from being ready to go in camp and pre-season.

Wylie was serviceable throughout the season, but we all witnessed the times he blew up against the pass rush several times. Wylie became more stable as the season closed and had an excellent post-season run. Do I want to pay him north of $7.5M to stick around? That seems highly costly for the #2 ROT. He cannot even be the SW/T because I do not view him as a starter for 2023. I see Andrew Wylie walking in Free Agency, and he will probably earn between $9M and $10M. Good for Andrew. Since he cannot be the SW/T, my alternative is a better choice –> Draft Anton Harrison.

At the media day Presser at the NFL Scouting Combine, Brett Veach was asked about ROT, and he indicated that:

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“… if Wylie departs, the Chiefs will

pencil in Lucas Niang as the starter.”

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That fulfills my view of Lucas Niang. The Chiefs would still have Darian Kinnard as the #2 ROT. We have no depth at LOT, and that is a concern, unless you see Prince Tega-Wanogho as depth (should Veach choose to have him return… even so, he’s spent most of his time as a ROT).

I have seen suggestions that the Chiefs could move LOG Joe Thuney to LOT. He did that during the 2021 season for one game. He is at his best as an OG and completes the IOL with a top-level player inside. I would think… you don’t interrupt that role. Andy Heck has one of the top IOLs in the NFL. Don’t break up what is one of the best, if not the best, aspects of your team. However, Thuney does give Andy Heck options. I just don’t care for this option.

The current news revealed today, that Orlando Brown is not going to be tagged (yet). It is possible that Brown will seek the highest level his market will bear. Veach could then tag him at that point. Keep in mind the tag in 2022 was for $16M+. In 2023, it is likely right at the $20M level. That is a considerable boost even still.

So, I go back to my “Option 2: Let Brown slide into Chiefs obscurity. As it stands, it is now likely that both Brown and Wylie depart in Free Agency which gives impetus to moving up in the draft for the ideal OT on their draft board and perhaps drafting an OT for development in a later round.

Top Offensive Tackles are necessary to keep QB Patrick Mahomes clean. I see drafting a top OT as a good choice although I support Veach in letting Brown — plus Wylie, when and if that happens– leave in Free Agency.

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David Bell — ArrowheadOne

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P.S. Following is a text message conversation I had with Laddie last night:

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