Chiefs Veach and Reid: Winning Trench Warfare

Laddie Morse

Hey, do you remember the OL of: Eric Fisher,  Steven Wisniewski, Austin Reiter, LD-T and Mitchell Schwartz? Well, you should and if you don’t… shame on you! That line helped the Chiefs to win Super Bowl LIV (54), their first win — or showing — in a Super Bowl in 50 seasons. That was just three short years ago. Since then, the offensive line has made a number of rather drastic changes.

Let’s begin with the Left Tackle position.

.

.

Erick Fisher was drafted first overall in 2013, which was not only Andy Reid first season with the Chiefs, but Fisher’s first year as well. He played Right Tackle that year because K.C. still had Branden Albert who made it to the Pro Bowl that year, then signed with the Miami Dolphins.

Once Fisher took over as the lead Left Tackle, he had his ups and downs but eventually made the Pro Bowl in 2018, then again in 2020. That was the year Fisher suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the AFC Championship game and failed to play in the Super Bowl two weeks later.

His injury was a big reason why K.C. lost that Super Bowl and so… GM Brett Veach went fishing in the trade waters and came up with Orlando Brown Jr. to fill this role. Brown made back to back Pro Bowls, but anyone watching the Chiefs play knows he didn’t live up to that hype and he never cracked the top ten tackle of the NFL. On March 11, 2021, Fisher was released and OBJr. took over.

The OBJr. tenure lasted just two years and then this offseason, he moved on and was replaced with the Free Agent signing of Jawaan Taylor (25 years old and will be 26 in late November), previously from Jacksonville. He signed a 4-year $80M deal, but the first year only pays out $5,825,000 so, his 2023 cap hit is not prohibitive. The challenge with Taylor is… he’s basically played the Right Tackle position, but came to K.C. on the understanding the could be moved to the Left Side.

Prince Tega-Wanogho was drafted by the Eagles in 2020 in the 6th round then brought to the Chiefs in January of 2021. He’s been called, “the most athletic Tackle I’ve ever seen,” by one of his college teammates who played in the NFL. While he’s a possibility, the Chiefs keep bringing other players at his position so he never seems to get his full opportunity. Either that, or, they don’t really trust him.

In the meantime, on Tuesday of this week, GM Brett Veach signed another 29 year old Left Tackle who had previously played for the Buccaneers, Donovan Smith. DSmith is 29 years old and will be 30 next month. Veach signed him for what is believed to be a $9M deal so, it sounds like Left Tackle money, but we’ll have to wait and see if he’s really here to take over at Left Tackle or just provide a solid back-up for that position.

Mike Remmers also saw time at Left Tackle in 2020, but his appearance in the Super Bowl that year was remembered as one of the worst ever and saw QB Patrick Mahomes running and diving for his life.

Brett Veach is doing all he can do to make sure Patrick Mahomes is protected. David Ferguson was adamant that the Chiefs needed to take a Tackle in this year draft and while Wanya Morris will be a solid alternative at one of the Tackle positions, a lot depends on Training Camp as each position player will make their play to decide who plays were.

Aside from the QB position, the Left Tackle position is thought to be the most important position in all of football. Not just because he is protecting the quarterback, but because he is protecting the quarterback’s blind side.

.

.

In 2019,  Left Guard Stefen Wisniewski was signed and he help K.C. win their first Super Bowl in 50 years. Wisniewski played for four other NFL teams and signed with the Steelers but he was released in November of 2020… then re-signed with K.C. later that month. Stefen Wisniewski retired in 2021.

Joe Thuney, the current Left Guard, was signed in March of 2021 and agreed to a 5-year deal of $80M over that span. Thuney is 30 years old and will be 31 later this year and has three more years on his contract. Thuney made the Pro Bowl in 2022 with the Chiefs and he’s played five years with the New England Patriots prior to coming to Kansas City. Thuney is one of the best Guards in the league and his signing is thought to be one of the best for Brett Veach.

Thuney was a 3rd round pick (78th overall) in the 2016 NFL Draft. He’s 6-foot-5 and weighs 304 lbs.. He is a great technician and plays the Guard position with aplomb. Some believe the Chiefs are already making plans to move another player into his position when Thuney’s contract is over. While I can understand that approach, I think it’s far more reasonable to assume he’ll sign another deal with K.C. when all is said and done. I don’t see his style of playing a detriment to his continuing to play throughout his 30s.

.

_______________________

Link to Evolocity — We Buy Houses

If you mention ArrowheadOne, we get a commission.

_______________________

.

.

Once Mitch Morse left for the Buffalo Bills in early 2019 — and who could blame him for wanting to sign a 4-year, $44.5 M deal — Austin Reiter was signed by Veach to replace Morse. I was never very happy with Reiter although K.C. won a Super Bowl with him. The next offseason, right after the loss to the Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV… K.C. drafted Creed Humphrey with the 63rd pick overall, and Creed has become one of he best OCs in the NFL. Since Humphrey’s contract wil lcome due in a year, many are concerned — as they should be — that the Chiefs will be able to re-sign him to a long term deal once his rookie contract is over.

Since the goal is to keep QB Patrick Mahomes upright and healthy, the hope that Veach will be able to keep a corp group of players in front of him to keep him that way.

.

.

In 2019, the Chiefs had Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (LD-T) to hep protect Mahomes. LD-T was a 6th round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft for the Chiefs. The next year, in 2015, LD-T made his first start for the Chiefs. In 2017, they re-signed him to a 5-year 42.4M deal. In 2019, he helped K.C. to their first Super Bowl win in 50 years but in 2020 he sat out due to the covid program. Him being a doctor, that is understandable. In 2021, he not only won the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award, but in November of 2022 he was traded to the Jets.

In 2021, two years ago, the Chiefs drafted 6-6, 305 lbs. LG Trey Smith. Smith has entrenched himself there ever since and he looks to be the Right Guard of the future for K.C.. When people talk about the Chiefs having one of the best Interior Offensive Lines in t4he NFL, that includes Trey Smith at Right Guard.

The number of players Brett Veach brought in to play the Right Guard position includes Kyle Long. Long didn’t play a single snaps for the Chiefs and that was not only due to his knee injury, but the emergence of Trey Smith. However, it should be noted that Veach was using every possible avenue, even then, to build up the OL to it’s strongest possible point.

.

.

The Right Guard position has been one of the most troubling positions for the Chiefs over the past decade. With Mitchell Schwartz filling that role for five seasons, from 2016 to 2020, and at a Hall of Fame level, he became the Cal Ripken of the NFL never missing a game until he missed one in the middle of his last year, the 2020 season. For a Right Tackle that’s really saying something. Schwartz played in 141 straight games — including playoff games — until he hurt his back, which needed surgery and ended his career after the season.

Since Schwartz left the field after that season, and retired a year alter.

Lucas Niang was drafted with the 96th pick (3rd round) of the 2020 NFL Draft. However, he declared he would sit out his first season due to the Covid epidemic and then returned to action the next season. In 2021 he won the starting RT position, but then hurt his shoulder that year and was out the remainder of the way. He played only a few snaps last year but is penciled in by many to the RT position this year. Darian Kinnard was drafted last year in the 5th round and could be a Right Tackle at some point but there’s also been talk fo him moving inside to one of the Guard Positions.

When K.C. drafted Wanya Morris they projected that he might take over at RT. The same can be said of the signing of Donovan Smith on Tuesday this week. With all the offensive linemen available — including last year pick of Darian Kinnard — it’s difficult to imagine what Brett Veach and Andy Reid have in mind.

In the most recent Super Bowl — LVXII — the Chiefs had 5 Tackles for a Loss and 2 Sacks while the Eagles vaunted DL had 1 Tackle for a Loss and Zero (0) sacks. K.C. also out-rushed the Eagles 158 to 115. That’s called, OL Dominance, in the most important game of the year. In fact, I’d say the Chiefs crushed the Eagles in the trenches. Here’s someone who agrees with me, and why:

.

.

Brett Veach is doing a great job of bringing in the most talented players he can to the offensive line positions. Let’s hope we see the best OL possible and that Patrick Mahomes will truly get the best protection the game has seen. If that happens, we can count on another Super Bowl Parade… or two… or three…. For that to happen, the Chiefs will have to win the Trench Warfare battle… and it looks like they’re doing a fine job of supplying Patrick the up front artillery he needs… so far.

.

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

.