The “Shock and Awe Series” – Part 5: The Offensive Line

In past articles, I have covered the offensive line several times this spring. It is a good group of players whose only position unsettled as the Chiefs head into camp is for the starting ROT. The OL has excelled at Run-blocking but they have not been a ground-pounding offense. I think we will see more of the run game in 2022. Overall, the pass protection in 2021 was very good. Here, I expect to see improvement over already good stats from last year because Reid and Bieniemy will use the play-action pass more often and rely on the ground attack more than they have in the past. The stats highlighted below are a reason I believe the Chief’s pass protection for Mahomes will improve in 2022 as well.

I firmly believe that the Chief’s Offensive Line is going to be one of the Top lines in the NFL–perhaps as good as being in the top five.

Orlando Brown(LOT)- Some may say that since Brown’s contract remains unresolved, the LOT is also unsettled. I’m afraid I have to disagree, but the sticking point is financial; it is not regarding the player. Brown’s contract will get tendered, and he will start on the left side of the OL. If the worst possible result occurs, Brown will play for $16.7M on the Franchise Tag. I do not expect the latter circumstance to come to fruition and I do believe Brown’s contract extension will be completed.

Brown is a particular case that raises some ire among fans. He arrived in KC wanting to be the LOT. That is what he is. Unfortunately, his statistics did not match the stature of the top three or four LTs in the game. FFans do not give Brown credit for some reason, probably related to the monies involved. 2021 was Brown’s first year as a Chief.

Brown moved from the right side to the left when he arrived in KC. During the season, he did improve as the games rolled along, and yes, he did get a Pro Bowl nod. Right out of the gate he developed a special relationship with his quarterback and that bodes well for Brown’s second season as a Chief. Another thing about Brown is that he is a very good run-blocking OT and a pancake artist to boot. In 2022, Brown will begin his second season with the Chiefs. He has been working off-site on his footwork and movement, he has lost some weight which will aid his mobility, and most of all, the mastery of the OL Room will unfold(The 4-Cs).

Brown is a man of considerable stature. Seth Keysor wrote a discerning article at Chiefs of the North. He determined that Brown made pass-rushers one-dimensional–they can not rush inside, they cannot Bull-rush Brown, so the option left to them was the outside arc of the speed rush. That said, he gave up sacks due to that outside speed rush. Brown’s feet are slow in sliding and gliding for that type of approach by an opposing edge rush. However, in a previous piece, I observed that Brown improved as the season proceeded in 2021. Mahomes curtailed his 9 and 11-yard drops, which aided Brown on the left and the ROT Lucas Niang.

Specifically, concerning statistics, I believe they will improve significantly in 2022. The offense will change from a deep-ball offense to a balanced attack. In addition, Mahomes will operate from under-center(Play Action) more extensively. Those factors alone would correlate with improved statistics for either OT.

Joe Thuney(LOG)- There is a lot that I can write about Joe Thuney, and it won’t cover how much I respect him. In conversations late in 2020 with Laddie Morse, I put forward the idea that the Chiefs should acquire Joe Thuney. I admire his work as a Patriot.

Then in the 2021 OL Rebuild, Brett Veach engineered bringing Thuney to the Kingdom. We know he is a tough player–he played several games in 2021 with a cast on a hand. We know that Thuney is a technician–his blocking, whether for the run or in pass protection, is a wonder to see. You have to love Joe Thuney’s versatility–he can play every position on the OL and demonstrated that his talent could cover the LOT role in a game where Orlando Brown was held out due to injury during warm-up before the game. He played well in that role at the time it had to happen. I marked him down as a Franchise Player in 2021 and believe that he will fulfill that promise over the next four seasons(and more).

Count me in as a huge fan of Joe Thuney.

Creed Humphrey(C)- The passion with which Creed plays football is fantastic. He was the top-rated Center in football in 2021 as a rookie. Creed Humphrey has a bit of nasty to him and is also one of the Pancake artists on the offensive front line.

You’ve got to love Humphrey. He was not a first-round pick but played like one in 2021. Creed is left-handed. My view of him before the draft in 2021 was Brett Veach would choose a center who was not a lefty. I was wrong, thankfully.

Trey Smith(ROG)- Smith was an outstanding player who dropped in the draft to the point where Brett Veach could take him. He had a problem with blood clots in the lungs, which has been controlled with medication and is not an issue. He was cleared to play football for his Junior and Senior seasons at Tennessee. Because of that fall in draft position, Smith came to the Chiefs with a big chip on his shoulder. He proved every other team GM and draft analysts wrong and did so with panache.

He is an excellent run-blocker, and it showed up immediately in 2021 after he took over the starting role in Training Camp. If there was a negative side to Smith’s play, it related to pass-blocking. Still, he was recognized as one of the best rookies to come into his own. We have seen in redrafts since he, like Creed Humphrey, was a round one selection. I was hyped when Brett Veach selected him in the sixth round. I was not mistaken about him and knew that the problem found with his lungs was resolved after his sophomore season. He should have been drafted in round two. Another thing you have to love about Smith is that he is another pancake artist on the Chief’s offensive line and was such at UTenn.

The Unresolved Starter at ROT–

After several mentions of Lucas Niang’s future in past articles and comments, we have to put his role as the starting ROT on hold.

I cannot see Niang being the opening day starter. He suffered a torn Peteller Tendon injury that required surgery in January. At this point, it would be a miracle if he was available on opening day. That being said, Niang remains my choice for the starting ROT role of the future. At this point, I think Niang begins the season on the PUP. That gives him a minimum of six weeks for rehab before making a decision to bring him to the roster and when. It might be a total of nine weeks.

Meanwhile, a starter must be determined by the coaching staff. Andrew Wylie subbed for Niang after his injury. The Chiefs draft OT Darian Kinnard(KY) in this year’s draft. Wylie came out of West Texas to the NCAA and was a starting guard for the Chiefs. He was retained, apparently because of versatility. When he took over the Right Tackle job when Niang was injured, I was surprised at how well he played at the end of 2021.

Kinnard has a lot of promise as well. He is a road-grader type OT, and he, too, felt insulted by being drafted so late in the draft. He comes to the team with something to prove and has a bit of nasty in his play, as we can see from his Kentucky photo.

Overall Status?

Four of Five Starters on the OL are a given. No matter what, the OL is going to be very good. We won’t know about Niang’s status until training camp, nor will we know who the fifth player will be. To my way of thinking, the Chief’s philosophy has shifted for the player across the front five from more finesse to road-grader type players who also have a bit of meanness in their play.

I suppose that for the purpose of this article, in Niang’s absence, it doesn’t matter who becomes the starting ROT opening day. Personally? If Niang can’t go, I will be rooting for Darian Kinnard to bull his way to a starting job. Last year, I loved what Trey Smith brought to the table.

David Bell – ArrowheadOne