Chiefs HC Andy Reid weighs in on controversy involving RT Jawaan Taylor
Little did Kansas City Chiefs RT Jawaan Taylor know that he'd be the subject of an NFL controversy in Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season. Taylor faced massive scrutiny during the season opener from all angles. Many claimed he was aligned improperly, putting the Detroit Lions' defenders at an unfair disadvantage. NBC commentator Cris Collinsworth […]
Little did Kansas City Chiefs RT Jawaan Taylor know that he'd be the subject of an NFL controversy in Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season.
Taylor faced massive scrutiny during the season opener from all angles. Many claimed he was aligned improperly, putting the Detroit Lions' defenders at an unfair disadvantage. NBC commentator Cris Collinsworth even joked that he was aligned so far off the line of scrimmage that he was playing slot receiver.
Asked about Taylor's alignment on Thursday night, Chiefs HC Andy Reid explained the rules and how referees usually go about enforcing them during the course of the game.
"Normally, you’re able to split the center’s hip there," Reid told reporters on Monday. "The guys – you don’t want it to be a tell when you’re running or passing. You also have the officials there, they will normally help you out with that if you are too deep. They’ll give you a warning and you go with it. They do a good job with that, I think."
Rule 3-19-3, Item 1 in the NFL rulebook pertains to the first part of Reid's comments:
Non-Snapper. If he is not the snapper, no part of his body is permitted to be in the neutral zone at the snap, and his helmet must break a vertical plane that passes through the beltline of the snapper.
A source tells A to Z Sports that at no point during the Week 1 game against the Lions was Taylor warned about his alignment being too deep. Given the national outcry, it could be a point of emphasis as early as Week 2, but I wouldn't count on it. I get the sense that NFL officials will simply continue enforcing it as they always have across the league. If you looked at games in Cleveland, New England, and Pittsburgh this past weekend, you could find examples of tackles aligning with a similar depth compared to Taylor.
No, Taylor is not false-starting
Alignment was hardly the only complaint lodged against Taylor during the Week 1 tilt with the Lions. Throughout his NFL career, Taylor has been know for his impeccable timing when it comes to the snap. He times up the snap count and the quarterback's cadence to leave his stance the moment the ball moves.
“Yeah, so, he works on that hard, he gets pretty close at times and sometimes too fast," Reid said. "We have to make sure it’s not too fast because then that hurts the team. He takes a lot of pride in that and works very hard at that. Try to make sure that he gets off well and you know you watch the rest of the games this weekend, that’s what these defensive ends, the way they can roll that helps you get into position a tick quicker – but you don’t want to (false start) that’s for sure.”
On the penultimate offensive play for the Chiefs, you saw what an actual false start from Taylor looks like. That was too fast, as Reid mentions. However, when you slow things down on a snap-to-snap basis, Taylor is often moving just as the ball moves.
Renowned private offensive line coach Duke Manyweather provided an example from the Week 1 game:
Frankly, Taylor is so quick here that he actually makes everyone else look late off the ball. Perhaps that's the phenomenon that we're dealing with rather than Taylor actually leaving his stance early.
We're living in an NFL world catered to offense
Is Taylor toeing the line between legal and illegal? I think it's safe to say, yes. I just don't know that we'll see the league do anything more than what they already do to enforce these rules.
These are learned skills by Taylor and he's rarely been penalized for them during the course of his career. He's only ever once been flagged for an illegal formation penalty, and that happened back in 2021. False start penalties have been much more frequent for Taylor, with 16 penalties during his five-year NFL career, including the one on Thursday night.
"The guys are trying to get every advantage they can," Reid explained. "This has been life since the passing game has come into fruition, that’s been one of the things tackles do. I mean, that’s been around for a long time and then you just have to make sure that you don’t take advantage of it and get yourself either too deep or leave off the snap too quick.”
NFL teams and players will always look for every advantage they can possibly get, that's just the nature of a highly competitive sport. However, as Andy Reid suggests, you have to make sure you're on the right side of the line you're toeing. Expect that to be what he emphasizes to Taylor moving forward.
One encouraging Kadarius Toney stat should leave Chiefs fans hopeful
Not everything was bad for Kansas City Chiefs WR Kadarius Toney on Thursday night against the Detroit Lions.
Featured image via Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
