Chiefs' 2023 X-Factor is two guys you wouldn't expect
The Kansas City Chiefs have two guys as X-Factors in 2023 that you likely wouldn't expect.What defines an X-Factor? Well, the definition says a person that has a strong but unpredictable influence. So, no, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, or even Chris Jones can't be the X-Factor for the Chiefs because we know what they will […]
The Kansas City Chiefs have two guys as X-Factors in 2023 that you likely wouldn't expect.
What defines an X-Factor? Well, the definition says a person that has a strong but unpredictable influence. So, no, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, or even Chris Jones can't be the X-Factor for the Chiefs because we know what they will do. We can predict they will always show up and show out.
Instead, the X-Factor will be a guy that maybe no one saw having a huge season, and he is a huge reason the Chiefs have the success they do. You can pick several guys from that category this year, and all would be good picks. Instead, one CBS Sports analyst picked offensive tackles Donovan Smith and Jawaan Taylor, and I couldn't agree more.
Here is what he said about the two in 2023:
Kansas City Chiefs: OTs Donovan Smith and Jawaan Taylor As previously mentioned, the Bengals signed Orlando Brown away from the Chiefs. They only did so after Kansas City signed Jawaan Taylor to a big free-agent deal, but Kansas City then also added Smith to the mix. It sounded initially like Taylor might be moving from right tackle to left, but in the wake of the Smith deal, he might be staying where he's spent the majority of his career, with Smith taking up residence on Patrick Mahomes' blind side. If that's the case, that's a lot of faith to put in a player coming off of what was likely his worst NFL season. Protecting Tom Brady is obviously a lot different than protecting Mahomes, but if Smith just doesn't have it anymore, it could cause the Chiefs to do a bunch of shuffling up front. And that's not ideal. –Jared Dubin, CBS Sports
The Chiefs, coaches, players, and media will have yet to learn what will happen this season with their two new offensive tackles. When it comes to this, it's hard to predict anything with these two yet, which is why these two are X-Factors.
The Chiefs have had more drama this offseason than they would have liked, but it's their own fault. They signed Taylor to a huge deal, which we thought was as a left tackle, and then signed Smith to play left tackle, forcing Taylor to play right again.
The bigger X-Factor to me is Smith. If Taylor plays right tackle, we know he will be a very good player. It's what he has done his entire career. If he plays left tackle, he is a huge X-Factor because he has never played the position before.
Smith played injured last year and has yet to have an amazing season since the year he won the Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So, we don't know which version of him we will be getting. I don't know if many people saw these two as the Chioefs' 2023 X-Factors.
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