'You want the best combination' – Chiefs HC Andy Reid on naming a starting LT for the playoffs
The biggest question mark for the Kansas City Chiefs as they head into the postseason is the left tackle position. The Chiefs have had a revolving door at the position, with four different players (Kingsley Suamataia, Wanya Morris, D.J. Humphries, Joe Thuney) making starts there throughout the season. Thuney, who is actually an All-Pro left […]
The biggest question mark for the Kansas City Chiefs as they head into the postseason is the left tackle position.
The Chiefs have had a revolving door at the position, with four different players (Kingsley Suamataia, Wanya Morris, D.J. Humphries, Joe Thuney) making starts there throughout the season.
Thuney, who is actually an All-Pro left guard, has played the best at left tackle for Kansas City this year. The rookie Suamataia showed that he isn't ready to play yet and is definitely not an option for the postseason, and Morris is more valuable as a backup swing tackle.
That leaves the decision to be made between Humphries and Thuney. The Chiefs signed Humphries and threw him into the lineup in Week 14, but a hamstring that he suffered late in the game ended up costing him the next three games. He returned to start in Week 18 with mixed results. Here's what Chiefs coach Andy Reid had to say while speaking to the media on Friday about Humphries performance.
"Yeah, listen, I thought D.J. did a pretty good job there," Reid said. "Few plays he'd probably like to have back. But, he's heading in the right direction for sure. I haven't made any decisions on which direction to go right this minute, so we'll see. We'll get there by the time we get into next week."
Reid went on to say that while he wants to find the best combination of players along the offensive line, he'll trust whoever ends up being out there to play.
"Well, the best part is that they both are good players," Reid said. "[Left guard Mike] Caliendo is playing well too. So, I'm not too too worried about that whole situation. We'll just see how it plays out. Andy [offensive line coach Andy Heck] rotates them during the week anyway. So they'll all get work, and we'll just go from there. But yeah, obviously you want the best combination. But I think in this case, you've got three guys there that are pretty good players."
With how well Thuney and Caliendo have played, it's tough to imagine them not getting the starting nod at left tackle and left guard respectively. In case of injury or if somebody struggles, the veteran Humphries can always come in off the bench and Thuney can slide back over to guard. The Chiefs still have over a week to make their decision, and they may want to make whoever they play have to prepare for as many different combinations as possible.
