Chiefs: Andy Reid gives an update on new offensive line problems
The Kansas City Chiefs now have a new offensive line problem that they didn't have before and it has caused some questions to arise. Andy Reid gave an update on it Monday. The Chiefs started their offseason with a huge problem – would they give Orlando Brown Jr. a big contract, or would they franchise […]
The Kansas City Chiefs now have a new offensive line problem that they didn't have before and it has caused some questions to arise. Andy Reid gave an update on it Monday.
The Chiefs started their offseason with a huge problem – would they give Orlando Brown Jr. a big contract, or would they franchise tag him again? Well, they didn't do either. They took a gamble and let him walk, thinking they could get better or the same production for cheaper, or at a better value.
They then lost Andrew Wylie, the starting right tackle, to the Washington Commanders as he followed Eric Bieniemy to the DMV.
Then they signed Jawaan Taylor, a former right tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars, who has never played left tackle before, besides maybe a few snaps in college. But, here is the kicker, they signed him to play left tackle, not right tackle.
There were a lot of questions about the move off the rip, but what Taylor said at his introductory press conference definitely made people feel a bit better.
“Left tackle, right tackle just a flip of the hips, honestly,” he said. “Other than that, if you’re athletic enough and you trust your feet, you got great coaching as well, which I know that’s here, I feel like the transition would be pretty good.”
The Chiefs have done this before though, with Orlando Brown Jr., to a certain extent. He played right tackle with the Baltimore Ravens and then moved to left tackle with the Chiefs. However, he had a bit more experience playing left tackle in college, as he was listed as just a tackle at that level.
Jawaan Taylor expressed that he thought he could do the same thing.
“He’s a great player with great feet as well,” Taylor said on Brown. “Very long, very versatile guy. So seeing guys like that be able to transition over, it’s amazing to see so it gives me a lot of courage and hope knowing I can do it too.”
I think Taylor was being kind because at times you could say cement blocks would have been better as feet than what Brown showed. Brown allowed a 5.4 percent pass pressure rate in 2022, via TruMedia. That is good enough, or bad I should say, for 22nd among 36 qualifying starting left tackles.
Sure, he allowed just four sacks in over 700 pass-blocking snaps, but his slow feet and bad hands at times allowed Mahomes to maneuver out of the pocket and away from the pass rush. In the postseason though, is where he really showed the Chiefs what they would be getting long-term had they signed him to another deal. His 8.3 percent pressure rate in the postseason was the worst of all left tackles.
So, the Chiefs were on to bigger and better things, so we think. Now, nothing has even happened yet. No snaps have been played and the starters, at least most of them that we know of, have even put on a practice jersey yet. So, we will still have to wait and see just how all of this plays out.
But, just by the stats, Taylor was the better option, as a tackle. Taylor, who played every snap at right tackle the last four years, and has never missed a game in his NFL career, allowed just 16 quarterback pressures last year to Brown's 47, per Pro Football Focus. Andy Reid liked what he saw in the move.
"I liked his tape," Reid said after the signing. "We saw him firsthand a couple of times too. So, even though he was on the right side, I think he could transfer over to the left side. He's really a good athlete and I think he's excited about that and that doesn't mean he can't play the right side."
The now two-time Super Bowl champion even thought he could play at left tackle. It wasn't just Taylor that thought it.
"I mean, if we had another left tackle, he can play the right side," Reid said. "So he gives you flexibility right, jump in a guard and he's smart, he can play center. He's, he's a pretty talented kid and, look forward to getting him in here. I think that was a great pick up by Brett [Veach]."
The Chiefs continued their offseason with Lucas Niang as the starting right tackle until further notice. Then, when draft day came, day two, to be exact, they drafted Oklahoma right tackle Wanya Morris, who would compete for that starting spot with Niang.
That's exactly what we thought, until the confusing, odd news broke, making the Chiefs look a bit silly. They had signed former Buccaneers left tackle Donovan Smith to a one-year deal with up to $9 million in incentives.
So, they signed another guy to play left tackle, and paid Taylor to play left tackle, and drafted a right tackle to play right tackle, and, you can see where I'm going with this, right? Now the question was, which of the two new left tackles was going to be playing left tackle? Smith has left tackle experience, but Taylor has left tackle money.
"He's [Smith] been a left tackle at a high level and if you look at last year he was hurt," Reid said on Monday during the rookie minicamp presser. "And then, the year before that, he was one of the top-graded left tackles in the league. So, we've had a chance to play against him a couple of times."
Reid then stated that Smith would work in with the ones on the left side and Taylor with the ones on the right side to start OTAs. They paid Taylor left tackle money, saying he could play left tackle, and it appears they will be playing him at the right tackle spot.
The whole situation has left the Chiefs looking a bit silly, overall. It also comes off as Taylor's transition isn't just a "flip of the hips" like he said. They were lucky to have a fallback plan like Smith on the market, otherwise, who knows how this project would've turned out. In all, the Chiefs can still end up with two solid tackles on both sides of the offensive line, but, the process of getting there was anything but Chiefs-like.
