The Kansas City Chiefs have plenty of surprises at the midseason mark. 

Many would describe the defense as the biggest surprise so far, but that'd be disingenuous for me, given I predicted this would be the best defense of the Patrick Mahomes era ahead of the season. Instead of going that route, I'm going to look at something that has surprised me in a bad way. 

The Chiefs signed free agent RT Jawaan Taylor away from the Jacksonville Jaguars this past offseason. He received a high-priced four-year deal with $60 million in guaranteed money. At first, there was some notion that he could end up as the replacement for Orlando Brown Jr., playing left tackle in Kansas City. That didn't happen once the team signed Donovan Smith. 

How exactly has Taylor performed at the midseason mark? That's the big surprise. He certainly hasn't been as advertised. 

Taylor's pass-blocking issues

Taylor was touted as a strong pass-blocking tackle in free agency. Everyone knew what they were getting in the run-blocking game, but his struggles this season protecting Patrick Mahomes have been notable. Only Creed Humphrey (3) has been credited with more sacks this season than Taylor (2). 

His pressure numbers (22) rank 51st in the NFL among players with at least 250 pass-blocking snaps. In just nine games this season, Taylor already has allowed more pressures than he did in all of last season. Whether adjusting to a new system or the Chiefs simply playing a greater level of talent, something hasn't clicked for Taylor this year in that aspect of the game.

Taylor's penalty struggles

Penalties have been a pretty big issue for Taylor this season. He had two seasons with double-digit penalties during his tenure in Jacksonville. We're only nine games into the 2023 NFL season and Talyor already has double-digit penalties (11). That puts him at a pace to be penalized 20 times during the course of the regular season. 

Obviously, he was the focus of an NFL witch hunt on illegal formation penalties and false starts early in the season. There's a reason those types of penalties have gone down, both related to Taylor and other happenings behind the scenes. 

The good news is that Taylor seems to have made some strides in his game recently. He hasn't been penalized in each of the last three games. Perhaps that's a sign of things to come?

Bottom line

Taylor still has a chance to turn things around, but it's hard to say he's exactly as he was touted when the Chiefs signed him. He's already shown some positive signs when it comes to cutting down the penalties as mentioned above. It seems to suggest that he's settling into his role. 

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