When taking a look at the Kansas City Chiefs roster, there aren’t any glaring holes. They are the two-time defending Super Bowl champions for a reason, as the front office addressed most of their holes this offseason.
Needing to find more weapons for quarterback Patrick Mahomes to work with, they hit a home run. In free agency, the team signed wide receiver Marquise Brown. In the 2024 NFL Draft, they used a first-round pick on Xavier Worthy.
With Rashee Rice emerging as a go-to option as a rookie in 2023 and Travis Kelce remaining a force at tight end, the Kansas City Chiefs look good to go offensively. However, there is one major concern they have to deal with on that side of the ball.
Heading into training camp, there is a huge question mark at left tackle. Who is going to protect Mahomes’s blindside? That, in the opinion of Nate Taylor from The Athletic, is the biggest concern facing the Kansas City Chiefs currently.
“The lone major position battle when the Chiefs start training camp next month is at left tackle, the premium position most responsible for protecting the blind side of Mahomes, the league’s best quarterback. The two players competing for the job are rookie Kingsley Suamataia and second-year player Wanya Morris.
During mandatory minicamp, the Chiefs gave more first-team repetitions to Suamataia to help prepare him for the next few months. As a rookie, Morris was solid but showed he needed to improve as a pass protector. The primary concern is that both players struggle to progress throughout training camp and the preseason,” wrote Taylor.
Mahomes is as good as it gets at quarterback. But, the fastest way for even the best signal callers to unravel is to have a poor offensive line in front of them.
It is an issue that the Kansas City Chiefs have had to combat in recent seasons. When they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl, their inability to block was a major reason why.
Out of all the positions on the offensive line to have a question mark, left tackle is probably the most worrisome. The Kansas City Chiefs are going to be putting their fate in either Wanya Morris or Kingsley Suamataia, as Taylor noted.
Both players will likely receive chances during training camp. It would be excellent for the team if one of them emerged as a reliable option during preseason games and into the regular season.
If not, there are some veteran options the team could consider. D.J. Humphries and David Bakhtiari would top the available veteran list, but there are reasons why both are still available the last week of June.
Want the latest NFL analysis, breaking news, and insider information? Click here. Interested in reading storylines and analysis about the NBA? Check out our partner NBA Analysis Network.
