Who will be the Week 1 starter at Left Tackle?
 

Poll to follow on three. One, two, three, break!

I went ahead and added the starting left tackle for every Super Bowl in case you're feeling nostalgic. I didn't include Jim Tyrer because of, well, you know why.

I could see us re-upping Smith for this season. Let Kingsley develop and it's his in 2025

I think we have at least three good options here, maybe more. However, if I had to guess, I think Donovan Smith will come back on another one-year deal and hold the position down while the young guys learn.

Bring back Smith, let the rookie or Wayna get some reps when Smith misses games.

Isn't Kinnard on the Eagles Roster?

We no longer field the position of left tackle. Only Left Samoan.

So who is/was the better prospect, Fisher or Suma?

How odd. Apparently the Eagles signed him a couple of months ago, but he's still listed on our roster. I guess some intern isn't paying attention.

I was thinking that we'd lost one of our phantom tackles, but I get those guys mixed up. Kinnard, Niang, etc.

Smith will be back, Veach told him to just chill and we'll resign him after the draft.

Hail to the Kingsly, baby...

Naing has been missing since we signed him...

If you sign Smith, you'd probably not keep 2 swing T's and they're not cutting Morris after a single season.

I'd imagine they go into OTA's with Morris and Suam.....a.....Kingsley and go from there.

Our OT position is set I'm assuming.

Kingsley/Morris at LT

Taylor/Niang at RT

Thuney as a break glass in case of emergency option.

The post-draft optimism planet is at full function with that Suamataia vote. I’m in the camp of bringing Smith back. If Kingsley thrives and is ready, so be it. Better to be safe than sorry with the guys protecting your half-a-billion dollar man.

If you bring back Smith...I guess you cut Niang

Oh no, anyway.

Why are we bringing Smith back? He was sliding to below average at best and was an outright liability down the stretch. Assuming a large part of that was the neck issues but that shit isn't going awaym

Just for comparisons sake, Orlando Brown allowed 47 pressures in 769 pass blocking snaps in 2022 and 36 pressures in 769 pass blocking snaps in 2021.

Donovan Smith allowed 42 pressures in 506 pass blocking snaps in 2023. If he had played the whole season there's a realistic chance he would've given up 60+ pressures.

Sure, at or near vet minimum, bring him in, but there's absolutely no reason to invest actual cap space in him.

Looks like we have around $17M in cap space. If they signed Donovan to a $3M 1 year deal like last year I think that would be pretty nice assuming he's healthy. I get he isn't that great, but he provides a known "floor".

That said, I really hope King takes the job and doesn't look back. As noted, the bar isn't all that high. He'll have Thuney next to him while he learns. If he develops into a legit LT his rookie year that feels like the final infinity stone.

It'll be an interesting one to watch.

I thought Smith was fine. If he's willing to come back that's what I prefer.

I think Reid will give every chance to King to make it work. Probably Wanya next. If either one of them meet the standard, I'm guessing Reid will go to the market.

It's just hard for me not to offer Smith a similar deal to last year if he'll take it.

Niang, really?

That probably is who is going to be behind Taylor on the depth chart, yes.

Seems like a no brainer.

You could have Smith back or you could go to the RB market or the vet DE market.

I'd chose the later.

I would wait until you get a look at Kingsley in camp. They’ll know fairly quickly where he’s at. And let’s be honest here…vets like Donovan Smith don’t want to go to camp, so signing him in early August wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Keep in mind though that Orlando Brown Jr had the worst pressure rate for LT’s in 2022 and Donovan Smith was top 5 (behind Orlando Brown Jr coincidentally LMAO) in 2023.

The bar isn’t that high for Kingsley. Andy was helping Orlando and Donovan with chips and quick play designs so we don’t need Kingsley to be Willie Roaf out there.

That's the thing.....if Thuney is healthy and ready to go for camp and such.....what coming in LT is in a better position than Kingsley would be?

He's next to Thuney and on a line that is chock full of all pro's and such, with a HOF QB behind him and the best offensive coach (and a great OL coach) of all time setting this in motion.

I mean.....shit.

Perfect stopgap. Probably not expensive and willing to take a 1 year deal. Which also gives Kingsley the flexibility to win the starting job sooner vs later

Didn’t he cost like 9 million last year we need RB , DL, LB depth can we even afford him

Protecting Mahomes’ blind side takes priority over all those other needs you listed.

Kingsley will get every opportunity to earn the starting job… but bringing back Donovan Smith at the right price for depth would be smart.

I think this UDFA should go a long ways towards LB depth.

Curtis Jacobs, Penn State

I think they end up taking their lumps with Kingsley. Let him be ready for what's coming in Jan/feb.

Pretty sure we won a SB with him

Safest bet is to bring back Smith to give Kingsley more time to develop. If there is an injury then you see what you've got.

How many Olinemen do we usually keep on the 53?

9 or 10

T - Taylor, Kingsley, Morris
G - Thuney, Smith, Nourzad
C - Creed

Those are your locks.

Caliendo is probably back based on experience. You could include Niang as well. That's 9 right there.

If KC drafted a LT with a top 10 pick who was plug and play, I could see him starting day 1.

I'm not saying what KC should do, but I would be very surprised if Andy's plan A is having a 'project' rookie learn on the job at LT.

I would imagine he either thinks there is somebody else already on the roster that can be day 1 LT, or he plans on signing a vet.

Now sure, if King absolutely crushes the competition at camp, Andy may be very reluctantly forced to go against his instinct and start him day 1. But barring that pleasant surprise, I'm expecting he has a different idea.

Of course, in the NFL, plan A doesn't always happen. You can't force Smith to sign a team friendly one year deal for instance.

Wouldn’t David Bakhtiari be an improvement over Donovan smith? I know he’s injured but Donovan smith is often injured also. As long as Bakhtiari is ready the playoffs, we are fine. Let Kingsley or Wanya play in the regular season?

That same line of thinking is why we went into the season with Moore and Toney pencilled in as the starters.

And won a Super Bowl, BTW.

LMAO And we had to effectively black ball those two to do it.

If you ok with inconsistent or bad, just save the money and play the young guys.

Or you just put Caliendo on the PS and carry one less guard...

What happened to Prince Tega Wanogho? The Nigerian Prince was more mysterious than Lucas Niang.

Just play the young guys and let Smith ride off into the sunset.

Atleast get thru OTA's and see what you got here.

Week one I don't think you throw Wanya or Kingsley out there unless you have to. Andy traditionally rolls with Veterans early.

Let's roll the dice on Donovan one more time. Seasoned vet who buys us a little time.

Wanya gonna turn some heads in training camp and be running with the 1s!

I was kidding. However, your original point about "that same line of thinking is why we went into the season with Moore and Toney pencilled in as the starters" doesn't make any sense. Your making the case that we went into the season with unknown quantities at starting spots and it failed. If that's your fear then we should absolutely sign Donovan Smith and ensure we don't re-live that situation this year but this time it's at LT.

Didn’t Bakhtiari get his leg amputated?

SB teams don't generally take a super raw dude and go yep that's the guy at the 2nd most important position on offense.

If it is Wanya Morris we failed

At this point, unless something else happens, I don't see an upgrade out there at FA. Sure you could bring in Smith but I'm not sure he's light years better than Kingsley or Wanya. As long as neither of them are just downright horrible....start one.

Don't draft super raw guys that early.

The only way to learn is to play. He's never gonna be in a better situation than he will be this year to learn and such.

I can't figure why people don't think he can't be atleast as good as OBJ and Smith.....had it on CP authority they both sucked.

I think they will try it. Let them battle it out in camp but if the winner doesn't look good enough they will get a vet in to start.

LT's that aren't raw go in the top 15 picks...usually top 10.

I mean yes David Bahktiari was a 4th round pick that basically played LT from day 1 but he's literally a unicorn, that shit never happens.

Braxton Jones was a 5th round pick who hasn’t been horrible at LT.

It happens but is rare.

Buffalo's Dion Dawkins was a 3rd round pick who started at LT his rookie year I believe.

The only FA option for the Chiefs is Smith IMO. He knows the system, he's only 30, and he is exactly what we need, a little stop gap insurance policy. Otherwise, I think the Chiefs are going to roll with Kingsley. They are going to give that kid every opportunity to win the job and I'm all for it.

I also think C.J. Hanson and Hunter Nourzad both make the roster. Allegretti's absence provides space on the roster for both these cats, and frankly, Lucas Niang probably gets cut or traded if Morris or Kingsley look good in camp.

The reason I used Bahktiari is because he did that for Aaron Rodgers...the other 2 examples we have here in Dawkins and Jones literally were protecting on awful teams with shitass QBs.

It's a lot easier to make that call when the franchise isn't back there.

Well yea the Eagles signed Becton which I find annoying.

They also don’t usually trade their hof wr in his prime or roll with all rookie or young defensive backs or go with an unproven wr group or………

Has nothing to do with what CP thinks.

I can't figure out why you think Andy is planning on starting him.

Andy will start a vet who sucks just as bad ten times out ten before he starts a rookie who sucks at LT*.

Or even just one with the usual struggle from being a project not a plug and play guy.




*. Unless he truly has no choice

They started Creed

They started Trey


Why can't this be that?

Actually, DAWKINS was a second round pick. I’ve often wondered what would’ve happened if we had taken him that year after we took Mahomes. Instead, five pics ahead of Dawkins. We took a DL (CAN’T REMEMBER HIS NAME AND I DOUBT ANYONE CAN). WE WOULD’VE HAD A VERY GOOD LT ALL THESE YEARS ALONG WITH MAHOMES MIGHT EVEN HAVE HELPED US WIN THE SUPER BOWL. WE LOST TO BRADY.

Dawkins was the second last pick in round two back then. Who does that remind us of this year?👍 hope that’s a good omen.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I asked Brett Veach about interest in bringing back a Donovan Smith or Mecole Hardman:<br><br>His response is to use the OTA period to let the young guys complete. If the Chiefs bring them back, the decision could extend into training camp depending on how young guys perform.</p>&mdash; Matt Derrick (@mattderrick) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattderrick/status/1785034552492036275?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Why in the **** would you even ask about Mecole Hardman, Matt? Don't even try to speak that shit into existence. That chapter is over. Let him ride off into the sunset never to be heard from again.

Just ask about Donovan Smith like a normal ****ing human being.

Why did we let the Eagles sign Becton?

I've never loved you more than I have in this very moment.

Best case scenario is that Suamataia is so good they have to start him at LT week 1.

You mean that big injury prone piece of shit? Why did we let the eagles sign that guy? Hmmm, that's a tough question.

It's hard to argue against this. I hope Kingsley is so good in training camp that there's no question about starting him, other than the fact that Wanya is so good in training camp.

Kingsley Suamataia is a great signing but, we will see what happens in OTA's and training camp. How fast can he develop? We shall see and very glad we got him! :thumb:

Finally got busted for all those emails.

Joe Thuney being injured probably was a part of it. Also, Smith was being beat mostly inside later he wasn't the Carasoul that OBJ was on the outside.

Hardman got happy with his post Super Bowl attention and his big mouth badmouthing the Jets is going to make it harder for any team, including the Chiefs, to want him around.

I'm not a draft guy but it has to be Kingsley right? How often are OTs truly redshirted to develop and actually do? Seems like most of the starting tackles in the league start out their careers starting or at least start at some point in year 1.

So IMO it's either him starting at LT. Or Taylor at LT and he plays RT.