Despite his shortcomings and penalties, Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs will continue to ride with one of their weakest links.
Sep 21, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid looks on before the game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
The Kansas City Chiefs’ offense continues to be a talking point, and not for the best reasons. Granted, all the injuries haven’t done much to help, but there’s only so much Patrick Mahomes can do when he’s constantly going backwards.
Jawaan Taylor has been an issue dating back to the 2023 season. Nevertheless, head coach Andy Reid is still confident in him, and he believes his pass-protection skills are worth keeping him in the starting lineup.
Andy Reid Reveals That Chiefs Will Stick with Jawaan Taylor
“When he doesn’t have the penalties, his percentage has been good,” Reid said, per Charles Goldman. “You could argue [he’s] one of the better tackles in his pass protection game. I’m conscious of that, and then I’ll take care of it from there.”
The problem is that Taylor is often being penalized, so it’s almost impossible to take that out of the equation. Per NFL Penalties, he’s currently leading the league in that regard with seven flags. One of those penalties was offset, but the other six have cost the Chiefs a grand total of 45 yards.
This isn’t the first year this has been an issue with him. He led the league with 20 penalties for 140 yards in his first season with the league, and he was tied for the second-most penalties (16) last season for a loss of 115 yards.
Also, the advanced stats aren’t on his side, either. Contrary to what Coach Reid says, he has a 60.9 pass-block grade this season, which ranks 51st among 101 eligible tackles. He’s even worse in run-block (41.9, 97th of 101), and his 45.0 overall grade is the eleventh-worst in the entire league.
Taylor has started 43 of 44 games since he arrived in Missouri in 2023. The Chiefs gave him a four-year, $80 million contract that included $60 million guaranteed, so they clearly have plenty of financial incentives to make things work with him.
Still, with the Chiefs’ offense struggling to move the chains as it is, they can’t afford to keep giving him more opportunities. They will face a Baltimore Ravens defense that has given up 30+ points in two of three games this season, and if he gets exposed again by their shaky pass-rush, they will have no option but to bench him.
The Chiefs don’t have many options at tackle, and if he keeps struggling, perhaps they would want to target a proven veteran who has lost his starting spot somewhere else, like Cam Robinson of the Houston Texans.
