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In the NFL, the offensive line is only as strong as its weakest link\u2014and right now, the Kansas City Chiefs have a pretty glaring one.<\/p>\n
To get why this is a big deal, let\u2019s rewind a bit. The Chiefs\u2019 front office clearly wasn\u2019t thrilled with how their line held up last season. Patrick Mahomes was running for his life more than he should\u2019ve been, and it was wearing on him.<\/p>\n
So, they got aggressive this offseason. They shipped out All-Pro guard Joe Thuney, slapped the franchise tag on Trey Smith, scooped up Jaylon Moore in free agency, and dropped a first-round pick on Josh Simmons out of Ohio State.<\/p>\n
Moore is penciled in at left tackle, with Simmons still getting back to full strength after a nasty patellar tendon tear ended his college run early. Creed Humphrey\u2019s holding it down at center, Smith’s locked in at right guard, and Jawaan Taylor\u2019s back at right tackle.<\/p>\n
But if you’re keeping score, that left guard spot\u2014Thuney\u2019s old gig\u2014is still up in the air. And right now, it looks like 2024 second-round pick Kingsley Suamataia is the front-runner to land it.<\/p>\n
And here\u2019s the rub: that could be a problem.<\/p>\n
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Suamataia struggled in his limited reps last year\u2014just 198 offensive snaps\u2014but they were rough. His PFF grade of 37.9 was the worst among any Chiefs player who logged over 100 snaps.<\/p>\n
Sure, Year 2 is a chance to level up. Maybe he will turn it around. But let\u2019s not pretend the Chiefs can just cross their fingers and hope. As it stands, defenses are going to smell blood in the water and do everything they can to isolate Suamataia and make him the weak spot.<\/p>\n
And the thing is, one weak link is all it takes to blow up an entire line. We\u2019ve seen this movie before: Mahomes scrambling, extending plays, doing magic\u2014but taking more hits than he should. That\u2019s not sustainable.<\/p>\n
To be fair, Suamataia won\u2019t be gifted the job. He\u2019s got to earn it in camp. And the Chiefs clearly like his upside\u2014they used the 63rd pick on him just last year. But upside doesn\u2019t buy you time in a Super Bowl window.<\/p>\n
Bottom line: if Suamataia doesn\u2019t take a big leap, he could be the guy holding the whole operation back. The Chiefs are trying to get back to their high-flying offensive ways, and that starts with keeping No. 15 clean. No weak links. No soft spots. No excuses.<\/p>\n
In the NFL, the offensive line is only as strong as its weakest link\u2014and right now, the Kansas City Chiefs have a pretty glaring one. To get why this is a big d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kansas-city-chiefs"],"yoast_head":"\n