The 2014 Kansas City Chiefs: How To Stop The Bleeding
Jun 17, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Kona Schwenke (93) and tackle Eric Fisher (72) run drills during the Kansas City Chiefs minicamp at University of Kansas Hospital Training Complex. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Step Three: Reshuffle The Offensive Line
Since Andy Reid arrived in Kansas City his mantra with the offensive line has been “the best five guys will play”.
Liar, liar, pants on fire!
Mike McGlynn wouldn’t be one of the five best offensive linemen on ANY NFL team. Mike McGlynn wouldn’t be one of the five best offensive linemen on some college teams. Mike McGlynn may be a fine person. He may give good effort. He may study film for days on end. He may be a fantastic teammate. He may give his entire paycheck to hungry orphans for all I know, but he is a HORRIBLE offensive lineman.
Why in the wide, wide world of sports they would move Jeff Allen out of his regular spot to start McGlynn when they could have just started Ryan Harris at RT is beyond me. I thought that maybe they knew something about McGlynn that I didn’t, but it was clear even from row 29 in upper deck section 303 that McGlynn was getting destroyed play after play after play.
If Andy Reid even remotely believes in his “five best guys will play” he’ll reshuffle the offensive line for next week. As I write this, Jeff Allen’s status for next week is unknown. He reportedly has a bicep strain and left the locker room with his arm in a sling. If he can somehow go next week he needs to be at LG and Harris should go at RT. While Harris isn’t great, he’s clearly better than McGlynn. Frankly, even if Allen can’t play, I still wouldn’t start McGlynn again. Eric Kush (if healthy) is clearly a better player than McGlynn. So KC could either try Kush at guard or they could start him at center and move Rodney Hudson to guard where he played in college. While I’m not a big fan of Jeff Linkenbach, I think I’d try him over McGlynn as well.
The Kansas City Chiefs offensive line is an absolute disaster at this point. Andy Reid has told us over and over that they’ll start the five best guys and this team can’t afford for him to not hold true to those words. If Jeff Allen misses any time with an injury I believe that means KC’s best five offensive linemen available would be Eric Fisher, Rodney Hudson, Zach Fulton, Ryan Harris, and Eric Kush with Jeff Linkenbach as the next man up. Some combination of those players need to start for the Chiefs against Denver next week.
Now it’s time to turn the attention to the defense with step four……