Aug 11, 2015; St. Joseph, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs nose tackle Charles Tuaau (75) and tackle Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (76) run defensive drills during the training camp at Missouri Western State University. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
3 – If Duvernay-Tardif is to continue starting at right guard the coaches must help him be more consistent off the snap. Originally I was going to do an entire page of this post just on LDT’s performance on Friday. However, I can simplify what I saw. Of the 31 snaps that LDT took with the first-string, five of them really impressed me and four were really bad.
The other 22 were somewhere in-between varying between solid and just hanging on. The plays where LDT fails it is almost always immediate. If he starts Week 1 against the Texans you can pretty much count on there being a handful of plays where someone like J.J. Watt or Vince Wilfork beats him off the snap and is instantly in the backfield.
I’m not enough of an expert to know if it’s a lack of experience and he isn’t recognizing what the defender is doing or a lack of technique in how to stop it (or a combination of both). Regardless, if LDT is going to play the coaching staff has to address it. Having watched him exclusively this week I do see his upside. He flashes strength and athleticism. He’s just still very raw. I could live with him at right guard if Fisher is back in the lineup, but the idea of LDT and Fanaika both starting in regular-season games terrifies me.
4 – The Chiefs need to practice what they preach and start the best guys. At this point I feel confident that Eric Fisher, Ben Grubbs, Mitch Morse, and Donald Stephenson are the Chiefs four best offensive linemen. If Kansas City somehow manages to leave any of those four out of the starting lineup it is shooting itself in the foot. Allen is most likely the fifth-best, but his margin for error is small so if K.C. were to go with someone else at right guard that wouldn’t bother me as much. The first four should be non-negotiable.
If those four things happen the Chiefs should be able to string together a solid enough line for the offense to succeed. While it would be great to have a dominant line like the Dallas Cowboys, the Chiefs playmakers are talented enough they just need the line not to get in their way (cue jokes about LDT tackling Jamaal Charles).
Finally, here are a few other general observations from the third preseason game…..
Next: Game notes from preseason game three