Do The Kansas City Chiefs Have A Problem At Guard?
Guard Contender #1: Zach Fulton
Of the four options that I listed that could potentially start at guard for the Chiefs in 2016 the one with the most starting experience is Zach Fulton. Over his first two seasons in the NFL Fulton has amassed 22 career starts. Most of those starts came at right guard but he has made some starts at center as well. Fulton was a sixth round pick in 2014 and proceeded to start all 16 games that season. This past year he was beat out by Laurent Duvernay-Tardif for the starting right guard spot but proved his value by making six starts, mostly filling in at center for Mitch Morse.
Fulton is listed at 6-foot-5 and 316 pounds. Those are pretty standard measurements for an NFL offensive lineman, but Fulton just looks more powerfully built than your average lineman. Even coming in as a rookie sixth round draft pick I remember thinking Fulton looked the most intimidating of all of KC’s offensive linemen during training camp in 2014. That powerful build does help at times on the field as Fulton is rarely ever overpowered if he has his footing and proper technique. He can create some push in the run game but I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a mauler. His technique seems to be solid overall. He will occasionally miss an assignment, but I certainly wouldn’t call technique his weakest trait. I also feel like Fulton gives good effort on a consistent basis.
The problem with Fulton is that he is a limited athlete. He is slow, both in timed speed and in foot speed (which is the bigger issue for offensive linemen). This causes problems sometimes with his ability to pick up blitzes and reach defenders at the second level. While we’re on the topic of getting to defenders at the second level, I’ve also noticed that Fulton struggles to engage defenders down field even when he gets himself there. It’s a hard thing to describe and I wish I had a clip of it to show you, but he’ll sometimes hustle to the second level and then not be able to get his hands on the defender. He’s there, he’s trying, sometimes just being in the way helps, but a guy with his size and power should absolutely clobber linebackers and safeties, but you just don’t see it on tape.
Fulton’s limited speed and agility limit his upside. He’s not a bad starting guard, but I think his upside is probably that of a league average guard at best. Now, if Fulton is a league average guard this season for KC I think the Chiefs would count that as a win. Fulton was with the starting unit in OTAs lined up at left guard, so it appears he may get one of the first shots at claiming a starting spot for himself. Personally, I would feel better if the Chiefs had a better starting option ahead of him and Fulton was the first man off the bench on the interior of the line. In that role, Fulton is great. As a starter he has been mediocre.
Next up let’s take a look at Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.
Next: Laurent Duvernay-Tardif