Kansas City Chiefs grade card: The offense
Offensive Line
Key Players On Depth Chart:
Eric Fisher
Mitch Morse
Mitchell Schwartz
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
Zach Fulton
Jah Reid
Parker Ehinger
Positional Grade: C+
Some of you may think this grade is too low and I REALLY hope by the end of training camp and the preseason games that I will grade this unit higher, but right now I just can’t. The Chiefs do have potential, but when the you try to find five solid NFL starters on that list you come up a little short.
I’ll start with the positive. The addition of Mitchell Schwartz was huge. He’s an “A” at starting right tackle. The other potential “A” player is Mitch Morse. The problem is that Morse is only entering his second season and his first season was cut short due to a concussion. If Morse’s concussion issues are behind him and he can pick up where he left off last season then that will give KC two above average starters on their offensive line.
Next we have to take a moment to discuss Eric Fisher. While I feel some people are much too hard on Fisher he does still have plenty to prove. He is coming off his best NFL season but still needs to improve his pass protection. As far as NFL left tackles go I’d give him an “B+” in run blocking but probably just a “C” in pass protection. That still makes him a NFL starting caliber player but probably about a “B-” overall.
Unfortunately, that’s where KC’s proven NFL caliber starters end. The guard position is a HUGE question mark. Could KC end up with two solid starters there that solidify the line? Yes, that could happen but they could also end up with real problems at guard that handicap their line all season long.
The Chiefs would like the Canadian med student Duvernay-Tardif and the rookie Ehinger to lock up the starting spots so Fulton can back up both the guard and center spots and Reid can be the swing tackle. The only problem there is that of everyone on the roster Reid looked the best at guard last season when he filled in there during the playoffs.
If LDT and Ehinger can prove themselves as solid NFL starters then this line will get better in a hurry, but I can’t give them a pre-training camp grade based on hope. As far as what this line has in proven NFL talent they are a couple starters short right now.
If Reid has to start at guard because the other options aren’t good enough then that creates a depth problem at tackle. In that case the Chiefs may need to hit the waiver wire after roster cuts to pick up a veteran tackle. For the second year in a row the position I’m most worried about going into training camp is the offensive line.
So what do you think, Addicts? Do you feel like these are fair grades going into training camp? Would you personally grade any of these groups much higher or lower than I did? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Come back next week for the defensive positional grades.
As always, thanks for reading and GO CHIEFS!!!!!