Jeff Allen will slowly work his way into Kansas City Chiefs offensive line
By Matt Conner
Head coach Andy Reid said Jeff Allen isn’t guaranteed a starting spot along the offensive interior despite his experience and others’ recent injuries.
Despite his experience and injuries to a couple key starters, fans should not expect to see Jeff Allen back in the starting line-up for the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night.
According to head coach Andy Reid, the Chiefs look like they will stay with Andrew Wylie at right guard and Jordan Devey at center for now in the wake of injuries to Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Mitch Morse, respectively. Those backups are considerably less experienced than Allen, but they’ve also been with the team throughout this entire preseason and regular season—which is more than can be said for the newly-signed Allen.
On Wednesday, Reid spoke about the re-signing of Allen as a free agent and said he was “glad to have him back”. But he also said it was going to take time before Allen would ascend the depth chart, if at all. When asked about the early plans for Allen, he said:
"More from Arrowhead AddictFormer Chiefs cornerback in legal trouble in Las VegasChiefs Kingdom: Get ready to break contract newsChiefs news: Travis Kelce wants to host fan ‘chug-off’ in GermanyPodcast: Breaking down the Chiefs biggest roster battlesKC Chiefs send Dave Merritt to NFL coaching acceleratorKind of get him back in the swing, first of all. Let him get in and get the verbiage down and then get out and practice a little bit here and see how he does. Right now, he is in a backup position. We will just see how it goes. Glad to have him back though."
Allen was a second-round pick of the Chiefs back when Scott Pioli was the general manager in 2012 when he arrived as a versatile lineman out of the University of Illinois. Allen became a nice starting option at a number of spots along the line who ultimately cashed in on a four-year deal in free agency with the Houston Texans in 2016.
Allen played in 728 snaps for the Texans in 2017, 533 of those at right guard (the others coming at left tackle). It makes sense then that right guard is a likely home for Allen if he can earn the PT over Wylie as Devey could remain at center until Morse returns from a concussion.
Allen was released by the Texans in July and remained a free agent until he signed with the Chiefs earlier this week. He’s started 26 games for the Texans in the last two years.