Jordan Devey’s injury further complicates Chiefs offensive interior

The Kansas City Chiefs announced that Jordan Devey will be headed to injured reserve which only further complicates an already muddy picture.

The offensive interior has almost entirely collapsed and the season is not even to the halfway point.

The Kansas City Chiefs are basically scrambling for available bodies at this stage of the season with nine full games to go as multiple offensive line injuries have built up over the last few weeks. Starting guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif hit injured reserve with a broken leg two weeks ago. Starting center Mitch Morse followed suit with a concussion that has kept him out the last two games. Now Morse’s replacement has been placed on injured reserve with news that Jordan Devey has been lost for the season with a torn pectoral muscle.

Devey has been an important substitute for the Chiefs, playing two games at the very two spots left unoccupied by LDT and then Morse. Andrew Wylie was able to step in at right guard on Sunday with Devey at center to make his first ever start. Now the Chiefs will be down to their third center on Sunday—likely Austin Reiter unless Jeff Allen is ready and able.

Reiter was a waiver claim leading up to Week 1 from the Cleveland Browns, a gritty player who’d earned a full season as a starting center in Cleveland who fell back down the depth chart after suffering an injury (and the team changed leadership once again). Allen is a familiar face from previous years in K.C. as the former second round pick in 2012. Allen played for the Houston Texans the last two years, especially at right guard, so Wylie is likely to lose his spot there unless the Chiefs like him at center instead.

What is clear is that any margin the Chiefs had along the interior is now gone. Jimmy Murray, a center prospect and rookie free agent, is now on the active roster. It might be a dream come true for a developmental, small-school prospect, but for the Chiefs it’s a nightmare scenario where the very core of the offensive front is now inexperienced with no real help coming in.

The Chiefs can only hope that Morse’s head injury clears up shortly with no lingering effects and that the addition of Allen strengthens the talent level and depth. It’s been nice to have subs like Devey and Wylie hold up well not only at the point of need but even when tasked with a full game. But for a team with Super Bowl aspirations and such an explosive offense, obviously everyone wants to see a healthy line performing at its best.

For now the Chiefs are being tested and we can all only hope that the positive results continue with each next man up, as they say.