How good is the Kansas City Chiefs offensive line?

The general consensus around the NFL seems to be that the Chiefs offensive line ranked somewhere in the 10-15 range last season and that also seems to be about where expectations are for them going into next season. Pro Football Focus ranked them 13th at the end of the 2018 regular season. They also graded them as 6th best last season in pass blocking efficiency which is obviously huge when Patrick Mahomes is the centerpiece of their offense. The Chiefs allowed the fifth fewest sacks in the NFL last season with 26, allowed but Pro Football Focus only credited 13 of those to the offensive line. That’s a fantastic number.

The run blocking was solid but not as strong as the pass protection. If you just look at the overall rushing yards per carry from last season it looks like the Chiefs were right up there in run blocking as well with their 4.8 yards per carry being the 5th best in the NFL. However, advanced metrics show the Chiefs were closer to middle of the pack. Football Outsiders uses “Adjusted Line Yards” to rank offensive lines in the run game. You can visit their site to see exactly how they figure it, but it’s an attempt to assess how much of the run success was due to the offensive line. The Chiefs finished 16th in that metric last season.

The Huddle put out an offensive line ranking a couple of weeks ago and had the Chiefs ranked 14th overall. In their breakdown they had the Chiefs ranked 15th last season in yards before contact for their running backs. So the Chiefs were middle of the pack in getting space for their backs in that metric, too.

So basically, the Chiefs were one of the better pass blocking lines in the NFL last season and middle of the road in run blocking. That profile seems to warrant the prevalent “they’ll be fine” attitude that most Chiefs fans seem to have. So the question now: Should K.C. fans expect those same results (or better) this coming season?