As the NFL Draft nears, one position the Kansas City Chiefs may be targeting is the interior offensive line. Here are 5 prospects that could be a fit in KC.
The 2020 NFL Draft is now less than a month away. The Kansas City Chiefs have made a few signings here and there, but their lack of cap space makes the coming draft all the more important for them. There are multiple places where the Chiefs could stand to add talent and depth. One of the position groups that seems to be a top priority for many fans is the interior offensive line.
The Chiefs won the Super Bowl last season without a star studded interior offensive line. The trio of Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Austin Reiter, and Stefen Wisniewski started for the playoff run, and Andrew Wylie and Martinas Rankin also started games during the season. While the Chiefs lost Wisniewski in free agency the other four players that started games on the interior are all currently under contract for next season. Still, it feels like the interior group could definitely use some added competition and talent, especially with the loss of Wisniewski.
Unfortunately, this draft class is not exactly loaded with dominant interior offensive line prospects. In fact, it’s possible that not a single pure interior line prospect will go in the first round. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some solid players that could be had in this draft.
Before I profile the five players I think are the best fit for the Chiefs to target in this draft class, I want to mention a few players that didn’t make the list because I don’t think their style of play is a match for what the Chiefs typically look for, as well as a couple of honorable mentions that just missed the list.
If you look at the players that the Chiefs have targeted for the interior of their line under head coach Andy Reid, I believe you can see a clear profile in what they target. Personally, I love a powerful, mauling interior line that can simply bulldoze defenders out of the way. Year after year I have fallen in love with draft prospects that I thought could add some needed muscle to the interior of K.C.’s line and year after year the Chiefs pass them by. The Chiefs seem to clearly prefer athletic linemen with a greater emphasis on mobility and technique than pure power at the point of attack. That makes sense when you think about Reid’s philosophy of spreading the field from sideline to sideline.
For that reason, you may not see interior line prospects that you think are really good on this list. Players like Lloyd Cushenberry, Solomon Kindley, Damien Lewis, and Shane Lemieux are all guys that I believe could be solid NFL starters, but I don’t think they will be guys that the Chiefs will target. Again, its not that I wouldn’t like it if they did, but after looking at their profiles compared to the players that the Chiefs traditionally target, I just don’t believe they will.
When I set out to pick my top five fits for the Chiefs, I settled on my top four pretty quickly. The last spot was tougher. I ended up doing a twitter poll to help select the fifth spot (who I’ll profile next), but I still wanted to give an honorable mention shout out to the other two who I do both like and think fit well for the Chiefs.
The first is Matt Hennessy of Temple. There are some draft experts who LOVE Hennessy and have him very high on their lists. I think he’s solid. His tape looked like a guy that won’t be a Pro Bowler in the NFL, but won’t be a liability either. The other is Jonah Jackson of Ohio State. Jackson plays a little stronger than Hennessy, but also had a few more bad snaps. I think either of those two would be quality additions to the Chiefs line and could challenge for a starting spot as rookies.
Now let’s move on to my top five fits for the Chiefs.