KC Chiefs: Who will likely start the season at right guard?
By Matt Conner
The right side of the offensive line was already a question mark for the K.C. Chiefs this spring. Kyle Long’s lower leg injury and subsequent recovery timeline—at least what’s been described for outsiders—only makes it even more of a mystery.
The question marks are not so much descriptors of the gathered talent as much as they describe the quality of competition for the Chiefs. Brett Veach went shopping this offseason with a budget that simply read “get what you need,” and the Chiefs came into offseason training activities with a restocked cupboard for the coming season along the offensive front.
The left side of the line is set with brand new faces with two potential Pro Bowl candidates in Orlando Brown Jr. at left tackle and Joe Thuney at left guard. Those two are fixtures, barring injury, and should provide Patrick Mahomes plenty of relief knowing he’s in such good hands from the beginning of the season.
Here are our odds for who is likely to start the season at right guard for KC Chiefs.
At center, there’s a competition for who will play immediately, but that’s more of a judgment on the pro readiness of Creed Humphrey than anything related to Austin Blythe. For the first time in a few seasons, the Chiefs made a very real investment at center, and fans are hoping Humphrey provides the sort of top-shelf protection that Rodney Hudson and Mitch Morse did as former second-round stars before him.
It is on the right side that we find the very real competitive spots heading into training camp for the Chiefs this summer. Right tackle is likely to come down to rookie Lucas Niang, a former opt out and holdover from the 2020 NFL Draft, and veteran Mike Remmers, who held down the starting role nicely in ’20 after Mitchell Schwartz was lost for the season with a back injury.
At right guard, it’s a complicated web of production and potential. There’s a predictable floor here, but even some of the steady performers come with question marks. Given Long’s injury as well and things just get further muddled. So let’s take a look at the competition and size it up with odds on who we believe will be the Week 1 starter for the Chiefs at right guard.