Four biggest non-draft questions facing KC Chiefs

How are key injuries coming along?

The Chiefs might look for some answers in the draft at tight end and offensive tackle, but the team is also potentially welcoming back some important players at those positions.

At right tackle, the Chiefs would look much more secure with their recently rebuilt offensive line with Lucas Niang looking healthy sometime soon. Unfortunately, the team’s second-year lineman went down with a patellar injury at the end of the regular season and was placed on injured reserve in January. The injury itself is a major one and the timing is even worse because it will undoubtedly carry over into the ’22 season in some way.

Without Niang, the Chiefs have brought back Andrew Wylie, who held down the right tackle role in his absence. They also signed Geron Christian who has experience at both tackle positions. Those are stopgap solutions, however, and heading into a regular season already leaning on backup plans is not the best scenario.

As for tight end, the Chiefs lost Jody Fortson after only a few games in ’21, but the hands he displayed as a red-zone weapon had fans very excited for what the future might look like with Fortson as a part of this offense. He’s a big target who has ascended the depth chart from undrafted free agent to the active roster, so he’s faced long odds before, and coming back from an Achilles is just the latest hurdle. The Chiefs have Noah Gray and Blake Bell also back on the roster, so there’s more security here than at right tackle.

While the Chiefs have added some options, the truth is that we hope to hear good answers regarding the welfare of both players as the regular season comes into view.