Darian Kinnard was the perfect addition for Chiefs offensive line

The Kansas City Chiefs came into the 2022 NFL Draft with several concerns, but as we all know, not all needs are created equally. For the Chiefs, the bleeding wound at edge rusher, for instance, was a far more pressing issue than adding another running back for the sake of competition. When it came to their offseason answer at right tackle, the Chiefs provided the perfect addition in Darian Kinnard.

It’s important to describe the “need” at right tackle accurately coming into the first-year player draft for the Chiefs to begin.

The Chiefs had already made a third-round investment as recently as 2020 into a potential long-term starter when they selected Lucas Niang from Texas Christian. Niang came with praise from Chase Young and a strong body of work that projected well to the next level. At that point, with Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz also on the roster, it looked as if the Chiefs had drafted a swing tackle for the present and a potential long-term starter when draft.

Then came the COVID-19 nightmare that changed everything including the way the NFL would go about their season. A number of players decided to opt-out, including Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Niang. At that point, Niang decided to forgo his rookie season and delay the start of his NFL career until 2021. It was, unfortunately for the Chiefs, that same year that the offensive line took more hits than it could handle.

The Kansas City Chiefs had a need at right tackle and they met it proportionally with the perfect addition of Darian Kinnard.

When Niang returned to the field, he was somehow the most senior starter on the team—at least in terms of time on the roster under some designation. Everyone else from left tackle to right guard was acquired during the spring of 2021 and came together in a remarkable rebuild for Brett Veach. The only problem is that Niang had a hard time staying healthy for any stretch of time, and his season even ended with a patellar tendon injury.

The good news at this point is that any updates on Niang have been positive from the Chiefs, and it sounds as if he’s on track for training camp. That likely means he’s penciled in to start next to Trey Smith to lock down the right side. The Chiefs have also made the responsible move, however, to also bring back Andrew Wylie, a super-sub who has turned into a solid starter for the Chiefs at multiple positions up front. He held down right tackle last year for K.C. and he’s back again this year in case anything else goes wrong there (or at a number of other positions).

While that might have held things over just fine for the Chiefs, the team is also aware that the season is longer than ever these days. If the Chiefs are already leaning on a potential contingency plan, that’s not the best way to begin a year. At the same time, the Chiefs had bigger needs in the draft than right tackle—again, they were “fine”—so there was no pressing need to add one early. All of this makes the selection of Darian Kinnard in the fifth round so perfect.

Kinnard was the seventh selection for the Chiefs, so the team was able to meet several other needs with young talent before turning to the offensive line. However, Kinnard is also a strong talent with a great body of starting experience at the uppermost echelon of college football. He ended up falling farther than anyone quite expected, but the Chiefs traded up to get him in the fifth with the Seattle Seahawks.

Kinnard could very realistically compete for starter’s reps outside even as a rookie in training camp for the Chiefs. Don’t forget that three first-year players held down starting spots last year in Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith, and Niang. Kinnard is going to push Niang and Wylie for reps at right tackle and he’s from the same mauler mold as Smith. Kinnard could also potentially slide inside, so we might see him compete for reps there too in training camp, but the good news here is that he’s capable of providing that push at multiple positions.

In grabbing Kinnard, the Chiefs alleviated any remaining concerns about right tackle in case the ceiling of Wylie is too low for a Super Bowl run and/or Niang is proven unreliable due to injuries. The Chiefs now have three players who could step in and start and competition should bring out the best in each. The cost for this peace of mind (and strengthened position) was only a fifth-round choice and it was an ideal and proportional response to what the team needed on the right side.