KC Chiefs land 3 interior offensive linemen in NFL’s Top 20

The Kansas City Chiefs spent the entirety of the last offseason remaking the offensive front in hopes of seeing different results in front of Patrick Mahomes. Little did anyone know just how celebrated general manager Brett Veach’s efforts would be after a single season.

Over at Pro Football Network, they have put together their rankings of the top interior offensive linemen in the entire NFL heading into the 2022 season and the Chiefs are very well-represented. They have two of the top five overall players and three of the top 20. That means every starter up front along the Chiefs’ interior is considered a top 20 talent, and two of those guys are just now getting into their sophomore season.

The Kansas City Chiefs are very, very well represented inside along the offensive front with three of the best 20 interior linemen in the league.

Creed Humphrey starts off the list at No. 4 as the team’s starting center and author Dalton Miller ranks him as the second overall center behind Ryan Jensen of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also writes, “No fan or analyst outside of Kansas City should ever forgive the league for allowing Creed Humphrey to fall to pick 63.” Humphrey should be a revelation at the position in ’22 knowing he has a year of experience to build upon now.

Joe Thuney was the free-agent prize for the Chiefs a year ago and his presence here should be expected given how much he’s being paid (at five years and up to $80 million). The good news for the Chiefs is that the money didn’t phase him at all in terms of his work ethic or on-field demeanor. In fact, he even played with a broken hand at one point. Overall Thuney came in at No. 5.

A bit lower in the rankings is No. 20 in right guard Trey Smith. Smith didn’t have as clean of a season as Humphrey in the middle, but Smith is an absolute mauler who can have his way with grown men up front. The good news here is that his learning curve should be steep as the Chiefs now know the right steps to correct going forward to clean up the penalties. If Smith is already No. 20, it will be crazy to see how high his ceiling can go.