Chiefs face chicken or egg question with Laremy Tunsil rumors

Following the signing of Jawaan Taylor on Monday, Chiefs fans are debating whether bolstering the offensive line further or adding a weapon on the outside for Patrick Mahomes is Brett Veach’s next move. 

When the Kansas City Chiefs made the decision to sign former Jaguar Jawaan Taylor on Monday, the move was met with both excitement and slight confusion. Adding Taylor to bolster an offensive line that almost simultaneously lost Andrew Wylie was without question a good move for Brett Veach and the defending champs. But which side would Taylor play: left or right?

Rumors and opinions began to trickle out on social media and group texts around the Kingdom, but insiders seemed to have a bead on something that we all were wondering.

So, the plan is to play Taylor at left tackle and assume the end of the Orlando Brown, Jr. era is official, correct? Well, there’s only one problem with this. Earlier in the day the Chiefs were rumored to be in the mix for a trade for Texans All-World left tackle Laremy Tunsil. That whisper is still audible as of Tuesday, with reporters in Houston insinuating that this is “more than just a rumor”.

Alright, so the Chiefs are looking to go all in on the offensive line this off-season, huh? Not a bad call for a team that was essentially perfect offensively last year outside of the tackle positions that started out like lambs but (conveniently a hobbled Patrick Mahomes and all of Chiefs Kingdom) ended like a couple of lions.

With a stockpile of capital in next month’s NFL Draft, the Chiefs have the ability to put together an attractive package for the 28-year-old Tunsil and could cement the offense’s viability by putting the best quarterback in the NFL behind what would be the league’s best offensive line.

But what about the weapons on the outside for Mahomes? Sure, the Chiefs have the greatest tight end of all time in Travis Kelce coming back in 2023. Receivers Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, and Skyy Moore will return to bolster a Chiefs passing attack that led the league in 2022. But two big contributors, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman, who missed much of last season with a pelvic injury after being a key cog in the Chiefs’ offense early on, remain unsigned and there are no guarantees they will be back.

While the Chiefs have expressed interest in bringing Smith-Schuster back. In fact, they have expressed interest in going into the 2023 season with the same core of pass catchers that won Super Bowl 57. That does not, however, mean that the Chiefs are not at least kicking the tires on bringing in additional weapons to provide a lethel arsenal for Mahomes for the next few seasons.

Specifically, the Chiefs have been named as suitors for Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins as well as perennial free agent Odell Beckham, Jr. Hopkins has been nearly unanimously heralded as one of the league’s best wideouts but has not played a full season since 2020 after suffering hamstring issues in 2021 and missing 6 games due to a PED suspension to start the 2022 season. Beckham, Jr. is an enticing option but comes with what appears to be a $20 million-a-year price tag.

So, in which direction do the Chiefs go? Brett Veach finds himself in a truly unique “chicken or egg” situation. Do you put Patrick Mahomes behind an elite offensive line and give him all the time in the world to throw, or do you give him yet another way to kill a defense with an upgraded weapon at wide receiver? Either is enticing for the offense, but which one really pays off in actually improving the Chiefs from 2022 to 2023?

To find the answer, all you really need to do is look back at the last time the Chiefs had an elite weapon on the outside of their offense, and you really don’t have to go back that far. Tyreek Hill obviously was a one-of-a-kind, mind-bending talent at wide receiver and was a dangerous cocktail for any opposing defense to have to swallow. But did he really make the offense that much better?

Mahomes outpaced his production in both 2020 and 2021 by a good bit in the 2022 season without Hill. And let me be clear: the argument is not that Patrick Mahomes doesn’t need good players at receiver to make these types of incredible things happen week in and week out. Rather, it’s that the Chiefs’ offense benefits more from quality depth than it does from a great top-end guy at the wide receiver position.

2020: 4,740 passing yards, 66.3% completions, 38 TD, 6 INT

2021: 4,839 passing yards, 66.3% completions, 37 TD, 13 INT

2022: 5,250 passing yards, 67.1% completions, 41 TD, 12 INT

It’s no secret that going into the 2021 season, Brett Veach and the Chiefs’ front office put an emphasis on revamping an offensive line that was aging, lackluster, and the root of an absolute debacle for the Chiefs in their 31-9  loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl 55. That offseason began with the signing of Joe Thuney, continued with the trade with Baltimore for Orlando Brown, Jr., and featured a draft that brought the Chiefs both center Creed Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith. Just like that, Mahomes was behind a rock-solid offensive line, one that was a massive upgrade to which Chiefs fans had become accustomed.

When you dive into the sack numbers, though, you’ll find that Mahomes has actually been touched up more in the past two seasons with Brown and Andrew Wylie at the tackle positions that he had since his first year as a starter in 2018. Those offensive lines gave up 28 sacks in 2021 and 26 in 2022. To be fair, this is still at or near the best in the NFL, but imagine a world where Mahomes is protected like he was in 2020 (only 22 sacks allowed) for the foreseeable future?

The more sensible move at receiver would be to add a guy like Adam Thielen on a team-friendly deal that’s a win-win for both parties. It’s a great chance for a hard-working, wily veteran to get a Super Bowl ring and for the team to get good production and leadership from a consummate professional. Sure, the upside of dealing for Hopkins or signing Beckham, Jr. is very, very appealing, but if there’s one thing that Mahomes has proven in his career is that he doesn’t need high-flying weapons to punish the rest of the league. He needs guys who are willing to put in the time, buy into the system, and have a chance year in and year out to win a championship.

Adding a wide receiver would be a fantastic way to add easy production to a Chiefs offense that was already the league’s best last season, but does it achieve the long-term goals that Brett Veach and Andy Reid have proven time and time again matter more to the organization than any “win now” moves?

The track record here is clear: draft well, develop, and build around a once-in-a-generation talent at quarterback. You can do the latter in multiple ways, but protecting that asset has to be the primary goal of the Chiefs brass this offseason. If there’s another big splash to be made, expect it on the offensive front and expect more of the same from the Chiefs’ deep receiving stable in 2023.