Andy Reid says Jawaan Taylor gives offensive line flexibility

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke to the media on Monday about a number of topics, including the team’s newest offensive lineman.

The Kansas City Chiefs are becoming a team that comes out swinging in the early hours of free agency with a monster move intended to shore up a troubled spot. In the past, it’s been the signing of Joe Thuney to the offensive line. Last year, Justin Reid was ready to take over for Tyrann Mathieu at safety. This year, Jawaan Taylor was the prize.

Taylor has been the starting right tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars for the last four seasons, but the Chiefs struck a massive contract with him in free agency worth up to $80 million over the next four years. The signing was in response to major issues and questions at both offensive tackle spots with both Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wylie hitting free agency.

While Taylor’s history was at right tackle, the money involved said otherwise and the Chiefs stated after the signing that they saw Taylor as a replacement for Brown on the left side. The contract makes more sense in that light, but it requires Taylor to make a positional switch even after years on the opposite side of the line.

One month after signing him, Andy Reid spoke to reporters on Monday about a number of topics and he was asked about the team’s latest addition to the offensive line.

“I liked him. I liked his tape,” said Reid. “We saw him firsthand a couple of times too. Even though he’s on the right side, I think he can transfer over to the left side. He’s a really good athlete and I think he’s excited about that. That doesn’t mean he can’t play the right side. If you had another left tackle, he could play the right side, so he gives you flexibility. He could probably jump in at guard and he’s smart, so he could probably play center if he had to. He’s a pretty talented kid and we look forward to getting him in here. That was a great pick by Brett.”

That whole quote from Reid is interesting because it emphasizes the flexibility of Taylor a bit more than before. Instead of just saying he will play left tackle, Reid’s answer admits that they just liked Taylor as a positive addition who could help them on either side as they figured out the overall picture at tackle during the course of the offseason. Taylor has a strong history on the right side with a projection to be able to play on the left, and Reid believes the team would be just fine either way.

The Chiefs are often linked to offensive tackles early in mock drafts, so it will be interesting to see if they come away with an assumed starter in next week’s NFL Draft. Either way, Taylor is penciled in as a bookend for the foreseeable future.