Chiefs finally close chapter on long-term tackle prospect's puzzling NFL journey

It's a shame that things worked out this way for Lucas Niang.

Even before his arrival in the National Football League, Niang's journey to the professional level was always the odd path taken. On Tuesday, the Kansas City Chiefs officially closed the chapter on Niang's tenure with the team, putting his career on the ropes and bringing the whole thing to a puzzling end.

It's the story that Chiefs Kingdom can only hope won't repeat itself in the near future.

Niang came into the pre-draft season back in 2020 in less-than-stellar circumstances in the first place, rehabbing after deciding to end his college career early to have hip surgery. The goal was to be healthy for the NFL and so he finished his time at TCU with a celebrated yet truncated career known for playing exemplary football against the likes of Chase Young.

From there, the Chiefs went ahead and accepted the injury risk with the selection of Niang in the third round. However, instead of joining his new teammates in the following weeks and months for his rookie campaign, he took the opportunity to postpone his first season in the league in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. That opt-out year would only further exacerbate his issues when trying to make the transition to the professional level.

Looking back at the year Niang decided to sit out, it was the same season that ended most famously for having no offensive linemen left standing at the end of the year. The team was forced to start Mike Remmers at right tackle after Mitchell Schwartz went down and Niang not around to start opposite Eric Fisher.

From there, Niang's rookie year finally arrived in 2021 and he was an instant starter on the right side to replace Schwartz. However a shoulder injury gave way to a rib injury which then was followed by a season ending knee injury. The torn patellar tendon landed him on IR and ended his rookie year with 9 starts. Those would be the only starts he would ever make in the NFL—so far.

Niang would go on to carve out a backup role for the Chiefs but solely on the right side, and his inability to develop forced Brett Veach to go ahead and spend at the position to bring in current right tackle Jawaan Taylor. This year, Niang was cut after the preseason and has been on the practice squad ever since,.

Given how odd everything has went for Niang so far, we can only wish him the best and hope that a change of scenery somehow affords him a healthier path forward. We also hope the Chiefs' current run of tackle prospects begin to fare better at some point.