Kansas City Chiefs: Rookie expectations for Nick Allegretti

The Kansas City Chiefs spent their final pick in the 2019 NFL Draft on Nick Allegretti, an offensive guard out of Illinois. What can Allegretti provide the Chiefs as a rookie?

Depth along the offensive line is important in the NFL and the Kansas City Chiefs showed they realized that by drafting an offensive guard in the seventh round. Sure, they waited until the seventh round, but it’s still important that they brought some help in.

That offensive line help comes in the form of Nick Allegretti, a two-year team captain at Illinois who has experience at guard and at center. The Chiefs could certainly use that kind of versatility along the line.

As of now, the offensive line is basically set with the starters being (from left to right) Eric Fisher, Cameron Erving, Austin Reiter, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, and Mitchell Schwartz. The Chiefs should feel pretty confident with this group, as they’ve had time to gel and get better together.

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So, will rookie Nick Allegretti play a role in the Chiefs offensive line in 2019?

The hopeful answer is that he someday becomes a reliable starter at left guard (LDT has right guard on lockdown for the time being) or at center (assuming Reiter isn’t as effective in a few years), but the realistic expectations for Allegretti is for him to be a serviceable backup.

Erving is a good swing man along the line, but he struggled at times when asked to start every week. That leaves left guard up for discussion and perhaps Allegretti could find his way into that starting job if all goes well for him this summer.

Seventh rounders typically aren’t people you depend on to start right away, but the Chiefs have had luck with offensive linemen in round seven. LDT was a seventh round pick a few years ago, as was Zach Fulton, who spent time as a swing option before signing with the Texans.

When it comes down to it, Kansas City Chiefs fans shouldn’t expect much from Nick Allegretti during his rookie year, but if there’s a seventh rounder who could come in and make a difference, this guy appears to fit the mold.

Hopefully injuries don’t play a role in why he gets a starting job (if he’s going to be a starter – let’s hope he earns it on his own), but it would be cool to see him get a fair shake as a starting guard.

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To sum up, the hope is that Allegretti gets a chance to show he can be a reliable starter. The realistic expectations, however, is that he’s a backup in 2019 and only sees the field should injuries or poor play by starters occur.

So Chiefs fans, what rookie expectations do you have for seventh round pick Nick Allegretti?

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