Kansas City Chiefs: Lucas Niang could be surprise starter in 2020

By Leigh Oleszczak | Jun 28, 2020

Kyle Hicks #21 runs the ball behind the blocking of Lucas Niang #77 of the TCU Horned Frogs (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

The Kansas City Chiefs drafted Lucas Niang in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft and he could find his way in a starting role along the offensive line.

As solid as the Kansas City Chiefs‘ offensive line was in the back half of the 2019 regular season, they definitely got rocked in the Super Bowl by the 49ers’ dominant defensive line. For that reason, obviously it’d be nice for the Chiefs to potentially stumble into a great starter and Lucas Niang could be that starter.

Niang played right tackle during his college years at TCU, allowing zero sacks during that time and he could end up being one of the biggest steals of the most recent draft. The fact that he fell to the third round and had the resumé he did seems kind of shocking.

Since the Chiefs have Mitchell Schwartz locked up for another two seasons (and he’ll deserve an extension when that time comes), it’s very possible that Niang finds work at another position along the line and left guard could be where he makes his mark.

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The rest of the line is fairly shored up with Schwartz at right tackle, Eric Fisher at left tackle, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif at right guard, and Austin Reiter likely handling duties at center. Left guard is the only true question mark and that’s why it could be up for grabs for the TCU rookie.

Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report agreed with the sentiments that Niang could be a starter in 2020 and had him as the Chiefs’ potential “surprise starter” for this season. That’s seemed to be the consensus amongst Chiefs fans since Niang was drafted and with the left guard constantly being a revolving door, him winning the job isn’t farfetched at all.

His biggest competition will be from Andrew Wylie and free agent addition Mike Remmers. Wylie started his Chiefs career off well, but faltered to the point where Stefen Wisniewski was able to jump him on the depth chart and keep the job through the Super Bowl. Remmers has been a journeyman in the league, but the Chiefs obviously thought enough of him to sign him this past offseason.

Personally, I’ll be pulling for Niang to win the job. His college resumé was impressive and with how much of a black hole the left guard position has been for the Chiefs, Niang could provide a stable piece to the position.

What do you think, Chiefs fans? Would you be shocked if Lucas Niang finds his way onto the offensive line?

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