KC Chiefs should start Martinas Rankin at left tackle in Super Bowl LV

Martinas Rankin should be starting at left tackle for the KC Chiefs in the Super Bowl. 

It may sound crazy to start the guy who has played all of one game this season and put him into the starting lineup at left tackle in the Super Bowl. To a point, I agree. However, if we have learned anything about the Kansas City Chiefs‘ offense and the team’s ability to make the offensive line work, the Chiefs should start Martinas Rankin at left tackle because it keeps the right side of the offensive line, Andrew Wylie at right guard and Mike Remmers at right tackle, as the strength.

The basic comment about this idea is simply this. By moving Remmers to left tackle, Wylie to right tackle, and then inserting Stefen Wisniewski at right guard, the Chiefs — in theory — weaken multiple spots along the offensive line in one fell swoop. Wylie and Remmers have been really good on the right side and the Chiefs should keep them there.

Remmers — at least at this moment — is a better left tackle option than Rankin. However, because offensive lines are units and not an individual player, my view is simply to keep the unit as strong as possible.

It may be counter-intuitive to have the weakest spot at the left tackle spot, but, if the rest of the offensive line is strong and working together, scheming around a weak left tackle spot, using chips from tight ends and backs, or even leaving the backs into to block, the scheme can aid one weak spot as opposed to weakening a unit.

The KC Chiefs have a lot of injuries along the offensive line, but playing Martinas Rankin at left tackle makes sense.

Can Remmers play left tackle? Of course, but the Buccaneers have a really solid front seven, and the idea of having three players in positions they haven’t been prior to the Super Bowl is worrisome against an attacking front.

The Chiefs should continue to allow the four members of the offensive line that have played together a vast majority of the season, let them continue to work together as a unit. While the left tackle spot may be lessened, the strength elsewhere will offset the issues with Rankin, who did play left tackle in college at Mississippi State and during the Chiefs’ Week 17 game against the Chargers.

With an offensive line as banged up as the Chiefs’, they need to start getting creative, and putting Rankin at left tackle is a good strategy for the biggest game of the season.