Kansas City Chiefs can’t rely on draft to solve left tackle issues
By John McCarty
The Kansas City Chiefs were unable to land free-agent offensive tackle Trent Williams. They can’t give up on finding their left tackle in free agency.
As the dust settles with new guard Joe Thuney on board, fans may be content with the idea of finding a new left tackle in the draft. This is an idea that simply won’t work and is not an effective strategy for the Kansas City Chiefs this 2021 offseason.
For the Chiefs, the best course of action is to target one of the two remaining free-agent tackles, former Vikings Riley Reiff or former Steeler Alejandro Villanueva. They should allow the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft to be used to address another position group.
After missing out on Trent Williams, would imagine the Chiefs might look at Riley Reiff and Alejandro Villanueva next, the two top tackles remaining. At center, it's basically Rodney Hudson and David Andrews.
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) March 17, 2021
Still ample options with the new league year a few hours away.
“Find one in the draft,” they say…
Seriously, if you have a Twitter account, simply search for ‘draft a tackle’ and see what pops up. While the NFL Draft is said to be deep at offensive line, guess what else is also deep? That’s correct — Teams looking for linemen, specifically tackles. Regardless, the draft may be deep, but so are teams wanting them.
When the Chiefs pick at No. 31 in the draft, they may be at a proposition in which, of the first 30 picks ahead of them, 15 of them could be some combination of offensive linemen and quarterbacks. I have been saying offensive linemen will get over-drafted early this year, and while very early into free agency, it is certainly playing out that way. The talk was hot and heavy with teams on Trent Williams, but it’s far quieter on the remaining veterans.
Also, desperation is a stinky cologne, and there is nothing worse than going into a draft when every organization knows what position you have to address. The last time the Chiefs went into a draft HAVING to land a lineman, they would up with Trezelle Jenkins.
Teams behind the Chiefs know they would need to get in front of them, which could lead to value at other positions, but again, the Chiefs simply would be taking an offensive lineman.