KC Chiefs: Starting Lucas Niang at left tackle is a bad idea

The KC Chiefs spent a 2020 third-round pick on offensive tackle Lucas Niang and they have big plans for him moving forward.

It was a bummer when Lucas Niang made the decision to opt-out of last season, but no one blamed him whatsoever. Now that he’s back and entering what will officially be labeled as his rookie season, the Kansas City Chiefs have some decisions to make regarding where to put Niang.

The initial thought, and the one that makes the most sense, is that he should play right tackle. That was where Niang played in college and had the kind of success that he did. We’ve seen how difficult it is to not only move someone from either the left to the right or the right to the left but for a rookie to be expected to do that (Eric Fisher played right tackle as a rookie and struggled mightily), is quite the task.

Andy Reid spoke to the media on Tuesday and mentioned that Niang is an option for the vacant left tackle position. Per Herbie Trope of The Kansas City Star, Reid had this to say,

"“We’re fitting that through, but we had aspirations of potentially moving Niang over to that spot. It looked like he had some potential for that when we had him last.”"

The KC Chiefs shouldn’t put Lucas Niang at left tackle.

It sounds easy enough to put Niang over on the left side because the Chiefs have a need for it but unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. What casual fans don’t understand is that the left tackle is the one responsible for protecting Patrick Mahomes’ blindside and throwing an inexperienced rookie to man that position isn’t a smart move.

The Chiefs might be thinking if they put Niang over on the left side that it’ll allow Mike Remmers or Kyle Long to be the right tackle. Reid also listed Long as an option to have at left tackle, which is an even worse idea, but that’s an article for a different day. Niang’s biggest asset to this team is being able to play right tackle, which is the position he excelled at as a Horned Frog.

This isn’t to say that I don’t like or believe in Niang. The kid obviously is talented, but his TCU days were spent on the right side of the line and it is much different from the left side. The left tackle for the 2021 season isn’t on the roster right now and the Chiefs should look for him early on in the 2021 NFL Draft.

I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this, Chiefs fans. Would you be open to seeing Lucas Niang play left tackle or do you agree with me in that he should be playing right tackle?