KC Chiefs: What offensive line might look like after trading for Orlando Brown

The KC Chiefs sent the Ravens four total draft picks to land Orlando Brown. How will the offensive line look now?

The biggest storyline all season for the Kansas City Chiefs was their offensive line and what they might do to upgrade the unit that got wrecked in the Super Bowl. After releasing Eric Fisher, the Chiefs didn’t have the 2021 left tackle on the roster.

Now they do.

The Chiefs ensured they had someone protecting Patrick Mahomes’ blindside this year by trading for Ravens left tackle Orlando Brown, who hasn’t missed a start the last two years. Brown gives the Chiefs not only one of the best left tackles in the league, but a durable one at that.

How might the KC Chiefs’ offensive line look now that Orlando Brown is coming to town?

The Chiefs didn’t give up four draft picks for Brown not to have him play left tackle. He’ll be the left tackle in 2021 and if they get an extension figured out, he should be their left tackle for the foreseeable future. Next to him will be another new Chief, Joe Thuney, who also has been durable throughout the course of his career.

From there, things get a little more interesting. Austin Blythe was signed to a one-year deal after playing center for the Rams and the Chiefs also liked what they saw from Nick Allegretti at left guard last season, but he played center in college. Those two will likely be fighting for that middle spot on the line.

At right guard, the Chiefs have two players who are in somewhat similar situations. Neither Laurent Duvernay-Tardif or Kyle Long played football in 2020, but for different reasons. LDT opted out to work the frontlines of the pandemic while Long retired after the 2019 season. Both had an entire year off from football and it’ll be interesting to see if they’ll play as well as they did when they last were on the field.

Last, but not least, there’s the right tackle spot, which will likely pit Lucas Niang against Mike Remmers in training camp and preseason. Niang opted out of his rookie season while Remmers was signed as a swing option along the line and ended up playing pretty well at right tackle in place of the injured Mitchell Schwartz. He re-signed for 2021 and will probably be battling it out with Niang for the right tackle job.

Trading for Orlando Brown made the left tackle decision an easy one. Clearly the Chiefs didn’t feel they’d be able to land a quality tackle in the draft, so they went out and traded for one of the better options out there. Brown is a proven left tackle and now he’s coming to Kansas City to protect Mahomes.

It’s still way too early to tell how this trade pans out but for now, Brett Veach looks to have made another great move.