The Kansas City Chiefs have a long, star-riddled history at offensive line, but perhaps no position better than guard. The players that rarely ever get any shine, but more often than not are the ones making the most movement on the field.
Every great offense is almost always fueled by a great offensive line, which must consist of those mammoths in the middle to get the brunt work done. Throughout the Chiefs' history, they've had some great ones, so let's not bury the lead.
Below is the seventh edition of KC Kingdom's ongoing offseason series, "Chiefs All-Time Mount Rushmore," where this week is all about the guards.
Ed Budde (1963-76)
A first-round pick in both the 1963 NFL and AFL drafts by the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Texans, respectively, Ed Budde chose to play for Lamar Hunt's team that moved to Kansas City and rebranded as the Chiefs soon after. Budde was a bit of a lighter guard at just 265 lbs, but at 6'5", he had good length and was more of a technician than a hulking, physical presence.
Budde played all 14 years of his professional football career with Kansas City, primarily at left guard. He made quite an impression in his rookie season, on both the head coach and Hank Stram and Pro-Bowl voters, receiving the honor in his rookie season. From then on, Budde became one of the budding stars at his position and in 1966 made first-team All-Pro and his second Pro-Bowl selection.
That year spurred a six-consecutive season streak of Pro-Bowl selections as well as another first-team AP and a pair of second-team APs. Budde played all three games of the Chiefs' 1969 Super Bowl victory and gave the Chiefs a decade-plus-long wall at the left side of the o-line alongside left tackle Jim Tyrer. Budde retired after the 1976 season and was inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Honor in 1984.
Will Shields (1993-2006)
Not only is Will Shields far and above the best guard in Chiefs history, it'd be tough to argue any one player was better at what he did at his position in the history of the game. A third-round pick by KC in 1993, Shields right away exemplified everything it meant to be a leader on the field and off the field.
At 6'3", 315 lbs, Shields had the prototypical size and strength of a right guard, and was always able to out-maunever and out-leverage defenders, but his toughness, discipline, and intelligence were next-level. Shields holds the record for games played as a Chief at 224 and started 223 of those consecutively. If you thought Travis Kelce was an ironman for all these years, Shields was on another planet.
After his first two seasons, Shields made the Pro-Bowl every year from the 1995 season to his retirement in 2006. He made first-team All-Pro twice and second-team four times. It's a shame, as it was for every great player of the Chiefs 1990s and 2000s teams that KC never made it far in the playoffs, aside from Shields rookie year in '93 when Kansas City lost in the Conference Championship game. The 2003 Walter Payton Man of the Year was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Brian Waters (2000-10)
Waters was a true rags-to-riches story. He went undrafted in the 1999 NFL Draft, was picked up and dropped by the Dallas Cowboys, and the Chiefs got their hands on him. He became the entrenched starter at left guard in 2002 and was yet another stout blocker, alongside Shields, powering a historically great Chiefs rushing attack.
Waters missed just three games between 2002-10, accumulating five Pro-Bowl selections and two first-team All-Pros in his 11 years and a total of 149 starts with the Chiefs. Waters and KC departed after 2010, where he made another Pro-Bowl with the New England Patriots, and then retired after the 2013 season.
He was awarded his own Walter Payton Man of the Year award in 2009 and was inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Honor in 2019.
Joe Thuney (2021-24)
While Joe Thuney's tenure did not come close to the above players on this list, his elite-level play, paired with the team's success during his time in KC, earns him the final spot. After five years in New England and two Super Bowl rings later, Thuney came to the Chiefs on a five-year, $80 million deal, which at the time was among the highest-paid guard contracts in NFL history.
But nobody blinked an eye, because they knew the Chiefs got a steal. And boy did they. Over his four-year Chiefs span, Thuney started and played in 77 of 79 eligible contests and was easily the best left guard in the league. He made the Pro Bowl three straight years and was first-team All-Pro over his final two seasons.
Thuney, alongside a young Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith, built out the best interior offensive line in the NFL and one that Patrick Mahomes fully trusted. The 6'4" guard was also a part of the Chiefs' back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 2022-23, as well as the third-straight appearance in '24. No doubt the Chiefs got some of the best years out of a future Hall of Fame guard.
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