Former NFL GM thinks KC should concentrate on OT in Free Agency

[KC Warpaint 3,234]

The Kansas City Chiefs are heading to another postseason under head coach Andy Reid after winning their eighth straight AFC West division title. Decisions will need to be made during the upcoming offseason whether or not the team wins another Super Bowl title.

Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. recently sat down with former NFL executive Mike Tannenbaum to get his thoughts on the Kansas City Chiefs’ offseason free agency plans. Tannenbaum spoke on behalf of The 33rd Team during a special media availability, providing insight on Kansas City’s needs, including negotiations with Chris Jones.

“I think their wide receivers are a work in progress, from Skyy Moore a year ago, Rashee Rice, to Kadarius Toney, but to me, their big issue is offensive tackle point to last week they led the league with penalties,” said Tannenbaum. “Right now, they’re just not playing great, between Donovan Smith and Jawaan Taylor. To me, that’s the bigger concern, and when they have to go on the road for playoff games, I think that’s going to be exacerbated.”

Taylor and Smith have notably struggled in their first season in Kansas City, with the latter missing multiple games with a neck injury. Tannenbaum continues to have strong trust and belief in the progress of Chiefs general manager Brett Veach to fix the issue.

“I think Brett Veach has done an amazing job, and when they lost the Super Bowl against Tampa (Bay Buccaneers) in Tampa,” Tannenbaum explained. “His answer was to fix the offensive line, and I think that’s number one, and then adding a receiver will be 1A, and I’m sure they’ll figure out a way to keep Chris Jones. I think he’s too valuable. It may cost them some other veterans, but I don’t think it’d be Chris Jones.”

[oldtimer 8,683]

last few years it's been a FA OT experiment and not worked out well AND expensive..maybe this time a drafted one at a reasonable price is the ticket  but what do I know I yell at clouds

[Burpo The Mad Clown 5,554]

I’ve been saying this for a long time. It seems every draft there’s some stud LT that goes elsewhere.

[oldtimer 8,683]

2 hours ago, Nadlers Quivering Balls said:

I’ve been saying this for a long time. It seems every draft there’s some stud LT that goes elsewhere.

Chiefs are at pick 26 right now.. I guess my inner debate would be ..WR or LT? I guess it'd be BPA both may take some time to become a solid contributor maybe the LT a day 1 starter tho

[jetlord 10,207]

OT and WR are both deep in the upcoming draft and if the Chiefs draft in the mid-twenties, there will be a projected starting tackle on the board.  That would be my top priority.  They can get a WR day two and pick up a stop gap in FA but tackles are hard to come by and the Chiefs need a long term solution there.  They're stuck with Taylor for two more years and he could be okay at RT if he gets his head on straight, but LT is a top need and Morris isn't the answer.  Keep him as a backup/swing and get a young, cheap starter in the first round.  

[oldtimer 8,683]

1 hour ago, jetlord said:

OT and WR are both deep in the upcoming draft and if the Chiefs draft in the mid-twenties, there will be a projected starting tackle on the board.  That would be my top priority.  They can get a WR day two and pick up a stop gap in FA but tackles are hard to come by and the Chiefs need a long term solution there.  They're stuck with Taylor for two more years and he could be okay at RT if he gets his head on straight, but LT is a top need and Morris isn't the answer.  Keep him as a backup/swing and get a young, cheap starter in the first round.  

Do we really now if Morris is not the answer? Seems to be fairly serviceable with his limited play time.. No way of knowing what the front office thinks until draft day I guess

[jetlord 10,207]

2 hours ago, oldtimer said:

Do we really now if Morris is not the answer? Seems to be fairly serviceable with his limited play time.. No way of knowing what the front office thinks until draft day I guess

He probably has some upside, but right now he's a liability compared to most LTs.  His college position was RT so maybe more time on the other end of the line will help but I think the Chiefs need a top LT for the Mahomes era.  

[kkuenn 3,597]

1 minute ago, jetlord said:

He probably has some upside, but right now he's a liability compared to most LTs.  His college position was RT so maybe more time on the other end of the line will help but I think the Chiefs need a top LT for the Mahomes era.  

Flip Taylor to the left side and see too if Morris then can do the RT.

[jetlord 10,207]

3 minutes ago, kkuenn said:

Flip Taylor to the left side and see too if Morris then can do the RT.

Wasn't that the original plan until they signed Donavan Smith?  Might be a reason they didn't do it. 

[dhitter 1,424]

Top tier OTs are hard to grab when you are picking at the bottom of the round. If Chiefs want to draft a potential stud they either are gonna have to move up or just get lucky.

[kkuenn 3,597]

53 minutes ago, jetlord said:

Wasn't that the original plan until they signed Donavan Smith?  Might be a reason they didn't do it. 

Yes it was. I think with the Smith signing they just moved back to their natural positions.

[jetlord 10,207]

5 hours ago, dhitter said:

Top tier OTs are hard to grab when you are picking at the bottom of the round. If Chiefs want to draft a potential stud they either are gonna have to move up or just get lucky.

If the Chiefs lose to MIA or BUFF, they will draft in the mid-late twenties.  That should get them a top five OT or close to it.  Haven't studied the draft experts lists yet but the common word is that this draft is pretty deep in OTs.   Morris was a third rounder in a weaker class so it shouldn't be hard to upgrade.  

[kkuenn 3,597]

2 hours ago, jetlord said:

If the Chiefs lose to MIA or BUFF, they will draft in the mid-late twenties.  That should get them a top five OT or close to it.  Haven't studied the draft experts lists yet but the common word is that this draft is pretty deep in OTs.   Morris was a third rounder in a weaker class so it shouldn't be hard to upgrade.  

https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/positions/OT/1/2024

https://walterfootball.com/draft2024OT.php

 

[kkuenn 3,597]

There is possibly 5 legit round 1 top recievers.  So if 6 OT and 5 WR go in round 1, that leaves a lot of talent left for elsewhere easily. Might have to go BPA but I am sure we will see after FA too.

[Lamardirts 2,114]

I think for cap reasons signing a FA wr, there looks to be a few available, to couple with your 2nd round rookie Rice and then draft a LT, as there aren't any good ones in FA, to couple with your overpriced RT seems to make a lot of sense.  Obviously the draft picks prior and FA will dictate what we do when our selections comes up on the clock.

 

[oldtimer 8,683]

9 hours ago, jetlord said:

If the Chiefs lose to MIA or BUFF, they will draft in the mid-late twenties.  That should get them a top five OT or close to it.  Haven't studied the draft experts lists yet but the common word is that this draft is pretty deep in OTs.   Morris was a third rounder in a weaker class so it shouldn't be hard to upgrade.  

drafting at 26 now

[Calichief 3,016]

Mahomes has never had great tackles. I don’t want to hear this. This is on the skill positions. Mahomes needs to get back to being mahomes. He’s dangerous when he not on time. But he can’t to do shit when guys can’t catch or track the ball. 

[SEMO 6,811]

Just now, Calichief said:

Mahomes has never had great tackles. I don’t want to hear this. This is on the skill positions. Mahomes needs to get back to being mahomes. He’s dangerous when he not on time. But he can’t to do shit when guys can’t catch or track the ball. 

Mitchell Schwartz was a GREAT tackle.

[Calichief 3,016]

Just now, SEMO said:

Mitchell Schwartz was a GREAT tackle.

Ok. At right tackle for a year or 2 

[Burpo The Mad Clown 5,554]

1 hour ago, SEMO said:

Mitchell Schwartz was a GREAT tackle.

And Fisher was far better than anyone at LT since. 

[jetlord 10,207]

1 hour ago, Calichief said:

Mahomes has never had great tackles. I don’t want to hear this. This is on the skill positions. Mahomes needs to get back to being mahomes. He’s dangerous when he not on time. But he can’t to do shit when guys can’t catch or track the ball. 

Ummm...look at the SB after the 2019 season with Fisher and Schwartz and compare it to SB LV without them.  OT is just as important as any skill position.  Randy Moss and Jerry Rice wouldn't help if Mahomes is flat on his back in two seconds.  Two three jet chip wasp doesn't happen with Morris at LT. 

[CranjisMcbasketball 780]

Veach and Reid are great at evaluating a lot of positions, problem is they are bad at WR and OT evaluation.

somehow the fix is finding a talent evaluator that is good at that.

i have no faith in veach drafting or signing the correct OT or WR at the moment

[CranjisMcbasketball 780]

2 hours ago, SEMO said:

Mitchell Schwartz was a GREAT tackle.

Correct Schwartz was god tier at RT and Fischer wad at least competent for many many years 

[jetlord 10,207]

7 minutes ago, CranjisMcbasketball said:

Veach and Reid are great at evaluating a lot of positions, problem is they are bad at WR and OT evaluation.

somehow the fix is finding a talent evaluator that is good at that.

i have no faith in veach drafting or signing the correct OT or WR at the moment

To be fair, Veach is a victim of his own success.  He's put the Chiefs in position to never draft higher than #29 or #30 and several times #32.  He did okay with Rice, probably busted with Moore and didn't get full value from Hardman.  Drafting a starting OT is very difficult at the end of the round.  There are usually four or five that everyone wants and they go early.  Even then, a goodly portion bust.  I credit Veach for rebuilding the whole interior line in one year.  Unless the Chiefs draft higher or spend a ton of draft capital to move up, we'll see more guys like Niang, Morris, etc.  FA tackles are super expensive and the Chiefs can't afford the top ones.  $20 million for Taylor was a reach and that wasn't exactly profitable this year.  Can't fault Veach too much for not finding a solid fixture at tackle when drafting so late. 

[Palangi 788]

20 hours ago, jetlord said:

He probably has some upside, but right now he's a liability compared to most LTs.  His college position was RT so maybe more time on the other end of the line will help but I think the Chiefs need a top LT for the Mahomes era.  

He played LT at Tennessee as a freshman and sophomore. He spent just s as much time at LT as RT. 
 

Morris has shown some good stuff in games just needs to continue to develop and have the whole offseason to focus on LT. I would be ok with taking someone in the second or third round to compete though. WR should be our first pick though. We need to add talent there big time.