Andy Reid Discusses Standouts From Kansas City Chiefs’ OTA Sessions
The Kansas City Chiefs' 2023 offseason is humming along, and the team is set to wrap up its 2023 organized team activity (OTA) slate with one final practice on Friday. Following Thursday's practice, head coach Andy Reid provided an update on his team's progress.
This phase of the NFL offseason doesn't permit live contact during teams' 10 allotted OTA practices, so there's only so much that clubs can do in terms of preparing for the preseason and regular season months down the road. With that said, the opportunity is there for base installs of certain scheme elements and additional position-focused work. Reid recognizes the value of OTAs, and that's what he led off with following a brief tribute to the late Norma Hunt on Thursday afternoon.
"The guys are working hard," Reid said. "They're challenging each other within the rules that you're confined to. It's a good foundation for them as we work into the veteran minicamp and then into training camp, most of all, they'll at least have a foundation there going up to St. Joe (St. Joseph, MO)."
With training camp not arriving for well over a month, there's still plenty of offseason left for players to get back into the swing of things and improve in various regards. Second-year wideout Skyy Moore, in particular, is facing some high expectations in his sophomore campaign after he flew under the radar as a rookie. Reid tipped his cap to Moore's progress during OTAs, saying it looks like his chemistry with quarterback Patrick Mahomes is on the rise.
"Yeah, Skyy's worked really hard this offseason," Reid said. "He looks like he's on the same page with Patrick. In these camps, he's been doing a real nice job. Let's keep on advancing as we go, and he'll do that because he's wired right to do that."
Kansas City's offense has been the main focus of OTAs, as the team is ushering in a new-look wide receiver room in terms of depth that is also counting on familiar contributors at the top — including Moore — to step up. Elsewhere, both starting offensive tackles from the team's Super Bowl LVII win over the Philadelphia Eagles back in February have since departed for other squads via free agency. Without Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wylie in the fold, general manager Brett Veach is replacing them with spring signings Donovan Smith and Jawaan Taylor.
When asked about his top two tackles, Reid praised the job they're doing and alluded to their veteran experience coming in handy and being evident as OTAs wrap up.
"This is all pass game — there's no run game, and then the defensive line pulls off once they get up the field," Reid said. "But listen, they're smart guys. They're taking good sets and doing the things that they're supposed to do. You can tell that they've played before; they're handling themselves right and digging in on the new protections and the snap count itself and that stuff and all those things to make sure they're ready once we get up to training camp."
The Chiefs' 2023 NFL Draft haul consisted of seven players, but only two of them were on the offensive side of the ball. Veach made a concerted effort to invest in Steve Spagnuolo's defense with his picks, although Kansas City's undrafted free agent class has one specific player who is standing out early and often on the opposite side of the ball. Former Tulsa running back Deneric Prince, who was given a decent chunk of guaranteed money in his initial contract, is making plays in the passing game and also emerging as a potential special teams prospect. Reid was complimentary of what he's been able to accomplish thus far.
"He's done a nice job," Reid said. "Again, that's part of the game. Another part is the run game, which we're not doing, except versus air. So we'll have to see how all of that goes once we get there, but he's a sharp kid. He's got skill, it looks like. He's big and can run and has a good feel for things right now."
After the Chiefs finish OTAs on Friday, they will be back from June 13-15 for a mandatory minicamp. Select players, including Mahomes, and Reid are expected to speak at various points in the week. Once that passes, Kansas City will prepare for another yearly training camp at Missouri Western State University.
