Mike Remmers Embraces His Utility on the Chiefs' Offensive Line
As Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Mike Remmers prepares for his ninth year in the NFL, he is embarking on a new position on the offensive line: almost all of them.
Remmers was signed by the Chiefs as a free agent in March after playing 2019 with the New York Giants. The 31-year-old veteran has taken on the duty of “utility man” along the offensive line.
During a video conference with reporters Monday, Remmers said he takes pride in his versatility and attributes his success to it.
“I think that's been incredibly important in my NFL career for sure because I started on the practice squad, and at that point, you're playing every position, whatever they need you’re playing,” Remmers said. “And then early in my career, my main goal is just to be on the field and so you just have to be ready to be thrown in at any position and so being very versatile, especially for younger guys, is incredibly important.”
The 6-foot-5, 303-pound mostly-tackle has started at every spot on the offensive line — besides center — during his career. Last season he was exclusively a right tackle in New York, but with the Minnesota Vikings, he started at right guard in 2018 and spent time at both interior guard positions in 2017.
Remmers' ability to play each role on the offensive could prove to be beneficial to the Chiefs, who lost two linemen, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Lucas Niang, to COVID-19 opt-outs.
While he has the flexibility to play an array of positions on the line, this year has been different for Remmers. Going into camp, he’s usually been in one spot, but this year he said he’s ready for the challenge of consistently preparing for multiple poisons.
“I've gotten a lot of experience of playing multiple positions and starting games at four different positions, so that's been great just having some experience to fall back on, but it's been, you know, interesting,” Remmers said. “[It’s been a] different camp for me because I'm used to usually just kind of sticking at one spot, so I've been kind of going around and learning a new offense and then having to learn all the ins and outs at each position.”
Joining Remmers as reserves on the line are Martinas Rankin, Greg Senat, Nick Allegretti and rookie Yasir Durant. Eric Fisher, Kelechi Osemele, Austin Reiter, Andrew Wylie and Mitchell Schwartz are expected to be starters for the reigning Super Bowl champions.
During camp, Remmers has been playing both tackle positions but is doing whatever he can for any situation.
“When it comes to actually like, you know, getting ready for those positions, instead of kind of studying one or two guys, you got to be ready for all across the line because you never know who you're going to be playing against,” Remmers said. “So, that will be a little different this year, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.”
