Mina Kimes Has High Hopes for Donovan Smith on the Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs' offensive line was a major reason why quarterback Patrick Mahomes has two Super Bowl rings on his hand instead of three. A lack of depth and a myriad of injuries held the team back in 2021, and general manager Brett Veach has made a concerted effort in every subsequent offseason to invest in protecting his superstar signal-caller. Despite losing both starting offensive tackles from this year's Super Bowl LVII-winning squad to free agency, that plan hasn't changed.
Back in March, Kansas City signed former Jacksonville Jaguars standout right tackle Jawaan Taylor to a lucrative multi-year contract. At the time, it was reported and expected that the 25-year-old would have the opportunity to replace Orlando Brown Jr. as the team's starting left tackle. That presumed plan remained in place to the public eye for several weeks, but May's signing of Donovan Smith to a one-year deal worth up to $9 million has thrown a wrench into that development.
Before the Chiefs started organized team activities (OTAs) for the offseason, head coach Andy Reid said that Smith would be on the left side during workouts and Taylor would be returning to right tackle. Due to attendance/availability changes and different members of the depth chart getting looks, though, that has also been altered on a few occasions. Regardless of whether Smith actually ends up being the team's starter, national analysts aren't slowing down the hype train. On a recent episode of ESPN's NFL Live program, Mina Kimes discussed why Smith could be in for a resurgent season after struggling in 2022:
"My question is whether Donovan Smith can get back [to] playing at the level he was a few years ago, because last season was rough. He was incredibly penalized, had a lot of lapses in pass protection and I think for Kansas City, for him to play at least at the level of Brown, that would be the minimum. Now, I think that Donovan Smith is going to benefit from playing for Kansas City. He goes from, in Tampa, playing next to what was one of the worst interior offensive lines in football on account of all the injuries to a group with Joe Thuney on the left side [and] Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith that I think most people — maybe behind the Eagles — would have as the best interior offensive line in football. Perhaps he'll hold a little bit less if he knows that he's not on an island."
In his final campaign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Smith posted the worst Pro Football Focus composite offensive grade of his career. Dragged down by a 41.5 run-blocking grade, Smith was banged up throughout the year and never established himself as the previously proficient player he was in 2021 and before. He was also penalized 12 times — the second-most of his career — in 908 snaps at left tackle (the lowest figure of his career).
Now healthy and coming over to Kansas City, Smith will be looking to show the football world that he still has plenty of quality football left to play as he enters his age-30 season. With a much more competitive team to work with and some stellar offensive linemen alongside him, he'll be in a more advantageous position to succeed if he starts as the Chiefs' left tackle in 2023. To close out her segment, Kimes praised the potential fit and doubled down on her high hopes for Smith this coming season:
"I also think the difference in these offenses will really help him in pass protection. The run game is very different from Tampa's, which is a very straightforward, power run game. It's more diverse. I think he might be on the move a bit more and I think the scheme also, which is of course very dependent on RPOs, can help him too."
