It Won’t Click Immediately, but the New-Look Chiefs Offensive Line Will Be Fine
Great things take time. For the Kansas City Chiefs, this describes their offensive line perfectly.
If you're expecting Orlando Brown, Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith and Lucas Niang to look like gangbusters out of the gate on Saturday against the San Francisco 49ers, you may be let down. Coach Andy Reid is giving his starters one quarter in the preseason opener, and less than 15 minutes of game time isn't enough for a completely new offensive line to jell.
It's possible that the new-look offensive line looks very good from the jump. With that said, it's far from a sure thing and would fall under the "pleasant surprise" category. This line will be tested and outside of training camp, it hasn't gotten reps together. The good news for the Chiefs is that the unit they field on Saturday could be the same one they field next year... and the year after... and possibly the year after that.
Conner Christopherson of Arrowhead Report joined me on today's Roughing the Kicker podcast to talk about whether it's okay to be nervous about the Chiefs' revamped unit charged with protecting Patrick Mahomes. Speaking of Mahomes, the superstar quarterback had a great answer when asked if he's trying to be more disciplined within the pocket — something he's struggled with in the past.
"Yeah and just communicating with the offensive line of, like, how they protect," Mahomes said. "Orlando (Brown) is great about it and talking about different things that he is trying and seeing how I like them. Trying to build that relationship, build that kind of comfort with them."
In the Chiefs' brutal Super Bowl loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this year, the team's line was ravaged with injuries. Mahomes ran for his life, oftentimes bailing from clean pockets. He's worked to fix that this offseason (here's the link to a great piece by Kevin Clark of The Ringer) and in time, his trust with the new line will come.
Emphasis on in time.
If Mahomes and the offense look comfortable on Saturday, that's a win. If Mahomes has ample time to go through his reads, that's another win. If everyone can get out of the first quarter healthy, that's perhaps the biggest win of all. Things don't have to be perfect in order for the team's first live action to be deemed successful.
The Chiefs offensive line we see Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns — a formidable opponent and a legitimate test so early in the season — won't be the one we see come playoff time. The personnel may be the same, but the chemistry and overall level of play should be much better. Again, great things take time.
Read More: Context Is Key When Assessing the Chiefs’ Unofficial Depth Chart
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