Stefen Wisniewski Could Be What the Chiefs Are Missing
When the Kansas City Chiefs made the move to sign free-agent offensive guard Stefen Wisniewski to the practice squad after he was released from the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Chiefs got one piece closer to the championship puzzle.
With Kansas City's interior offensive line struggling, whose place could Wisniewski take along the offensive line if he returns to the Chiefs' active roster,
That's one of many questions we answer on today's Roughing the Kicker podcast with Arrowhead Report's Conner Christopherson and Jordan Foote.
We've already seen what Wisniewski can do in replacement of Wylie and there's nothing to think he won't do the same.
This season, Andrew Wylie has an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 57.6, a pass-blocking grade of 60.7 and a run-blocking grade of 56.8. Wylie is the lowest-rated starting lineman on the Chiefs this season.
Wylie's grade has dipped 9.8 points from a year ago
Additionally, Wylie is ranked 60 out of 86 eligible guards in terms of PFF grade. Wylie has clearly been the Chiefs' weakest link on the line this season.
Wisniewski has only played in one game this season for the Pittsburgh Steelers as he was sidelined with a pectoral injury and placed on the injured reserve. Last season for the Chiefs, Wisniewski took 210 snaps in 11 regular-season games at guard. He started the final five games for Kansas City on the way to their Super Bowl victory.
In fact, the bulk of Wisniewski's snaps came in replacement of Wylie. Wisniewski was signed on Week 6 of last season and saw little playing time in his first two months. An injury to Wylie in Week 15 led to Wisniewski's call up to the starting role. He retained the spot even after Wylie returned. and that should be the same this year.
Wylie has been underwhelming along with the majority of the interior offensive line as a whole and they need a shake-up. Nick Allegretti has been a nice change of pace as the second-year guard out of Illinois has recorded a 70.5 PFF grade and ranks 18th in the league for guards. Wisniewski's presence could add something that the Chiefs are missing up front.
The 10-year veteran recorded the fourth-highest postseason pass-blocking grade among guards last season and was Kansas City's top-graded interior offensive lineman in terms of overall and pass blocking grades.
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