Where We Stand: The Kansas City Chiefs Offensive Line
by Chris Thorman on Feb 2, 2009 3:58 PM CST
in 2009 Kansas City Chiefs Offseason
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via NFL.com
Somehow, after the lowest of the lows in 2007, the Kansas City Chiefs rushing offense actually produced some yards this past season. The team ended up ranked 16th in the league in rushing, after ending 2007 ranked dead last.
A big part of that success was the addition of fullback Mike Cox and Branden Albert on the left side of the line. Those two players in particular helped take the sorest spot on the team and turn it into a squad that was rarely mentioned on game day. And that's a good thing.
One important thing to point out in regards to the success of this year's offensive line is continuity. Brian Waters and Damion McIntosh started all 16 games. Rudy Niswanger and Branden Albert started 15 games. Good things happen when a unit can play that many games together.
Hopefully, 2009 brings even better things for the Chiefs offensive line. Let's take a look at where we stand with our offensive line heading into the 2009 off season.
LT Branden Albert
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Games: 15 (15 starts) Penalties: 1 Sacks allowed: 4.5 |
Chiefs fans can finally breathe a sigh of relief that the most important position on the offensive line has been filled with a talented young player. Albert handled opposing defensive ends and linebackers with relative ease for a rookie. His greenness showed up now and again but most would agree that he is the definition of an anchor of an offensive line.
Impact in 2009: Starting left tackle for the foreseeable future.
RT Damion McIntosh
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Games: 16 (16 starts) Penalties: 3 Sacks allowed: 7 |
Even though McIntosh didn't play as poorly as his 2007 season, I still have to immediately knock a right tackle for giving up 7 sacks. Opposing teams knew where our line's weak spot was and that was Damion McIntosh on the right side of the line. McIntosh, like the rest of the line, seems to have benefited from continuous play with Albert, Niswanger, Waters and the Smith/Jones duo.
Impact in 2009: Probably the starting right tackle. The Chiefs have nobody up and coming who is worthy of overtaking McIntosh at right tackle.
G Brian Waters
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Games: 16 (16 starts) Penalties: 2 Sacks allowed: 2 |
In nine seasons with the Chiefs, Brian Waters has started every game six times. Waters heads to the Pro Bowl for the fourth time in his career. Never flashy and never screws anything up.
Impact in 2009: Waters will be the Chiefs starting left guard until he physically can't do it anymore. Waters has shown no signs of slowing down at age 31.
G Wade Smith
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Games: 15 (7 starts) Penalties: 0 Sacks allowed: 2 |
Despite being labeled a guard, Wade Smith is really more of a utility player. He plays both guard sides and center if needed. He's an average but essential utility man. Others could play his role on the Chiefs but there isn't a reason to change now.
Impact in 2009: Will continue to rotate to areas of need. No real chance of becoming a starter.
G Adrian Jones
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Games: 11 (10 starts) Penalties: 2 Sacks allowed: 1 |
Jones filled in a lot more at right guard in his second season with the Chiefs. He missed a few games towards the end of the season with an injury. He split time with Wade Smith at this position, making him expendable.
Impact in 2009: A 2nd or even a 3rd round pick on a guard eliminates Jones' starting gig. Wade Smith would get the nod over Jones if it came down to it, because of Smith's utility.
T Herb Taylor
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Games: 16 (1 start) Penalties: 4 Sacks allowed: 1 |
Taylor still has the look and feel of a rookie out there. Taylor committed four false starts in very limited action in 2008. The 6th round pick is playing like a 6th round pick.
Impact in 2009: It's getting close to put up or shut up time for Herb Taylor if he wants to play any significant portion of time in his career. The Chiefs could easily replace him in the draft or free agency if they don't see him progressing.
C Rudy Niswanger
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Games: 15 (15 starts) Penalties: 3 Sacks allowed: 4.5 |
I'll be the first to admit I'm no expert in judging offensive linemen but it seems like Rudy Niswanger leaves a bit to be desired for a center. The fact that he started in 15 games for the Chiefs shows us how much the coaching staff liked him. But this is a new staff that won't necessarily see things the same way Herm did.
Impact in 2009: No lock to be the starting center next year, Niswanger may end up the stater by default. It really depends how hard the Chiefs want to pursue a center in free agency or the draft.
Beyond these guys, the pickens are pretty slim. Barry Richardson, Tavares Washington and Andrew Carnahan round out the offensive linemen who didn't play. They're suspect roster members at best right now.
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Albert & Waters
Beyond those two, I didn’t see anyone else on that line who I thought could be a starter on a good offensive line. I’d rank McIntosh and Jones near the bottom of the league for their positions. Niswanger wasn’t the worst center ever, but I have a tough time believing he’s going to be anything better than middle of the league. Plus, the spread covered up a lot of their deficiencies from the halfway point on…deficiencies that will be revealed again if the Chiefs move away from the spread.
Herm Edwards will not be the Chiefs' head coach next season.
Neither will Mike Shanahan.
Sign Birk, draft a replacement to take over in a year or two (or have him train up at guard before switching to C), and take BPA at RT and guard when there’s not great value at a position of bigger need.
Or sign Jason Brown of Baltimore. I’ve enjoyed watching him out here in MD, and I’d like to send him out to KC.
by burntorangehorn on Feb 2, 2009 4:18 PM CST up reply actions
Hell Get Franchised for sure
Jason Brown is quickly becoming the best center in the NFL no way he gets out of Baltimore for another one or two contracts. But if he doesn’t get franchised Brown exemplifies the type of Free Agent that Pioli targets. Young guys coming off their first contract
hmmmm...
But if he doesn’t get franchised Brown exemplifies the type of Free Agent that Pioli targets. Young guys coming off their first contract
Didn’t someone else target young guys coming off their first contract?
*
I know the formatting is a bit off but I’m not too sure how to fix it right now without doing a lot more work.
I love the nickname for
our duo on the rightside – “Sunflower Slowdown”. I’d cut them without hesitation but I realize Damion’s contract is so big he’ll be sticking around KC for at least 2 more seasons
by KansasCityShuffle on Feb 2, 2009 4:21 PM CST reply actions
Probably
He only got $5 million guaranteed over 6 years and he’s gone through two of those already. He makes about $2 million in base salary next year so it’s probably not worth it to cut him (although it might be in 2010). But the Chiefs could still use him as a reserve and find someone else to fill that starting spot and it won’t hurt them too much because he’s not drastically overpaid for a backup.
Herm Edwards will not be the Chiefs' head coach next season.
Neither will Mike Shanahan.
Albert, Waters, 3rd round pick, Niswanger, Taylor
This would be a great starting lineup. Taylor has the talent to start, he just needs the experience. He did a great job filling in for Albert at the beginning of the season. Then if we have McIntosh backup LT, Wade Smith backup G/C, and Richardson backup RT, I’d say we are just about set.
I'd say
that Wade Smith should get the chance to start at RG. The line improved once Jones was out and Smith stepped in, and Wade didn’t look that bad to me. The problem area, from my point of view anyway, was at center – Niswanger hasn’t yet learned how to overcome his height, and a lot of problems stemmed from that C/RG combo of Niswanger and Jones.
BPA in Round 2
Alex Mack – some mock drafts have a center, yes a center, being drafted in Round 1. Most scouts agree he is the most promising interior lineman in a long time.
If he gets past the Steelers at #32, I could see us grabbing him in Round 2
Amen to that!
Rudy would make a servicable backup for RG and Center
Mack is as good as gone in round one
But Unger will definitely be there for us in round two. Maybe we pick up Antoine Caldwell in round three instead of Unger in round two. We should go LB or DE at the top of round two
"Mack is as good as gone in round one "
I think that is possible, but it would be surprising to have an interior lineman go in Round 1…any google-fu masters out there want to list how many Centers and Guards have been drafted in Round 1 in the last 20 years?
I could see the Steelers taking him with the last pick in Round 1, but if they don’t we could grab him 2 spots later.
Google-fu master
9 guards and/or centers have been drafted from ‘00-’07.
Scouts, Inc (my source) lists exactly 0 of them that have not met or exceeded expectations. It’s the safest position in the draft.
Albert = WOW
1 penalty by Albert. I think that’s the most amazing stat, considering that he was supposed to be awfully raw at LT. He’s going to be something special.
My main beef with McIntosh is he’s terribly inconsistent. Sometimes he looks great, and sometimes he looks worse than a high school freshman. I’d give Niswanger another year to see how he does- keep in mind that, for all intents and purposes, he was basically a rookie center last year.
The most impressive part about this line is that they adjusted so quickly to the changing offense. It’s not easy for linemen to all of a sudden switch to a new scheme (it sometimes takes more than a year), but they picked up on the spread offense very quickly.
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