Kansas City Chiefs Community Projections: Damion McIntosh

(Photo source)

No stats in this community projection. Just give us your thoughts on the Chiefs left tackle. See all of the community projections here.

How good is our left tackle Damion McIntosh? The Kansas City Chiefs spent a good chunk of money bringing him over here from Miami in hope that he was our answer at one of the most important positions on the offensive side of the football. Unfortunately for McIntosh, he is following in the footsteps of one of the greats in Kansas City, Willie Roaf. There were some gasps heard throughout Chiefs Nation when McIntosh went down with a knee injury and some cheers heard when Damion said he was optimistic about playing in the season opener.

For good reason (see left tackle backup Will Svitek), Chiefs fans are concerned about the offensive line. Besides Pro Bowl veteran Brian Waters, Chiefs fans have relatively little to be excited about in the trenches. Gone are the days of Hall of Fame offensive linemen. Today, we'd kill to have either Willie Roaf or Will Shields back on the line. Just one of them. Please?

Back to my not-so-clear point. It seems that the presence of Damion McIntosh in the season opener gives a lot of hope to fans that the offensive line will be alright. We look to our backup left tackle Will Svitek and pretty much cheer for anyone else to play that spot. So, we're happy Damion McIntosh will hopefully start in the season opener. But how effective will McIntosh really be?

Its hard to judge the effectiveness of a left tackle by stats. Blocks aren't tracked and you have to look to more obscure but important stats, like the ones Football Outsiders puts out. Even then, you're looking at entire offensive line statistics, not just one player. Miami gave up seven more sacks last year than the Chiefs offensive line did.

We do know this. Damion McIntosh isn't a "dominator". He's not quietly throwing down first round defensive ends. At the same time, he's not forgetting he's in a football game like our resident whipping boy Will Svitek. At this point, I'm willing to characterize McIntosh as right above average. How could he be anything else right now?

Last year with the Dolphins, McIntosh spent most of his time protecting then Miami QB Joey Harrington. Harrington is probably a bit more mobile than Damon Huard but less accurate at the same time. Even those two aren't a fair comparison to attempt to draw conclusions from.

One thing is for sure- McIntosh has the size to be a good left tackle. He weighs in right around 320 pounds and stands 6 feet 4 inches tall, which has been mentioned in the local news as much as it has been in the announcer booth.

Damion McIntosh has spent his career under the radar, garnering little to no reputation in the league. If any quarterback on the Kansas City Chiefs is going to have a sporting chance this year, much of that chance will ride on the skills of McIntosh. At 30 years old and with a history of injury, Damion sure as hell isn't the long term answer at LT but he'll have to do for now. For Damon Huard's sake and eventually Brodie Croyle's sake, I hope his knee injury isn't an issue and he's able to anchor what once was the most dominant offensive line in the National Football League. If he can hold the offensive line ship steady, much like Huard is expected to do at the QB position, I will be satisfied.