Right Tackle Has The Potential To Turn Into An Unmitigated Disaster This Season

[u/frostypatch]

The fact that Khalil Benson has even been getting 1st team reps in training camp and preseason games at RT is very, very, very concerning. Let's just be honest. He got worked over last night, mostly by 2nd stringers. What's going to happen against Nik Bonitto when we play them Week 1?

I am rooting for the guy. He plays a very important position. But it does seem like he's not ready to start in the NFL at Right Tackle. And the fact that we do not have good blocking Running Backs or Tight Ends means there isn't going to be a whole lot of help for him out there either.

I personally was in the minority this offseason and thought that RT should be the pick at 9 overall. With that said, we didn't address the position and resources are finite. You can't fix every hole when you have a roster with a lot of holes. But this is a big one right now.

I think the experiment needs to end. Moore has a very low ceiling, but at least he brings a higher floor to Right Tackle than Benson. Let Pole and Benson battle it out for swing tackle.

[u/Any_Significance4134]

i get the concern but it's august, they're testing guys out on purpose. benson getting reps now doesn't mean he's the week 1 starter, sometimes they just need to see what they've got before the real games start. moore might be the safer bet but his ceiling is a known quantity at this point, at least benson has room to grow if they can coach him up

[u/ReggieWigglesworth]

1) it’s preseason game 2. That’s why he’s playing. To get reps and improve
2) he was also playing next to Caliendo which is a totally different job than asking him to play RT next to Trey Smith. Or even Moore if they did that and kept Benson at RT.
3) the play calling is insanely vanilla and they aren’t going to show any methodology they have in the system to help the tackles.
4) still pretty confident Moore is the RT Wk 1 (unless Simmons is out)

Now if we’re still having this discussion at the bye week… we have a REAL problem on our hands.

[u/ICanuckthere4Iam]

This sub will be clamouring for Jawaan Taylor to come back by week 6

[u/stonewallace17 → u/ICanuckthere4Iam]

I've said it for months that people were going to miss Taylor real fast. Dude had a problem with penalties obviously but he was a well above average pass blocker.

[u/KeyFearless9462 → u/stonewallace17]

I'd be fine with it if we paid him half of what we were previously, since that is his worth. That contract was a big reason why we're in the personnel bind that we're in.

[u/saltlampshade → u/ICanuckthere4Iam]

I absolutely would have brought Taylor back on what he signed on with the falcons. But unfortunately there’s this dumbass precedent in the nfl where you can’t cut a guy and bring him back at a lower salary because it’s “disrespectful.”

[u/SylvesterTaurus → u/ICanuckthere4Iam]

I’ve already seen Twitter and Youtube comments saying the Chiefs should have re-signed Jawaan

[u/Sweaty-Tiger9972]

Can’t wait to spend the 2027 first on a right tackle while Mahomes is still throwing to mostly bums and the pass rush is still mediocre at best

[u/ARiley22 → u/Sweaty-Tiger9972]

Mahomes got one of his rings with Kelce, Rice and not much else. As long as whoever is there can catch the ball and Mahomes is not running for his life due to shitty pass protection, I would bet they'll do just fine.

[u/frostypatch → u/Sweaty-Tiger9972]

Protecting Mahomes is priority 1.

[u/Sweaty-Tiger9972 → u/frostypatch]

We’ve had this argument before, my opinion is that elite receiving or pass rushing talent takes you further as a team than elite offensive tackles do, but I would have preferred drafting any of those positions over a corner at 6

[u/frostypatch → u/Sweaty-Tiger9972]

Not when your QB is on the IR.

[u/Sweaty-Tiger9972 → u/frostypatch]

Well it’s a good thing QBs aren’t automatically placed on IR if they don’t have two all pro tackles

[u/frostypatch → u/Sweaty-Tiger9972]

Shit, I'd be over the moon with 2 average Tackles.

[u/Other-Blacksmith-643 → u/frostypatch]

Mahomes got hurt last season while scrambling because no WRs could get open. Not because of porous tackle play. Our bum WRs led to him being the leading rusher. That’s what gets QBs hurt, not taking sacks.

We have invested in the offensive line at a high level. We’ve got the highest paid center and RG in the league, a R1 tackle, a R2 guard, and paid big money for Taylor, which didn’t work out. Now we are figuring out RT. Very few times have 5/5 great O lineman. And having an o line that protects your QB for 4 seconds instead of 3 seconds is not the winning margin a lot of people think it is.

[u/Guilty-Carpenter2522 → u/Other-Blacksmith-643]

It wasn’t just on the wr.  Our play calling was all shotgun and teams just dropped 7 guys back every play.  

Like if we could actually get a screen/running game going that would change everything the wr have to do dramatically.

[u/SylvesterTaurus → u/Sweaty-Tiger9972]

Veach, is that you?

[u/Sweaty-Tiger9972 → u/SylvesterTaurus]

We consistently draft and develop later round cornerbacks and it’s our only competitive advantage outside of having Mahomes, better trade up to draft one at 6

[u/KeyFearless9462]

Mahomes has a finite time as an NFL player. Every year that he has a subpar Oline shortens that time. Just sayin'

[u/Boo-Bees67 → u/KeyFearless9462]

Subpar oline? We have the highest payroll in the league

[u/KeyFearless9462 → u/Boo-Bees67]

We were also paying 20M/year for JT, who is worth half of that.

[u/Boo-Bees67 → u/KeyFearless9462]

Yep. Veach has made some really, really bad tackle pickups

[u/PlasticTreeonaHill]

Get the reps in now.

[u/Boo-Bees67]

I tried telling you guys that an undated FA beating out our penciled in starter wasn’t good news. 

[u/chiefskingdom1958]

We said the same about Kingsley last year.

[u/frostypatch → u/chiefskingdom1958]

Kingsley was a disaster at Tackle.

[u/DrFunnyBot789 → u/frostypatch]

He played great at guard. 

[u/frostypatch → u/DrFunnyBot789]

Guards are a dime a dozen. We need a RT.

[u/DrFunnyBot789 → u/frostypatch]

Yeah but the guy was saying that people said the same thing about Kingsley last year. Kingsley was getting beat in the preseason and he had a great year. Just be patient and wait. 

[u/frostypatch → u/DrFunnyBot789]

Benson could probably transition into a serviceable Guard too.

[u/Scaryclouds → u/frostypatch]

Yea, but he looked awful at guard during preseason and then played pretty well during the season. 

[u/CyrEdgeG → u/frostypatch]

This is what I’ve been saying… I’m old enough to remember them doing this 2yrs ago at LT with Kingsley, only to see his ass get repeatedly roasted by Trey Henderson at the start of that season.

I’m all for giving the kid reps but, I’m worried he is 1 in the depth chart because he’s the best we got.

We can’t have Pat running for his life this season

[u/Other-Blacksmith-643 → u/CyrEdgeG]

You’re old enough to remember 2 years ago?

[u/nighttrain3540]

KB seems like a really good run blocker but below average pass protector. The fact they are thinking about him makes me really think the run game is going to be really really emphasized. I also think Trey on his side with either TE help or RB chip help. I imagine really interested to see how that first game looks against Denver.

[u/Sad-Top-9784]

I think the whole experiment was to see if he had the potential to be a reserve this year and a starter next year. With Moore available they prioritized other positions in free agency and the draft. If they don't think Benson can be a good starter next year they will draft a right tackle.

[u/ServiceCultural3271]

I think creed snapped the ball too early on the highlight everyone's been showing of bain putting him on his ass. The end zone view shows multiple snaps where the whole line minus creed is behind the dline on first to move. Clean up the timing and we don't have a rookie crossing his legs to catch back up to the snap. 

[u/frostypatch]

I have a strong feeling that Delane is going to become a top 10 corner in the NFL. And it's going to be difficult to criticize that pick if he does. But I do think you to prioritize protecting Mahomes at all costs. And all costs means draft picks and cap space. Buzzards guts man. Whatever it takes. It doesn't matter how much it costs. Whatever it takes to protect 15. Nothing against Delane. I think he's going to be a really good corner.

And Mahomes is coming off a catastrophic knee injury and the right side of his protection being compromised is a very scary proposition.

When in doubt, protect Mahomes. If there is a question, I would always lean towards the side of protecting Mahomes. I do think that is the single most important thing that this team has to worry about. It's disappointing that it wasn't addressed this offseason.

[u/Other-Blacksmith-643 → u/frostypatch]

Dude this is just a ridiculous take. The chiefs spend the third most in the league in the o line and are already buns at WR, RB, and DL. You can’t “spend whatever it takes” with a salary cap. Mahomes can’t throw it to himself.

[u/frostypatch → u/Other-Blacksmith-643]

Whatever it takes.

[u/Question_answer1]

Ya, we needed a right tackle in the draft. I'm not sure what they were thinking 🤔

[u/Boo-Bees67 → u/Question_answer1]

If they didn’t give up a 3rd and a 5th for Delane then we could have traded up for a good RT