Kansas City Chiefs Must Address Offensive Line in 2015 Draft

In the last two years, the Kansas City Chiefs have lost left tackle Branden Albert, guards Geoff Schwartz and Jon Asamoah and now center Rodney Hudson in free agency. The Chiefs have generally used the draft to try to replace them, which is a good strategy, but only if the players they draft develop.

Head coach Andy Reid has been able to scheme around the deficiencies of the offensive line, but that doesn’t mean the former offensive line coach doesn’t need better players up front. The Chiefs used the No. 1 overall pick on an offensive tackle, and nearly a third of the team’s picks over the last two years have played offensive line.

Reid’s scheme has allowed the Chiefs to commit the majority of their salary-cap resources to more important positions, but slow development from players like left tackle Eric Fisher has left the offensive line in shaky condition. It’s time for the Chiefs to address the offensive line, and using a few of their 10 draft picks in 2015 will be a good start.

There is a benefit to letting free agents sign elsewhere: compensatory picks. The league assigned four compensatory selections to the Chiefs in 2015, including one in the third round, two in the fifth round and one in the sixth round.

Although the Chiefs probably wish their offensive line were better right now, general manager John Dorsey has put the team in a good position. It’s a lot easier to find starting offensive linemen after the first round than elite pass-rushers, receivers and quarterbacks, so he should be able to rebuild the offensive line with cheap young talent.

Even with all the picks, the Chiefs knew they needed to bring in help on the offensive line. Although we don’t know yet what the Chiefs have in center Eric Kush, they had at least four of the five offensive line positions in flux. That’s not including Fisher, who enters an offseason that may define his career.

Trading a fifth-round pick for veteran left guard Ben Grubbs was a way to fortify one of the positions so the Chiefs could create competition at the other spots. Now, former left guard Jeff Allen will compete with Donald Stephenson at right tackle.

“We felt like we needed to buff up the offensive line just a little bit, and here you bring in a two-time Pro Bowler,” Reid told Terez A. Paylor of The Kansas City Star.

The Chiefs also signed guard Paul Fanaika to compete with Zach Fulton, who started all 16 games as a rookie last year. It’s a bit of a patchwork offensive line right now, but the Chiefs clearly realize it was a problem last season.

“We made some moves in free agency that can help us out, solidify some things,” Reid told Paylor. “So I think right now, before the draft, we have 10 draft picks, so we’ve put ourselves in a pretty good position.”

Name	Snaps	Overall Grade	Pass Block Grade	Run Block Grade	Sacks	Hits	Hurries
Ben Grubbs	1152	-0.2	-0.4	-2.4	1	6	27
Eric Fisher	1030	-17.5	-11.4	-3.2	7	11	24
Zach Fulton	1021	-14.6	-3	-12.9	3	5	21
Paul Fanaika	916	-20.9	-10.7	-8.8	1	7	29
Jeff Allen	40	-2.9	-2.7	-0.4	0	0	4
Donald Stephenson	31	-3.6	-2.2	-0.4	2	0	2
Eric Kush	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	4190	-58.5	-30.4	-28.1	14	29	107

Roughly translated, the Chiefs aren’t done addressing the offensive line, and for good reason. They have just seven players currently penciled into the rotation, and despite the moves they’ve made, it’s not an impressive group. They also only have one center, so they’ll need to find at least one interior player who can compete with or back up Kush.

The addition of Grubbs and Fanaika doesn’t even offset the loss of Hudson. Grubbs, even if he continues his multi-year decline, is a significant upgrade over Mike McGlynn, but going from Hudson to Kush is a net negative and Reid acknowledged as much to Paylor.

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You don’t draft for backup players—you draft for guys that could be starters. So we drafted Kush, and we said ‘Well, listen, maybe in a year or two, this guy has an opportunity to be a starter if he continues to progress,’ and now he has that opportunity, not that we weren’t gonna try to re-sign Rodney back.

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In the draft, the Chiefs may have a number of options at pick No. 18. Brandon Scherff, Andrus Peat, La’el Collins or Ereck Flowers should go off the board in the late first round and should be options for the Chiefs. T.J. Clemmings and Jake Fisher are also possibilities.

If the Chiefs wanted to wait and try to snag value in the second round, they could go after Cedric Ogbuehi, who is coming off a torn ACL. Ogbuehi has impressive size and athleticism and would probably have been a top-10 pick if not for his injury.  

According to Herbie Teope of The Associated Press, the Chiefs interviewed Ogbuehi at the combine and talked to him about playing right tackle. Ogbuehi could play right tackle initially and eventually move to the left side if Fisher is not the answer. The plan would be similar to how the Chiefs tried to develop Fisher, first at right tackle and then flipping to the left side when the team needed him there. 

A tackle makes a lot of sense, given that the team didn’t re-sign Harris and have penciled in two players who barely played last year in to compete on the right side. By bringing in a right tackle early, Allen and Stephenson would then be competing for the swing tackle job. 

At center, the Chiefs could look at Cameron Erving as an immediate starter in the first round with Kush remaining the backup. Hroniss Grasu out of Oregon could be a great fit for Reid’s offense, and he could be selected later in the draft.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Chiefs use two of their four picks in the first three rounds on offensive linemen. The Chiefs certainly have the need, but more importantly, there seems to be a glut of them with second and third-round grades.

In B/R NFL Draft Lead Writer Matt Miller’s latest rankings, he has 12 offensive tackles in the top 102 picks, plus three guards and a center. Miller had two more centers in the top 120 and another guard. There is also doubt that an offensive lineman will go off the board in the first 10 to 15 picks.  

That puts a bunch of starting quality prospects right around where the Chiefs are drafting. If the Chiefs’ draft position aligns with the best players available being offensive linemen, they have the opportunity to maximize value. There is certainly the potential there for that to happen, which would enable the Chiefs to add two new starters to their offensive line.