The Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive line woes were laid bare for all to see in the Super Bowl, but they started well before that.
With Wanya Morris and rookie Kingsley Suamataia tasked with protecting Patrick Mahomes’ blindside, neither did a good enough job. That forced head coach Andy Reid to push star guard Joe Thuney out to left tackle and have backup Mike Caliendo start, and it wasn’t a good sight to see.
Now, the left tackle position is one of the Chiefs’ urgent priorities this offseason, and if a good veteran comes in, someone might have to make way.
And for ESPN, Morris gets his marching orders unless he shows a serious uptick in improvement.
“Morris washed out in his bid to become the starting left tackle in 2024. An expected competition between Morris and rookie Kingsley Suamataia never developed at training camp and Suamataia became the starter,” ESPN writes.
“Then Morris struggled so badly after replacing Suamataia early in the season that he too was benched. Morris, a 2023 third-round pick, was healthy but inactive for all three postseason games. The Chiefs should be wary of giving up on a young player too early, but if Morris doesn’t show more during the offseason and training camp this year, it’s best for all parties if he moves on.”
Morris will only be in his third year of his rookie deal, and teams never usually like to move on from a young and cheap player, but such has been Morris’ inability to nail down a starting role and was beat out by a rookie, the writing might be on the wall.
Now, that’s not to say that a strong training camp won’t thrust him back into calculations, but with Suamataia and then a potential starter coming in during the offseason, Morris might be third string.
That isn’t ideal, and as ESPN suggests, the Chiefs might be better off cutting the cord.