The Kansas City Chiefs secured an offensive tackle in free agency, but the position he might play is not yet decided.
Jawaan Taylor is set to become the newest member of the Chiefs, but according to numerous reports, he could be playing a position where he doesn’t have much NFL experience. Reports indicate that the Chiefs have moved on from LT Orlando Brown Jr. and could play Taylor on the left side of the offensive line at tackle as a result.
Taylor played 18 snaps at left tackle last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars per PFF, but he has thousands of snaps of NFL experience on the right side of the offensive line. He started a pair of games at left tackle during the 2017 college football season with the Florida Gators, but the majority of his experience again came on the right side of the line at tackle in college. He’s never missed a game throughout his NFL career no matter where he has played.
So, the Chiefs could once again find themselves testing out the Orlando Brown Jr. route. They traded for Brown during the 2021 NFL offseason and switched him over to the left side of the offensive line after he spent the majority of his NFL career at right tackle. They seem to feel that Taylor has the athleticism and ability to seamlessly switch sides without losing any benefits of his pass-blocking ability.
There also remains the possibility that Kansas City finds their left tackle of the future in the 2023 NFL draft, but this now gives them some flexibility to veer from that train of thought. It also doesn’t hurt to have a player in-house that you believe can play both left and right tackle as Chiefs fans learned all too well back in Super Bowl LV.
