In just over three months, Kingsley Suamataia could make his first start for the Kansas City Chiefs when the defending Super Bowl champions open their 2024 season against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, Sept. 5.
Will Suamataia be ready to step into the starting role at left tackle?
That’s one of the major remaining offseason questions for Kansas City, as it searches for a replacement for last year’s starter, who it didn’t re-sign.
NFL.com’s Kevin Patra recently called finding the new blind side protector for Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes the Chiefs’ top priority.
“Remember last offseason, when the Chiefs signed Jawaan Taylor to a big-money deal with the plan to move him to left tackle, then changed their minds less than two months later, inked Donovan Smith and flipped Taylor back to the right side? I wonder if Brett Veach and Andy Reid are similarly in a play-it-by-ear mode at left tackle this year,” Patra wrote.
He continued, “Suamataia and second-year tackle Wanya Morris are set to compete for LT duties. Do the Chiefs love youth protecting Patrick Mahomes’ blind side, trusting the MVP QB to make it work? Or might they bring in a veteran — perhaps Smith — closer to training camp? It could depend on how Suamataia and Morris look in the coming months.”
There’s only a finite number of days for the Chiefs to find a solution at left tackle — whether that’s Suamataia, the former BYU and Orem High offensive tackle who was a late second-round draft pick in April, or Morris, a second-year player who was a third-rounder out of Oklahoma.
Kansas City has already completed rookie minicamp and two OTA (organized team activity) sessions. The team has a third session scheduled for this week (Tuesday through Friday).
After that, the Chiefs will hold a mandatory minicamp on June 11-13, then there’s a bit of off time before training camp in late July.
Suamataia is coming off two years as a starter at BYU, where he started at right tackle in 2022 and at left tackle in 2023.
Morris, meanwhile, played in 14 games and started four at left tackle in his rookie season for an injured Smith. Pro Football Focus gave Morris a 55.6 overall grade last season, including a 47.1 run-blocking grade and 63.4 pass-blocking grade.
In April before Kansas City used the 63rd overall pick in the draft on Suamataia, Chiefs coach Andy Reid expressed confidence in Morris after what he showed as a rookie while acknowledging that the competition — and expectations — must be raised.
“I thought it was a good introduction for him,” Reid said, according to Arrowhead Report. “Coming in and having that experience and playing in four games. He has an even better feel now for this offseason and what’s going to be expected of him when he gets back and is put in that spot. There’s got to be an improvement, there’s got to be an urgency there, which I know he feels.”
The Chiefs didn’t re-sign the 30-year-old veteran Smith this offseason, opening the way for Suamataia or Morris to take over at left tackle. Meanwhile, veteran Jawaan Taylor is set to return as the team’s starting right tackle.
Pro Football Focus’ Zoltan Buday questioned whether the Chiefs have done enough to strengthen their situation at offensive tackle, and that includes bringing in Suamataia.
“The Chiefs making moves at offensive tackle is almost an offseason tradition. The 2023 additions of Donovan Smith and Jawaan Taylor have not yielded the expected results, though,” Buday wrote. “While Jawaan Taylor remains on the roster — with the Chiefs hoping he will play up to his price tag in 2024 — Smith was not re-signed, leaving 2023 third-round pick Wanya Morris projected to start at left tackle.
“However, Kansas City drafted BYU offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia with the 63rd overall pick, providing some competition for the left tackle position.”
Suamataia, for his part, has expressed excitement in fighting for a starting job early in his career, a process that will amp up en force when the team starts training camp.
“I’ve obviously got to come in and learn the playbook but I’m ready to go,” Suamataia told ESPN. “Healthy. Strong. ... I’ve got to put my best foot forward and outwork the guy in front of me.”