Teicher Offensive line is chiefs biggest weakness
Offensive line is Chiefs’ biggest weakness
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
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Brian Waters has but one wish for the many critics of the beleaguered Chiefs offensive line.
Judge the line, he asked, when the Chiefs are playing with a lead, something they’ve rarely done this season.
“We’re an easy target right now,” said Waters, a three-time Pro Bowl left guard. “When you lose Hall of Fame guys, people always presume there’s going to be some weaknesses and it’s going to be a down year.”
Perhaps the offensive line would be playing better if the Chiefs didn’t make a habit of falling behind, something that makes any team one-dimensional. One thing is for certain: The Chiefs have no bigger weakness than their line.
The Chiefs knew this would be a time of transition for their offensive line when in the last two years perennial Pro Bowlers Willie Roaf and Will Shields retired. They actually planned for this, but it doesn’t appear so now.
If the Chiefs are guilty of anything, it’s a failure to accurately assess how fast some of the remaining blockers would decline and of making poor draft decisions.
The Chiefs knew their line, despite the loss of Shields and Roaf, was aging, but they thought it as currently constructed would at least be adequate. Waters, guard John Welbourn, center Casey Wiegmann and tackles Damion McIntosh, Kyle Turley and Chris Terry are all veterans.
“One of the things I felt good about going into the season is that between McIntosh, Waters, Wiegmann, Welbourn, Turley and Terry, all of them have started for over 80 games,” president/general manager Carl Peterson said. “That’s five seasons of playing offensive line. They have experience.”
That experience hasn’t translated into success. Turley and Terry at right tackle have struggled after missing time, Turley because of injuries and Terry because of off-field problems.
Welbourn at right guard has slowed markedly. The smallish Wiegmann is miscast at center in an offense based around the power running game. The Chiefs have been pleased with left tackle McIntosh, a free-agent addition, and Waters.
It would help if they could pluck able replacements off their bench, but other than Turley or Terry, all the Chiefs have are young players in Will Svitek, Rudy Niswanger and Herb Taylor.
The Chiefs evidently don’t believe any are ready for full-time duty.
Since drafting John Tait in the first round of the 1999 draft, the Chiefs have selected nine offensive linemen. None developed into a dependable player, and only Svitek and Taylor remain.
Another one-time draft choice, Tre Stallings, is on the practice squad.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs in 2004 released Shawnee Mission Northwest graduate Ryan Lilja, now a starter for Super Bowl champion Indianapolis. That year, they kept instead a rookie named Kevin Sampson, released by the Chiefs this last summer and now out of football.
“It’s hard to protect and keep everybody,” Peterson said. “The four young guys that we have give me a lot of hope for the future. They’re all good, young football players, and they can and will help us as we go on.”
The Chiefs considered selecting an offensive tackle, Joe Staley of Central Michigan, in the first round of this year’s draft. They instead opted for wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, and Staley was chosen a few picks later by San Francisco, where he is a starter.
It’s hard to argue that Bowe was a mistake, not with Bowe leading rookies in receiving yards and touchdowns. But it continued the Chiefs’ pattern of offensive-line neglect. They haven’t drafted a lineman in the first three rounds since they grabbed Tait.
“Offensive line isn’t always high draft choices,” Peterson said. “Brian Waters and Casey Wiegmann weren’t even drafted. You don’t always get a chance to draft a Willie Roaf. There aren’t many guys like that. You’ve got to find them other places. Some take longer to develop than others.
“We couldn’t pass up a talent like Dwayne Bowe. Wide receiver was a position of need also with Eddie Kennison getting up there (in age). We liked Staley a lot. I think we made the right decision with Dwayne Bowe. We just have to make sure we have some people who can protect the quarterback so we can get him the ball.”
The Chiefs after the season will have to draft or sign at least one lineman and probably more. Their best hope for the future is Svitek, a defensive lineman in college who is still learning his new craft.
Svitek is a good athlete, but there’s no guarantee he will become a dependable player.
“There’s a future here for me. I’m sure of that,” said Svitek, a sixth-round draft pick in 2005. “A lot of tackles don’t get into their prime until they get into their 30s. I’m still young, I’m still developing, and I will get better.
“I think it’s been a good fit for me. It’s not always pretty, but it’s not an easy position to play.”
In the meantime, the Chiefs can only hope for improvement. Some progress is realistic, but even the Chiefs harbor no dream that their line will again be among the league’s best.
“Are we as good as what we’ve been in the past? Probably not,” Waters said. “The expectations because of some of the things we’ve done in the past are always going to be high. That’s leading to this kind of (criticism). We’re big boys. We can take it. I don’t mind. I’d rather people pound on us than pound on
anybody else.”
