Following their Super Bowl LVIII win over the San Francisco 49ers, the Kansas City Chiefs don’t have a ton of position battles to watch entering training camp. There is one, however, that folks are watching with a very close eye.
Kansas City’s starting left tackle for 2024 has yet to be decided. There’s an ongoing competition between 2023 third-round pick Wanya Morris and rookie second-rounder Kingsley Suamataia – one that the team has every intention of letting unfold through camp and the preseason. In the last week, one outlet bought up some of Morris’s stock as the winner.
In an article for CBS Sports, Josh Edwards dove into his 2024 All-Breakout Team. Focusing on players on rookie contracts, the list includes Morris alongside Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Broderick Jones.
“Morris has shown NFL talent since his time at Tennessee but his career has been defined by inconsistency to this point,” Edwards wrote. “A right tackle at Oklahoma, Morris will now compete with second round pick Kingsley Suamataia for the starting left tackle position. The lack of urgency to sign a veteran in free agency suggests that Kansas City may have more confidence than the general public in protecting Patrick Mahomes’ blindside. Last season, the third round pick was beaten on 4.9% of 223 pass blocking snaps, according to TruMedia.”
There are a couple of different ways to view the Chiefs’ offseason planning at left tackle. On one hand, Morris was a Day 2 draft pick who wasn’t necessarily bad during his rookie campaign. Instead of bringing in a proven veteran to start over him, the club is leaving the door wide open for him to win the job. On the other hand, Suamataia is brimming with upside and was a more premium Day 2 pick in his own right. The BYU product is a direct competitor to Morris, which is a sign that the Chiefs weren’t confident enough in the more experienced player to step right into the role.
At the end of mandatory minicamp last month, head coach Andy Reid briefly spoke about the contest between the two players.
“Listen, they’ve both done a nice job,” Reid said. “So [we] like the production we’re seeing from both of them. Both of them are young guys. We’ll just see how it all finishes up through camp — it’s a good competition. We’re going to end up playing the five best guys, and we’ll go from there. We’ll just see how it all plays out.”
The 4.9% figure Edwards highlighted is a selling point for Morris. At times last season, while he relieved the injured Donovan Smith, Morris put up some genuinely good reps on tape. In other instances, though, he looked like someone who was still adjusting to life in the NFL. Pro Football Focus gave him a 55.6 overall grade for the year, with him posting pass blocking grades of at least 73 in three of the games he played heavy snaps in.
If Morris outshines Suamataia in camp, he’s the hands-down favorite to eventually be named the starter. In that scenario, he alters the trajectory of his career in a major way. Winning the job in year No. 2 puts him back on track to be the left tackle of the future. Conversely, sitting on the bench and watching Suamataia start his first NFL game in Week 1 could spell doom for the Morris experiment. The next month is critical for both players.
Morris simply has more on the line, and Edwards believes he could rise to the occasion.
Read More: All Three Chiefs Interior Linemen Ranked Among Top 10 in NFL Survey
Source link : https://www.si.com/nfl/chiefs/gm-report/wanya-morris-makes-2024-all-breakout-team-list
Author :
Publish date : 2024-07-14 11:09:34
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
