The Kansas City Chiefs got as much as they could out of quarterback Patrick Mahomes. First they enjoyed the early years, which featured Mahomes running around making plays, receiver Tyreek Hill scoring touchdowns, and a younger Travis Kelce wreaking havoc in the middle of the field.
For the last few years, though, things have changed. The defense mostly carried Mahomes and company, with Mahomes working his Houdini act to make plays late in games the Chiefs sometimes had no business winning. This year Kansas City's football luck has turned on them with a vengeance, especially with Mahomes now out for the season.
Now it’s time to address the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball through the draft. The Chiefs had an offensive line that couldn’t protect Mahomes, and a pass rush that couldn’t get home, especially in the second half of the season.
Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic did a draft breakdown for multiple teams that are either eliminated from playoff contention or struggling to get in, and he summarized the issues Mahomes faced that pinpoint the offensive line issue.
Mahomes played through the second-highest pressure rate of his career at 38.1 percent, and he was hit 102 times this season, which was third in the league. He’s also 30 now, and Mahomes has been hit 210 times in teh last two seasons.
In theory, the Chiefs have already gotten a head start on rebuilding the offensive line with tackle Josh Simmons. But Simmons came into his rookie year with injury issues, and more of those surfaced recently with his wrist injury, plus the rookie tackle had to leave the team in midseason to deal with a personal issue.
Simmons needs to be more available, and the Chiefs need more around him. Tight end Travis Kelce may or may not retire, but the Chiefs need a better and younger backup than Noah Gray. They need a younger player who can either step in if Kelce calls it a career, or a developmental player who can learn for Kelce if he sticks around, not to mention multiple offensive lineman because of the injury pile up.
The good news here is that the Chiefs do have some draft capital. They have three picks inside the top 75, which is new territory for them given where they’ve been drafting for the last half-decade. They also need a pass rusher, either on the edge of in the middle of the line, to pick up the slack for Chris Jones’ lack of production.