Getty Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
With the preseason officially over for the Kansas City Chiefs, the team now has until 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, August 30 to shave its roster down from 80 to 53 players.
The gap in between the preseason finale and the roster cutdown deadline has no doubt brought about plenty of projections already regarding how Kansas City’s roster shapes out. But one projection, in particular, from the Chiefs Wire has an interesting omission from the 53-player roster that’s worth discussing.
Chiefs Predicted to Cut Rookie 5th-Round Pick
Inside the 53-man roster projection for Chiefs Wire’s Charles Goldman is a prediction that rookie fifth-round pick offensive lineman Darian Kinnard will be cut. Goldman has the Chiefs rolling with these nine offense linemen: Orlando Brown Jr., Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith, Andrew Wylie, Geron Christian, Nick Allegretti, Austin Reiter, and Prince Tega Wanogho.
“Probably the biggest change to my 53-man projection this week is that Kinnard is no longer making the roster,” Goldman wrote on August 27. “I was already considering this in each of the past two projections, but the fact that he continued to work with the third-string offensive line in preseason Week 3 was the nail in the coffin for me. I still think there is potential there, but he needs to earn the trust of the coaching staff. I feel like Wanogho is the safe option for Kansas City after he was on the 53-man roster for a portion of last season.”
Heading into training camp, Kinnard was projected to win the starting right tackle job in Kansas City. However, his play throughout the summer could have him on the outside looking in when it comes to making the Chiefs’ regular season roster.
Who is Chiefs’ Projected Starting RT?
Kinnard being projected as a cut candidate allows for one big question to be asked: Who won Kansas City’s starting right tackle job this summer?
When training camp began, Kinnard, Andrew Wylie, and Lucas Niang were the top three players expected to compete for that job. With a slow start to Kinnard’s NFL career and Niang being placed on the reserve/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, Wylie has been thrust into the starting right tackle spot.
Head coach Andy Reid gave a vote of confidence for Wylie being the starter.
“Yeah, so I’d tell you Andrew (Wylie) is doing a nice job,” Reid said during his press conference on August 16. “So we’re excited about him and the way he’s playing. And then the other guys are trying to chase him. It’s good competition, and we’ll see how it all works out. But Andrew did a nice job for us last year when he had a chance, and he’s done well for us now.”
The first time will get to Wylie as the full-time starter for the Chiefs this season will be in Kansas City’s regular season opener on the road against the Arizona Cardinals on September 11. At that point, we will know if the Chiefs should be making phone calls to get another right tackle into the building.