Forget Pass Rushers and Receivers — What Is Andy Reid Really Targeting in the Draft?

The Chiefs have been linked to several pass rushers and receivers ahead of the NFL draft, but the closer we get to the event the more rival executives keep mentioning a very different position as the one they think Hall of Fame head coach Andy Reid covets.

Veteran personnel executives, noting that quarterback Patrick Mahomes is coming off serious injury and Kansas City is picking far higher than the perennial Lombardi Trophy contender is accustomed to, believe that Reid is more intent on improving his offensive line than anything else, and particularly his quarterback’s blind side.

“You guys can write whatever you want in your mock drafts, but I know Andy Reid,” said one longtime NFL executive. 

“I know how he thinks. And he knows his tackles aren’t good enough.”

Another veteran exec with past ties to Reid expressed a very similar sentiment. “I have him taking a tackle,” the exec told SportsBoom.us.  

“I think it could be Georgia (Monroe Freeling), or it could be Alabama (Kadyn Proctor). Either of those two look like an Andy Reid left tackle. And there tackle from Utah, that’s where Andy is from. You don’t think he likes that kid (Spencer Fano)?”

Strange Spot For The Chiefs

Kansas City’s stranglehold on the AFC West weakened last season and even before Mahomes’s season-ending surgery the offense was not up to Reid’s caliber. They could not run the ball with any vigor or explosion, and the system was undermined far too often at the point of attack. The Chiefs have tried stopgaps in the past and some recent draft picks have not turned out. Mahomes has the unique brilliance to help turn lesser targets into supreme pass catchers, but he can’t block for himself.

“Why do you think (Eagles GM) Howie (Roseman) is always drafting offensive linemen?” the first exec noted, pointing to Reid’s long stint as the Eagles head coach before coming to Kansas City. “Where do you think he learned that?”

Offensive line is the position expected to provide the most depth in the first round (over under is 7.5 drafted of the first 32 selections), and it’s hard to imagine Reid passing on that tier. And if he goes that route at pick 29 there could still be a receiver or tight end he likes still on the board, or perhaps a pass rusher there.