The outlook of the Kansas City Chiefs' left tackle position took a rather negative turn this past Sunday when starting left tackle Wanya Morris temporarily left the game with a knee injury, which forced the Chiefs to play rookie left tackle Kingsley Suamataia.
Suamataia hadn't played a snap at left tackle since Week 2 versus the Cincinnati Bengals when he struggled immensely trying to block star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson. That performance would ultimately lead to Suamataia's benching in favor of Morris the following week against the Atlanta Falcons.
Since then, Morris has had a firm grasp on the starting left tackle spot with steady play, but he's also had his fair share of struggles. When he went down on Sunday against Denver, Suamataia was given a big opportunity to step up and potentially retake his spot as the Chiefs left tackle of the future. Unfortunately, that's not what Chiefs Kingdom saw.
Suamataia once again struggled immensely, allowing several pressures in a too-close-for-comfort Chiefs victory where the line played poorly and the offense failed to convert in the red zone.
Things are now fairly complicated when it comes to Kingsley Suamataia's outlook for the Chiefs.
Not only was Suamataia's performance discouraging in regards to his long-term outlook, but it also called for a potential midseason signing for someone like Donovan Smith who played left tackle for Kansas City last year if Morris ends up missing any amount of time. The health of the offense, and Patrick Mahomes, greatly depends on having a replacement level player at left tackle.
In other words, Suamataia is unplayable. According to PFF, Suamataia currently ranks 124th out of 126 offensive tackles and possesses a pass-blocking grade of 32.6 which ranks 116th in the NFL. Those numbers tell the story. The Chiefs cannot play Suamataia at any point for the rest of the season. It would be too great of a risk to attempt trying again.
That was always the risk of attempting to start a rookie left tackle in the first place. Rookie offensive tackles can be a mixed bag, especially if they're taken outside of the top 10-15 picks in the NFL Draft. Suamataia had the physical traits coming out of Brigham Young into the draft, but he's a project in terms of technique, which is why he can't be on the field regularly. Because of this, we're now approaching a sort of danger zone with Suamataia.
Essentially, this means that his clock has started. That may come as a bit of a stretch to some fans, since many of us knew Suamataia would likely struggle. However, being unplayable is a different story. Not only is Suamataia lacking fundamentals in his play, but he's making the same mistakes repeatedly. Things such as hand placement and shallow dropbacks are allowing rushers to have a beeline straight to Mahomes, who took way too many unnecessary and violent hits with the rookie blocking on his blindside. You would think that, after his initial benching, Suamataia would look improved in his next opportunity, but one could say he looked even worse. Kansas City will have to look to other options in the immediate future to keep the offense afloat if Morris cannot go.
The problem now is that the Chiefs will likely go into next year having no idea what they have with Suamataia if he is rightly benched for the rest of the season. Kansas City can't trust him at the moment to block for Mahomes, and understandably so, but then how do you handle the position in the offseason? Is Wanya Morris the guy going forward? Do you invest another draft pick into offensive tackle? How does Suamataia factor into the plans with a complete dud of a rookie season? These are questions the Chiefs will have to answer.
This isn't to say that Suamataia cannot or will not be a good player. Most young tackles struggle early on, but Suamataia's play has been especially alarming. We saw a similar situation play out with Eric Fisher after the Chiefs took him first overall in the NFL Draft years ago. He struggled a lot early and even rotated in at left and right tackle before eventually settling in at left tackle, but a much higher investment was made into Fisher and that was for a reason. Does Suamataia get the same grace? That remains to be seen, but his play as of right now is causing major alarm bells to go off.
Perhaps Suamataia could find a home at a different spot along the offensive line in the future if it doesn't work at left tackle, but that's looking pretty far ahead. Right now, all eyes are going to be on his development to see if he can show anything positive in the remaining eight weeks of the 2024 season.
