The Kansas City Chiefs secured another win on Sunday with a triumph over the Las Vegas Raiders and for the most part, their offensive line did an impressive job. With a steady push from the interior and right tackle Jawaan Taylor performing well against Maxx Crosby, quarterback Patrick Mahomes looked comfortable all afternoon long.
There was a pretty glaring weak link, though. Second-year left tackle Wanya Morris struggled immensely in Week 8, committing a handful of penalties and failing to execute properly on several blocks. It was hands-down his worst outing of the season, which is bad news for a Kansas City team that is attempting to sort out who its long-term left tackle could be.
Despite the rough game for Morris, head coach Andy Reid doesn't seem worried. Speaking to the media on Monday, Reid emphasized that the penalties need to stop but reiterated how Morris (and rookie Kingsley Suamataia) are still young.
“Listen, we had too many penalties there, so we have to work on that [and] cut that back," Reid said. "We’re young and growing, so we have to just keep bearing down there.”
If this sounds familiar, it's because it is. Coming out of the Chiefs' bye week, Reid said both Morris and Suamataia can do better. A few days later, he named Morris his Week 7 starter and preached patience with the former third-round pick. This has been a pretty consistent message from Reid, even dating back to when Suamataia was benched in Week 2.
Let's expand on the last point. In that game against Trey Hendrickson and the Cincinnati Bengals, Suamataia committed a pair of offensive holding penalties and was credited by Pro Football Focus with four pressures given up on Mahomes. Morris surrendered the same number of pressures on Sunday, in addition to being flagged four times. His infractions included three instances of holding and one of illegal use of hands. At one point, he got called for holding on back-to-back plays.
PFF grades Morris as the No. 99 overall tackle (out of 120) and the 83rd-ranked man in pass blocking. Considering his lack of high-end play, there's a case to be made that the Chiefs should consider going back to their rookie. After all, he was a more premium draft pick and has a higher ceiling as a better athlete. He also could benefit from in-game reps, even with the growing pains. On the other hand, Morris has yet to even make a full season's worth of starts and might settle in if the team maintains a long leash on him.
As they say, patience is a virtue. Reid seems to have it in spades, at least at the left tackle spot. Although Morris failed in Week 8, he and the coaching staff both know what needs to be cleaned up.
