Wanya Morris goes down with short-term knee injury to watch for Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs have dealt with quite a bit of uncertainty in the first quarter of the season at the left tackle spot on the offensive line. After watching Wanya Morris go down with a first-quarter injury, they'll face further questions going forward.

Morris went down in the second quarter of the Chiefs' game against the visiting New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football in Week 5 with K.C. up 10-7. Morris went down holding his knee and needed immediate attention from the team's medical staff.

The Chiefs are likely back to Kingsley Suamataia at left tackle in the wake of Wanya Morris's injury.

In the wake of the loss of Morris up front, the Chiefs inserted rookie tackle Kingsley Suamataia in his place to take over protecting Patrick Mahomes' blindside.

The Chiefs drafted Morris in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma as a project tackle with the potential to eventually take over as a long-term starter up front. However, the Chiefs also signed Donovan Smith as a veteran free agent and he held onto the role for most of Morris' rookie year. It wasn't until a late-season injury to Smith that Morris finally took over and held onto it down the stretch for the Chiefs.

Coming into this season, Morris was expected to battle for the starting left tackle role with a new rookie pick in second-rounder Kingsley Suamataia, a high-upside target taken out of Brigham Young University in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The Chiefs inserted Suamataia with the first team from the very beginning, however, as it seemed like they wanted to see just how ready he could be by the start of the season. Suamataia was the primary starter at left tackle in minicamp drills and training camp practices and preseason games.

Coming into the regular season, the Chiefs even leaned on Suamataia as their starter next to Joe Thuney on the left side for the first two games of the year, but they eventually benched him and inserted Morris as a replacement going forward—a decision that's held until now.

The good news is that Morris was able to come back into the game after a few minutes on the sidelines, so clearly the injury wasn't as bad as it looked at first. Still, it will be something to watch going forward. Hopefully Morris remains okay and his knee stays healthy.