Wanya Morris, Kingsley Suamataia in camp competition for Chiefs starting spot at left tackle

Published Jul. 23, 2024 4:09 p.m. ET

Associated Press

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid has a good idea of four of the five spots on his team's offensive line.

Joe Thuney will be at left guard, Creed Humphrey at center, Trey Smith at right guard and Jawaan Taylor at right tackle.

The biggest question now falls on left tackle, where second-year pro Wanya Morris and rookie Kingsley Suamataia are locked in a training camp competition.

And with a little less than a week of seeing the two players work without pads, Reid knows it’s too early to declare a winner.

“We’ll just see how it goes,” Reid said. “You obviously want to get the guys reps in there and all that, but you also want to make sure you get the best guy in there.

“So, you give them a chance to play with one another as far as the guards and tackles go and see what the best match is there and how they fit together.”

The Chiefs have rotated Morris and Suamataia with the first-team offense during the early stages of training camp.

But the 6-foot-6, 307-pound Morris, the Chiefs’ third-round pick in 2023, appeared to get all the first-team repetitions during Tuesday’s practice, which emphasized a lot of passing during 11-on-11 team drills.

“He’s doing a nice job,” Reid said of Morris, who started four games in 2023. "Everything is kind of pass; you’re not doing a ton of running here. But from what we’re asking him to do, he’s done a nice job."

The 6-foot-4, 326-pound Suamataia worked mostly with the second-team offense. But the Chiefs’ second-round pick in the 2024 draft has done his share of impressing.

“He’s a great listener,” Taylor said of Suamataia. “He’s definitely willing to soak in anything that we give him, any coaching points. I think he’s doing well; he’s definitely meshing well with the offense."

Whichever player emerges as the eventual starter will represent a positional transition for the Chiefs.

The Chiefs hardly worried about the left tackle position with Eric Fisher, who was a mainstay at the spot from 2014 to 2020.

Then, the Chiefs traded for Orlando Brown in 2021, and Brown handled the left tackle position for two seasons before signing a four-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals during the 2023 offseason.

The past season produced uncertainty, as the Chiefs brought in veteran Donovan Smith on a one-year deal to play left tackle last season. Smith, however, is now a free agent, which opened the door for Morris and Suamataia to compete for the job.

But as Reid points out, the early stages of training camp won’t determine the eventual winner. There is no contact allowed during the unpadded practices of camp, and the Chiefs have mostly stuck with pass-heavy sessions during the morning workouts.

Where Morris and Suamataia will need to stand out — and perhaps separate from each other — occurs when full pads come on Friday.

And with it, a more diverse playbook with balanced practices for the competitors to show what they can do.

“Once you mix the pass and the run in, that’s what you got to get in going here,” Reid said. “The run is all curbed down to where it’s almost just fits, so it’s not quite the same.”

NOTES: Reid said rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy is ill and has not fully recovered for practice. “He’s getting better, but not ready to practice yet,” Reid said of the Chiefs’ 2024 first-round pick … Defensive lineman BJ Thompson, who suffered a cardiac arrest in early June, was present observing his teammates practice. “It was great to see him standing around and watching, but he’s not ready to go,” Reid said. “But it’s good to see him standing upright, right? That’s a positive thing.” … Guard Joe Thuney (pectoral) remains on the physically unable to perform list, but Thuney’s absence has allowed the Chiefs to give Lucas Niang, who normally plays tackle, some reps there. “This is a good time to do that, during this ramp-up period,” Reid said. “When they’re not in pads, just get them familiar with those areas.”

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