How Does Donovan Smith Signing Affect Chiefs Offensive Tackle Spot?

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The Kansas City Chiefs have added another name to their offensive tackle mix. Yesterday, the team signed veteran Donovan Smith. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, it is a one-year deal that is worth up to $9 million.

A former second-round pick, Smith has spent his entire eight-year career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Penn State product has played his entire career at left tackle. Overall, that includes 124 starts during his eight seasons with Tampa Bay.

Certainly, this move raises a few questions, as to how the Kansas City Chiefs will handle the offensive tackle spots. What does the addition of Donovan Smith mean for other offensive tackles on the KC roster? Let’s kick it off.

Donovan Smith Looking For Rebound Season

Donovan Smith could very well be given the chance to start for the Chiefs. If so, he will be looking to bounce back and rebound this upcoming season. Smith attempted to play through a hyperextended elbow injury in 2022. He suffered that ailment early on last year. Meanwhile, Smith was the source of many penalties for Tampa Bay last season. Some of those wiped out a fair bit of touchdowns for the Buccaneers.

Beforehand, Donovan Smith was a fairly steady player. He may not have been a star in his first seven seasons, by any means. At the same time, his consistency and dependable results worked for Tampa Bay for a long time. Last year was also such a challenging season for the entire Buccaneers offensive line. Perhaps, joining a stout Chiefs offensive line gets him back to being comfortable. Kansas City was one of the better units in limiting pressure and sacks in 2022.

Is Jawaan Taylor Staying At Right Tackle?

When the Chiefs signed Jawaan Taylor in free agency, there was a discrepancy between if he would play left tackle or right tackle. The contract that Kansas City handed out is a good enough comparable to what some other top left tackles are making in the league. But of course, Taylor has spent his entire professional career at right tackle while with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is probably willing and able to play left tackle if he really needed to. Yet, is it really worth doing another experiment of flipping a long-time right tackle to left tackle?

With Donovan Smith now in the fold, the Chiefs can just keep him and Taylor in their natural spots. If they wish to do that, with Smith at left tackle and Taylor at right tackle, Kansas City may be able to maximize each player at the top of their potential. We may hear the team say that there will be competition at one of the offensive tackle spots. Nevertheless, all indications are that Donovan Smith and Jawaan Taylor will be the starting offensive tackles come Week One. That seems to be even more true after the timing of this Smith signing.

How Does Smith Signing Impact Younger Offensive Tackles?

Above all else, it does not look like the Chiefs are very confident in Lucas Niang. Entering the draft, and even coming out of it with Wanya Morris, it appeared that Niang may get a shot to compete for the starting right tackle job. However, it has been a bumpy ride for him to this point.

Niang opted out of what would have been his rookie season in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He would then appear in 12 games on the offensive line in 2021, with nine starts. Unfortunately, Niang battled both inconsistencies and injuries that season. He would not end up being a factor on the offensive line last year.

As for Morris, the rookie is likely still to be a focal point for the future. His versatility, length and impressive movement skills will eventually allow him to see the field as a starter. But for now, he may be forced to wait and develop, as things currently stand.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs articles and analysis throughout the coming days. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.