The Kansas City Chiefs are approaching a danger zone of sorts with Kingsley Suamataia

The outlook for the Kansas City Chiefs’ left tackle position took a rather negative turn this past Sunday when starting left tackle Wanya Morris left the game temporarily with a knee injury, forcing the Chiefs to play rookie left tackle Kingsley Suamataia.

Suamataia hadn’t played a snap at left tackle since Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals, when he struggled mightily 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 grip on the starting left tackle spot with steady play, but he’s also had his fair share of struggles. When he went down Sunday against Denver, Suamataia got a big opportunity to step up and potentially reprise his spot as the Chiefs left tackle of the future. Unfortunately, that was not what Chiefs Kingdom saw.

Suamataia once again struggled tremendously, allowing multiple pressures in a Chiefs win too close to comfort, with the line playing poorly and the offense failing to convert in the red zone.

Not only was Suamataia’s performance disappointing for his long-term prospects, 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 some time. The health of the offense, and Patrick Mahomes, depends heavily on having a replacement player at left tackle.

In other words, Suamataia is unplayable. According to PFF, Suamataia currently ranks 124th out of 126 offensive tackles and has a pass-blocking grade of 32.6, which ranks 116th in the NFL. Those numbers tell the story. Chiefs cannot play Suamataia at any time for the rest of the season. It would be too great a risk to try again.

That was always the risk of trying to start a rookie left tackle in the first place. Rookie offensive tackles can be a mixed bag, especially if they are taken outside of the top 10-15 picks in the NFL Draft. Suamataia had the physical traits that came out of Brigham Young in the draft, but he’s a project in terms of technique, so he can’t be on the field regularly. Because of this, we are now approaching a kind of danger zone with Suamataia.

Basically, it means his clock has started. That might be a bit of a stretch for some fans as many of us knew that Suamataia was likely to struggle. However be unplayable is another story. Not only does Suamataia lack fundamentals in his game, but he makes the same mistakes over and over again. Things like hand placement and shallow dropbacks allow rushers to have a beeline directly to Mahomes, who took far too many unnecessary and violent hits with the rookie blocking on his blind side. You’d think that after his first benching, Suamataia would look improved in his next opportunity, but you could say he looked even worse. Kansas City will have to look at other options in the immediate future to keep the offense flowing if Morris can’t go.

The problem now is that the Chiefs will likely go into next year with no idea what they have with Suamataia if he is rightfully benched for the rest of the season. Kansas City can’t rely on him currently blocking for Mahomes, and understandably so, but how do you handle the position in the offseason? Is Wanya Morris the guy going forward? Investing another draft pick at offensive tackle? How does Suamataia factor into the plans with a complete dud of a rookie season? Those are questions the Chiefs will have to answer.

This does not mean that Suamataia cannot or will not be a good player. Most young tackles struggle early, but Suamataia’s play has been particularly 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 very early and even rotated in at left and right tackle before eventually settling in at left tackle, but a much higher investment was made in Fisher and there was a reason for that. Does Suamataia receive the same grace? It remains to be seen, but his play right now has major alarm bells ringing.

Perhaps Suamataia could find a home elsewhere along the offensive line in the future if it doesn’t work out at left tackle, but that’s looking pretty far ahead. Right now, all eyes will be on his development to see if he can show anything positive in the remaining eight weeks of the 2024 season.