The Kansas City Chiefs don’t have many unanswered questions as they prepare for their first taste of playoff action in 2025. For the most part, the well-rested back-to-back champions are set to turn their December developments into January victories. However, at one of the most important positions on the field, Kansas City still has uncertainty.
The Chiefs’ carousel at left tackle has spun with varying degrees of speed throughout Kansas City’s 2024-25 season. A disastrous debut from rookie left tackle Kingsley Suamataia led to second-year lineman Wanya Morris’s move to the starting lineup early in the year before a mix of injuries and poor play sent Morris back to the sideline.
The Chiefs signed former Arizona Cardinals left tackle D.J. Humphries to become KC’s next starter, but a hamstring injury prevented Humphries from completing his first game as a Chief, sidelining him until the Chiefs’ meaningless Week 18 finale against the Denver Broncos.
Humphries took 94% of the Chiefs’ snaps against the Broncos, but alongside KC’s backups and with no noticeable strategic game plan to speak of, that percentage resulted in just 32 total snaps for Humphries, though it did provide him a chance to get full-speed NFL action against the Broncos’ starting pass rush.
For Kansas City’s final stretch of meaningful regular season action, Thuney started at left tackle and performed admirably, though his move to tackle takes him out of his natural position and forces backup guard Mike Caliendo into the starting lineup.
On Tuesday, head coach Andy Reid was asked about the Chiefs’ playoff plan at left tackle, as Saturday’s game against the Houston Texans is just around the corner.
“Yeah, I’m gonna see how it goes this week,” Reid said. “I’m [going to] rotate ’em so it gives us some flexibility there, but I was happy with what Joe and Mike did in there. But I also liked what D.J. did in some of those snaps that he had — there weren’t a lot of them, but the snaps that he had — against Denver.”
Reid then clarified that Thuney and Humphries would rotate reps in practice.
“Yeah, in practice,” Reid reiterated. “Then we’ll just see. We’ll see how it goes.”
