Return of Lucas Niang could be massive for Kansas City Chiefs

Lack of offensive line depth absolutely killed the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. The injury suffered by starting left tackle Eric Fisher in the AFC Championship Game was the straw that finally broke the camel’s back and the offensive line simply did not stand a chance against the extremely talented Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive line.

Simply getting healthier will undoubtedly help the Chiefs’ offensive line next season. Fisher tearing his Achilles so late in the season will likely rule him out for all of 2021, but All-Pro right tackle Mitchell Schwartz could return from his back injury. On top of getting Schwartz back into the mix, getting starting right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif back from his opt-out season will help in a major way.

Duvernay-Tardif is not only a fantastic offensive lineman, but he is also a medical doctor who opted-out of the 2020 season to help with the COVID-19 pandemic. It was an incredibly heroic decision for him to make, putting his football career on hold to use his talents to help out where he was needed more.

The Kansas City Chiefs will undoubtedly be excited to get Duvernay-Tardif back on the field should he choose to make that decision, but he is not the only Chiefs’ offensive lineman who decided to opt-out of the 2020 season. Kansas City selected TCU offensive tackle Lucas Niang in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, and while he did not leave the team to save the world like his doctor teammate, Niang also decided to opt-out of the 2020 season.

With offensive line being a major need for the team this offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs will undoubtedly welcome Niang back with open arms.

Niang is a gifted player who may finally be healthy

Niang was a massive offensive tackle prospect in the 2020 NFL Draft who showed great mobility and power at the point of attack at TCU. He has extremely long arms, strong hands and moves well in pass protection. With Fisher expected to miss the entire 2021 season and Schwartz’s status unclear, Niang could end up being an extremely important player for Kansas City next season.

This opt-out decision could end up working out extremely well for Niang’s career in Kansas City. Niang played on an injured hip in his final college season and cut the year short to have surgery. The injury concerns likely caused him to fall in the draft, but his year away from the game theoretically should have given him time to get healthy.

After sitting out the 2020 season, the Chiefs should be expecting a fully healthy Niang ready to go next season. When he was fully healthy in college, Niang was an absolute monster at the offensive tackle position and without the injuries, he easily could have ended up being a first-round prospect. If he has progressed well through the hip injury, Niang will end up being an extremely important player for Kansas City in 2021.

The Kansas City Chiefs will need to address their offensive line situation this offseason and it will be difficult to know what to expect out of both Fisher and Schwartz going forward. That being said, having Niang back and healthy to fill in at one of those offensive tackle spots will undoubtedly help their situation.