The Chiefs ended their season with a trip to the Super Bowl for the second straight year, but their matchup with Tampa didn’t go as well as last year’s game against the 49ers.
Kansas City got thumped 31-9 as the Buccaneers pass rush kept Patrick Mahomes and the offense from generating the kind of production the team has thrived on for the last few years. The Chiefs fielded a patchwork offensive line for that game due to injuries and guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif’s decision to opt out and General Manager Brett Veach discussed his approach to putting together a better unit at a Monday press conference.
“I think it will be a combination of what we have in house and blending that with some new talent,” Veach said, via Matt McMullen of the team’s website.
Veach said he likes what he’s seen of this year’s draft prospects on the offensive line, which is one way to add new talent to a group that includes four impending free agents in Kelechi Osemele, Austin Reiter, Mike Remmers, and Daniel Kilgore. As for in-house players, the G.M. said he’s hopeful tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz will be ready during training camp and that would be a step in the right direction for the team’s pass protection next season.