As the legendary Ricky Bobby once said “if you ain’t first, you’re last”.
The Kansas City Chiefs will be taking no physical or moral victories home from Super Bowl 55.
They were demolished by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on both sides of the ball for four quarters.
Super Bowl 55 was the first time the Chiefs were held to single-digit points w/ Patrick Mahomes as their QB pic.twitter.com/4G8kHea1Wz
— PFF (@PFF) February 9, 2021
The offense didn’t allow Patrick Mahomes to stand in the pocket for more than 1.5 seconds.
The defense had no answers for TB12, Gronk, or Leonard Fournette.
A game that had the potential to be the best Super Bowl ever, turned into a blowout.
The Chiefs now head into the offseason with a lot more questions than answers.
It all starts with 6 picks in the 2021 NFL Draft and making sure they address some major holes.
1: Offensive Line
This is the biggest “gee, no kidding!” moment I have ever written about.
Everyone loves to point to the fact that the Chiefs starting offensive line was decimated by injury for the game.
What everyone ignores is the lack of quality depth behind the starters.
Total pressures in Super Bowl 55:
🔸 Bucs – 38
🔸 Chiefs – 5 pic.twitter.com/2KF2I8ImZS— PFF (@PFF) February 8, 2021
Whatever happened to “next man up”?
Mike Remmers had to fill in at LT and got blown up just as he did with the Panthers in Super Bowl 50.
Andrew Wylie was moved from RG to RT, so Stefen Wisniewski filled in at RG.
At LG you have Nick Allegretti who replaced Kelechi Osemele back in week 6.
Then you have your only starter from day 1, C Austin Reiter who was benched for two weeks in the middle of the season.
So, what is the answer?
I would say draft 6 offensive linemen, but that might be an overreaction.
With the 31st, 62nd, 93rd pick in the NFL draft the Chiefs select… an entire new offensive line.
— Luke Moehle (@LukeMoehle) February 8, 2021
The Chiefs need depth and they need young depth.
Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher were both out of the Super Bowl with injuries and will be free agents in 2022.
You need to find replacements for them now so you will be ready when they get the boot next offseason.
If they get lucky, they can draft one of the best interior offensive linemen in the country, OG Wyatt Davis.
Davis is fast, physical, and has the ability to get downfield to block on the second level for the Chiefs outside zone schemes like jet sweeps.
The list goes on and on with who they can draft, but this would be a good start.
2: Linebacker
Let’s be honest, we have not seen Leonard Fournette do anything productive in a while.
In Super Bowl 55 though, if he got past the defensive line (Chris Jones), he was going for at least 12-15 yards.
Those Chiefs linebackers are not built to tackle a man like Fournette or Rob Gronkowski who had 2 TDs on the day.
The Chiefs need some power hitters to help set the tone for that defense.
1st draft pick @Chiefs https://t.co/XRt7pBe9Wd
— P 〄 P S 🦩 (@POPARTSHAW) February 11, 2021
I don’t know if she is available, but let’s give her an NFL combine workout at the very least.
If the Chiefs got bold, they could grab the best LB prospect in the draft in the first round, Micah Parsons.
It’s one of my favorite times of the year: scouting for the draft. First up, Penn State LB Micah Parsons. Read and reacting to the run is one of the most crucial things I always look for in an LB. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/OpOwVJKhJd
— 🧀 Run The Film 🧀 (@PackChalkTalk) February 10, 2021
No delay in that tape to diagnose the run, attack in the hole, and put the RB on the ground.
This is an immediate need for the Chiefs, just like OL, so if Parsons is still on the board, they have a tough choice to make.
3: Wide Receiver
Fight me on this all day, I won’t change my mind!
You need some kind of size at the WR position and it showed in the Super Bowl.
There were several times when Mahomes was running for his life, he threw a jump ball in the area of a WR.
Every single time, the Bucs defender won because when it comes to jump balls, the more physical guy wins.
The Chiefs’ current roster is a track team and all below 6′ tall with the exception of Sammy Watkins, but who cares.
It might not be an immediate need, and they can probably bring in some cheap options in free agency, but they need youth as well.
They need to look at someone like TE/WR Kyle Pitts from Florida who is 6’6″ and 250 lbs but can still run a 4.7 40-yard dash.
There is no way the Chiefs draft him based on position and other needs, but there are other players with his size and skill set.
.@AthlonSports named #FSU’s explosive WR Tamorrian Terry (@TT1Batman) to its 1st Team ACC All-Conference Team
Last season, we clocked Terry at 23.4 mph on this 91-yard TD #myRAmaxspeed💨 We project Terry as a @biletnikoffawrd finalist@TomahawkNation | @Noles247 | #FSU pic.twitter.com/qQYbgiHlr9
— Recruiting Analytics (@RAanalytics) June 12, 2020
Tamorrian Terry is 6’4″, 210 lbs, and can absolutely fly down the field.
The main point here is he can contest deep balls and also take up a lot of space on crossing routes and slants.
He is not DK Metcalf, but that is the kind of role Terry could play for the Chiefs.
NEXT: Is Andy Reid A Hall-Of-Famer? (3 Reasons Why He Is)
