The Kansas City Chiefs looked to upgrade their offensive lineup this offseason, moving on veteran Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wiley.
They signed both Jawan Taylor and Donovan Smith in free agency to gain new bookends to protect star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. One of those players is named in PFF’s 2023 offensive tackle rankings, which lists the 32 best players at the position (not including rookies) going into the 2023 NFL season.
Taylor came in at number 24 and here’s what PFF’s Gordon McGuinness had to say about him:
Taylor’s grading profile is one of the most interesting at the position. He earned a 75.9 PFF pass-blocking grade in 2022 that tied for 30th and a 39.7 PFF run-blocking grade, which was the worst among starting offensive tackles.
Now, the Chiefs believe they managed to get an upgrade in Taylor, but did they really? The PFF doesn’t seem to agree because Taylor ranks lower on the list than Brown Jr., who came in 14th as one of the NFL’s “high-floor” players. It’s rich that mentions his overall grades over the past five seasons, but what they don’t mention is that Brown Jr. finished the 2022 NFL season with the most passers in the league at 58. Willey was second in the 54. Taylor came in 40th for the entire season with only 21 pressures allowed.
Taylor is also ranked as the fifth best offensive tackle in the AFC West, along with Colton Miller (8), Rashaon Slater (9), Mike McGlinchey (21) and Garrett Boles (23).
It is abundantly clear that in the 2023 NFL season, Taylor has some doubters to prove wrong.
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