If not, he's not playing for us again and it's all moot.

I think he will be and if he goes out there and looks credible against Bonnito, there's no reason not to start him in the Divisional round.

"What's worked" has still be schematic more than it has been based on premier performance from Thuney. Thuney's been solid but by no means good at LT. We've simply schemed to help him and Pat's getting the ball out fast.

Keep doing that. Only do that with Humphries at LT and Thuney at LG.

That's WAY better than Thuney at LT and Caliendo at LG.

Just give your LT the help and schematic advantages you've been giving Thuney and you'll be fine there. And in the process massively upgrade your LG.

If he’s not put Kingsley out there..

Accidentally down voted. Meant to upvote.

I keep seeing Humphries couldn’t even make it a whole game. In reality we probably forced him in way before he was ready out of desperation.

And if he breaks down again, you move Thuney back.

I mean, it ain't THAT complicated.

Yes, don't understand why this even remotely seems controversial. Kudos for Thuney hanging in there, but if Humphries is a healthy go, the potential is higher for this offense all around, on the ground and in the air.

They have a path now to the SB, where a couple of weeks ago, I'm not sure we could say that confidently.

I think, it may be a bit controversial, because they have looked the best offensively with Thuney playing Left Tackle. Of course, we don't know how they would have looked had a healthy Humphries played Left Tackle with Thuney still playing Left Guard. I have a hunch they would have looked as good or better.

The key is, if Humphries is really healthy. If he's not, then I can understand leaving things the way they are.

Humphries being thrown into a playoff game after only playing in two games during the past year… assuming he’s able to play vs Denver… is a big risk.

I’d rather not mess with success and keep Thuney at LT.

He's going to have 3 weeks of practice for the staff to see what he's capable of. And, presumably, a game of live action against Denver.

That's plenty to know if he's capable of playing at the same level of Thuney at the position. It won't tell you if he's a GREAT LT, but it'll tell you if he's a passable one.

And that's all Thuney's really been.

The only glitch would be if they put him out there and then go back to hanging their LTs out to dry. But they can absolutely learn enough to know if they can play him in the same way they're presently using Thuney. And frankly, having Thuney at LG being able to help him will make him all the better.

Thuney having to do this with little help from Caliendo is massive. And makes me all the more confident that Humphries, with Thuney next to him, can easily provide the same level of performance.

Sure, but we now have a backup plan. If he looks like ass on the first drive in the divisional round, you put Thuney at LT. It's not like we'd be committing to Humphries for 12 quarters of playoff football by giving him another shot.

I think people underappreciate how much our coaches use the regular season as a time to tinker and try stuff. They give guys a long leash because we need to know if we can count on them or not in the playoffs. In the playoffs, that leash will be much shorter. If something's not working, you abandon it. Simple as that.

I struggle to see Humphries being favoured over Thuney from this point, I reckon they stick with Thuney, but if he's given the full game and plays great, sure, it's possible.

Suppose it partly depends on the longer term thinking on Kingsley. You won't get many better opportunities to see him at LT with so little consequence. But you'll need to give him some help. Humphries, maybe you put him on an island and see if it opens up another level to the offense that can be developed if he comes back next year, but that's maybe 2 seasons of Kingsley getting no real reps. Maybe you try each approach for a half? (!). I dunno, shame not to see both options.

Humphries hasn’t really played in a year. It wouldn’t be smart to start him over someone who plays the position much better than him anyway.

And it's the first 15.

I have ZERO doubt that Humphries can at least hold up over the first Scripted 15 when Andy's had 2+ weeks to prepare them and drill them in.

Even that drive or two, coming off a game in Denver (because again, I'm assuming he plays in Denver or its moot), will be plenty of time for him to get his feet under him.

This isn't Kingsley or Morris where they're just green and prone to falling into bad habits. Humprhies was drafted, I believe, the same year as Kelce (if not, it was close). Dude's been around a loooooong time. He knows how to play the position.

It's just a question of gameday stamina and a little rust. It shouldn't take long to knock the rust off and again, Andy can do a TON to help him (which he's doing now with Thuney anyway).

The only issue is Mahomes. If Pat goes out there skittish because he doesn't have Thuney over there, it'll be a problem. I think that would be wholly irrational of him, but there's no accounting for humans being human.

I have ZERO doubt that Humphries can give us at least what Thuney has. I think he can give us more. And I KNOW Thuney can give us more at LG than Caliendo has.

The offensive ceiling is substantially higher with DJ moved back to OT. And at some point against Baltimore, Buffalo, Philly or Detroit, we may NEED that offensive ceiling.

I guess we won't have to worry about that since we don't have one of those.

Andy absolutely loves long athletic tackles. And you know what Thuney isn’t? Long or athletic for a tackle. Caliendo can’t get to spots Thuney can in the run game for reach, screens and downfield blocking either. If Humphries is at a simmer this week bring him to a boil next week.

Perhaps so, and that DJ is right re confidence in Humphries as a vet. Would be VERY useful if Humphries can provide average at LT, just depends how confident the Chiefs are in him.

I laugh at all you guys who think Andy is willing to tinker with the LT position during a playoff game. The Chiefs just played 3 games in 11 days vs Cleveland, Houston, and Pittsburgh. They gave up one sack and had zero turnovers.

Trust me, they are not going to **** around during the first quarter of a playoff game.

That was really my thinking. Humphries might represent a higher ceiling for the whole of the OL, but I reckon they'll find it hard to move from a lineup that has seen a big overall improvement against some damn good pass rushers.

Valid. But if DJ looks good in practice and against the donkeys.. you don’t make him ride the pine..

I don't believe you go into a playoff game with the idea that you may have to pull your LT because he's not getting the job done. And you don't want to waste a roster spot on a guy who is going to get benched or won't be able to finish the game. If Humphries plays really well against the donks and comes out of it physically on the upside I guess there will be a conversation to be had but that's two big ifs. And if Mahomes has found a comfort zone with Thuney at LT then this isn't the time to mess with that after the O line woes we've had this year.

Didn't Smith come back from injury right before the playoffs last year? Reid will tinker with the line when it is a clear upgrade.

If Humphries had played and been the guy at LT during the season like Smith was that would make sense but he hasn't even played a full game. It's going to take something special for Humphries to show he's a clear upgrade. It's a longshot.

He doesn’t need to be an upgrade to Thuney at LT.

He just needs to be equal to Thuney at LT, which then gives us a clear upgrade at LG.

What does looking good in practice mean when they aren’t going full pads/contact?

People want to change what has been working with Thuney at LT… against three good pass rushing teams… for a guy in Humphries who has played one game of football in 12 months.

Looking good in practice= coachs like what they see. He checks all the boxes.

I'm sure we'd all like to see him in the game vs the Broncos to see how he looks.

Sounds good in theory but Humphries is going to have to show a lot to make that move. He's got to show he can play well enough and that he can do it for the whole game. And that's if he suits up at all. I had high hopes for Humphries but those have faded and to me this is just grasping at straws.

I found it very strange they didn't give more help to the tackles. I suppose they were seeing what they could handle and with Thuney they just knew he would be help. Idk.

My issue with that theory is that Mahomes clearly wasn't happy. If they were screwing around it would have stopped at that point. Yet it didn't seem, at least at first glance, that they were helping the other guys.

All of you fat, bucktoothed Humphries haters out there just need a good look at a REAL MAN... HIT THE MUSIC

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DJ is starting in the divisional round if physically able.

When I watch a game live, I have a tendency to follow the ball instead of watching things like line play. Netflix has a highlight package on Wednesday's game that includes 16 offensive plays by the Chiefs. On the first 15 plays, Thuney received no help. On the 16th play, the TD by Kelce, Hunt dropped a shoulder in to help Thuney on his way out into the flat to the left, but I am not sure Thuney would have needed the help. Almost looked more like Hunt trying to lure the defense into not paying attention to him so he could leak out free more than actually helping Thuney.

So 15 out of the 16 plays in the highlight package had no help for Thuney. We ran 59 plays, I would find it hard to believe Thuney is being given help as much as the narrative of a few posters here would leave one to believe.

Yes, unless there is a physical setback my guess is that is their plan. The game plan opens up more with an average LT there and an elite LG. A healthy Humphries can be average. It's not like you are putting an unproven rookie in there.

You can win with Thuney and quick throws for a game or two in the regular season, but it would be extremely difficult to do that in the playoffs after teams have the tape on you in that approach. Margin of error on the defensive side becomes almost nil.

Yes, the first scripted plays where he is getting the ball out with quick throws under 2 seconds, Thuney can work.

Here's the thing with this Humphries situation; the Chiefs have absolutely no commitment to him whatsoever. He was signed out of pure desperation. They were trying to avoid having to move Thuney to LT, probably out of fear of how the rest of the line would respond and obviously in particular how Caliendo would perform. Those fears have been put to rest.

Since we've seen the entire offense level up and literally get better with each passing game Thuney is at LT, I can't see a chance in living hell they are suddenly going to switch it up in the playoffs when Mahomes will have played all of one half with Humphries at LT. Could he be fine doing so? Absolutely, he's Pat. However, Thuney has proven he can handle the job and the rest of the line has made it work with him over there, and Pat looks more comfortable than he has in quite some time.

I think there's literally zero chance Humphries is starting in the playoffs, but I do think they'll try to keep him for next year. That makes the most sense the way things stand now.

All the plays are not in the first scripted plays, and not all of them are under 2 seconds. :shrug:

If (deciding factor) he is fully healthy he is the best option. You have almost a preseason of practices to get him up to speed with the offense. If you think you want to keep him next year, why would you hold him out for the playoffs?

Is practice really going to give him enough time to gel with Mahomes, though? I don’t know, if he looks back to his old self against Denver, maybe you consider it. That would certainly be ideal if he looks so damn good they can’t justify not putting him on the field.

Just based on Andy’s history, it doesn’t seem like the direction they’ll go, but Reid has also proven the last few years he isn’t as stuck in his ways as he has been in the past. I’m guessing no decision has officially been made, and they’ll see how it goes during the next few weeks. It’s just nice to know they don’t have to force anything if Humphries still doesn’t look ready to go. The ideal situation is he looks like a damn silverback next week and forces his way into the lineup. Would love to see it, both for the stretch run and being set for next year.

They put him out there after like 4 practices so I don't think 4 weeks is going to be too few, plus I suspect if he can go next week vs. Denver he will get some work there too.

I don't think anyone on here is expecting the Pro Bowl Humphries anymore, but he doesn't have to be. If Andy gets to open up his playbook even a little more with DJ...he is going to play. Health is the open question, not whether he is the best option if healthy.

My prediction is that Humphries will make this an easy decision.

He’s either going to look good against Denver, look bad against Denver, or not play against Denver.

Have you guys noticed the designed roll-outs with that cut-back type block by the running back? The Chiefs have been doing more of those the last couple games and for the most part they are working. Gets Mahomes out of the pocket and drags a WR or TE across the field.

If I was a betting man, this would absolutely be my bet. Something works well enough, the offense clearly improves as a result...I don't think they change that that quickly. Next year, yep, seems possible

If Hump is healthy, he'll play some in playoffs, depending on how he looks thru Denver game. Splitting playing time between the 3 would be good.

I feel like VAChief has bought some DJ Humphries stock or something. Even if he plays vs Denver, which I don't think is a sure thing, I don't see him being the starter in the playoffs.

I really don't know what we are going to do. And I have not watched every single offensive play to know for sure how much help Thuney is getting over at LT. But the narrative around here by some posters leads one to believe that he is getting help nearly every play. The highlight package on Netflix doesn't seem to support that narrative.

If we go with Humphries, fine. But Thuney appears to be up to the task going forward, and if it ain't broke...

I’ve been part of this. It’s not every play but he gets significantly more help that Kingsley got. Tight ends, backs, rolling pockets and quick passing.

I’m good either way but if DJ looks comes back like ominihu and is 80% of himself that’s an upgrade at left tackle and left guard. I trust the staff to make the right call. But I dont understand the absolute unwillingness to a knowledgeable that dj even knocking the rust off should be an upgrade. He was getting better as he played before and came in completely cold. He was an upgrade to morris off of the surgery table.

It would be interesting to know how many plays Thuney had help on vs the Steelers. The highlight package would suggest it would be a number less than 4. And even the play he got a bit of help from Hunt, it is apparent he did not need any. That play was the TD catch by Kelce.

If he had come back earlier and we had evidence in a real game that he knocked the rust off, I'd be on board for it. Sorry, I dont really count the Broncos game when there's no stakes and we aren't running our typical offense with Mahomes under center. It's just not the same.

I really wanted him back for the Texans/Steelers gauntlet and he just wasn't.

I don't know that it's as much about chip help (wanya did too and still sucked). But mahomes being elite the past few weeks getting the ball out very fast helps a ton. We can't do that with wanya because the pocket gets pushed back so quickly. But could a halfway decent OT hold?

Because jawaan Taylor has also been much much better of late too. And that feels to me more about mahomes helping the RT versus the LT doing that.

No stock and hardly the only one suggesting that IF DJ is healthy it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Andy might prefer to roll with two all season radials on the left side than two spare tires.

Either way we are much better suited for a playoff run than 3 weeks ago.

If DJ is healthy he should play, period. Two games with Joe getting protected like crazy should not dictate who should play moving forward. If DJ plays vs the Donks and gets through that game fine then that's good enough for me.

But is Thuney getting protected like crazy? The highlight video of 16 plays says no.

Yes.

https://mnchiefsfan.substack.com/p/j...aliendo-vs-the

This was from the 24th of December. Christmas is on the 25th.

You expected him to rewrite the same article again on Christmas? He reiterated the take on yesterday's podcast.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">From weeks 15-17, Caliendo has been the lowest graded left guard in the league and the 2nd lowest guard. <a href="https://t.co/YD8dU4YBoj">pic.twitter.com/YD8dU4YBoj</a></p>— Shaun Newkirk (@Shauncore) <a href="https://twitter.com/Shauncore/status/1872692526186217889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

No. The game against the Steelers was on the 25th. Thuney had no help and did just fine on 15 of the 16 plays on the highlight video. And the one play he did have help, he didn't need it. He may be settling into the role.

Look, I am all for doing what is best for the Chiefs. From my eyeball test, the past two weeks have looked pretty damm good. Brown may be a big reason for that as well. But everyone looks comfortable and the offense is rolling. Thuney doesn't appear to need as much help as some here think he is getting.

Proof guards don't really matter.

And centers even matter less than that.

Yeah, just further solidifies the point that LT is the top priority in the 2025 off-season. Our All Pro LG goes out and provides basic competence at the position while a barely replacement level JAG takes his spot and Mahomes looks the most comfortable he has all season.

I dont disagree that Humphries playing at a competent level would be an improvement, but we're basically banking on him being healthy and looking good against Denver, then the next time he plays live football is the playoffs. Is that enough time? Are we really going to switch it up at the 11th hour when there are virtually no guarantees when it comes to Humphries health and playing level?

How is "let's see how his does" equal to "banking on it"? We have Thuney and Caliendo of we need it. All most of us are saying is that it would be nice if Humphries looks decent and can get Thuney back into his all pro role.

I'm not even sure what people are debating at this point. Is that take controversial?

Wasn’t Humphries as least as good as Thuney when he was in there for that one game. Or am I mis remembering ?

He got his ass kicked a few times, but he hadn't played football in a year. The hope is that he'd improve with a little time. Obviously the injury makes that tougher, though.

I'm finding hard to believe so many people are dead set on keeping Thuney out there, its a net plus if we can get him back to LG and get reasonable play from Humphries

Could be wrong we'll see but if I were a betting man, if DJ looks passable against Denver he will absolutely be the LT for the playoffs... Thuney at LT reminds me exactly of when Will Shields used to pull spot duty at LT

He performed admirably, but for as great of a guard as he was he never looked like a natural out there

You just have to throw Humphries out there against a talented Denver edge group and see how he does, then you decide.

I am kind of shocked that Caliendo is our best backup.

We normally have a better backup interior OL guy on the bench...

No help is a load of crap. Tight ends took a lot of the wide rush. The Steelers rush very wide. Baldinger just posted a video of Kelce and two of his blocks were Hightower on the edge. One handed off to thuney iirc.

I'm just debating the claim that Thuney is only able to get it done at LT because the Chiefs are giving him help. It looks to me like he is able to get the job done and he is not being helped to the degree some posters are claiming.

If Thuney is getting the job done solo, and nobody has given any rebuttal (video) to show that he isn't, then keep what is working going. The offense is gelling right now.

BuT mAhOmEs WoNt PlAy ItS nOt ReAl.

In the 16 plays on the highlight reel, he didn't have help on 15 of them. :shrug:

Didn't need help on the other one.

I'm not sure if Mahomes will allow anyone but Thuney play LT in the playoffs. I'm sure they will ask him who he feels most comfortable with after the Denver game and I doubt he's going to say a guy he's barely played with.

And the fastest time to throw of the season means nothing?

Not all of them were fast throws. Not all 15. Or 16. Whichever you prefer.

And if Humphries takes the spot in the playoffs, I would suggest staying fast with getting the ball out.

Mahomes did look less skittish with Thuney

His name was Allegretti and we lost him this last offseason :(

Yeah. Having confidence that you're not going to get blasted from your blindside on any given play makes playing QB a hell of a lot easier. Who knew?

He couldn't finish the game. Thats all there is to know.

A sample size of 15 out of 60+ this doesn’t seal the deal

He was rushed into action out of desperation after what 6 days on the roster? Can’t wholly blame him.

While true, I some how doubt the other 43 plays (there were 59) all resulted in help for Thuney.