Niang is willing to play through injury
Tearing his hip before the 2018 season, Niang pushed through and didn’t get surgery until the following year. If it weren’t for the injury, it was likely that he would have gone before the 96th pick.
“I tore my hip going into fall camp junior year, 2018. Played through it. Found out it was torn in the offseason. I didn’t want to get surgery, so I tried to figure that out. I just played as long as I could play,” said Niang. “It was lingering. I was telling the trainers I couldn’t lift my leg up all the way. But I was able to do it. But ’19, it just progressively kept getting worse and worse. I couldn’t really do my technique. I couldn’t play my game.”
The Chiefs had problems keeping their offensive line healthy throughout the whole season, so having someone who is willing to tough out a potentially minor injury is certainly a plus. What the team obviously doesn’t want is an extended absence or for Niang to get the label of injury-prone.