The Kansas City Chiefs are set to face the Atlanta Falcons in a crucial Week 3 matchup on Sunday Night Football with a chance to earn their third win of the regular season.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid made the difficult decision to bench rookie left tackle Kingsley Suamataia in favor of Wanya Morris for the highly-anticipated game after he struggled against the Cincinnati Bengals last week.
Though Suamataia is expected to get a chance to regain his starting spot, Reid’s decision to play Morris instead of Kansas City’s 2024 second-round pick left some fans reeling.
Former Chiefs star Mitchell Schwartz, who was a lynchpin on Kansas City’s offensive line from 2016 until 2020, took to Twitter to explain what he thinks is going through Reid’s mind and expressed confidence in the long-tenured head coach’s call.
https://twitter.com/MitchSchwartz71/status/1837873175419326746
“It’s an interesting one because it’s not really yes or no. I think Wanya is the better player right now. Usually when you’re deciding between two players, as long as it’s close you’ll go with the young guy because they can learn and improve more than an older player. But Wanya is young too so age becomes less of a factor.
In terms of technique, I think Wanya gets to his spot and uses his outside hand better. You’ll see that in the video I posted. He protects the top of the pocket better than Kingsley right now, which is important for a Left Tackle (duh). Kingsley shows all the ability to do it, if you saw my week 1 breakdowns, but it’s not consistent.
On that note, the other thing is Wanya doesn’t necessarily lose fast. When Kingsley loses right now it’s on initial contact and he’s beat quickly. Tough for the QB when that’s the case, because Pat usually gets the ball out fast, so if you’re giving up multiple pressures and sacks that affect him it’s a big problem.
All that being said: I think it’s the right call for now. Wanya is the better player from what I’ve seen, and they’re both young. Kingsley’s issues are more technique based, so give him some time to work on that in practice while staying ready should an injury occur. Just got to make sure he stays sharp mentally and doesn’t take it too hard.”
Though Schwartz isn’t on the Chiefs’ coaching staff, his insight helped illuminate Reid’s philosophy on the matter and should help fans cope with the idea of benching a highly touted prospect during a primetime matchup.
Stay tuned to Kansas City’s matchup against Atlanta to see if Reid made the right decision to bench Suamataia and start Morris.