Tag: Martinas Rankin

Chiefs place OL Martinas Rankin on PUP list

Rankin also starts the season off on the PUP list.

The Kansas City Chiefs have also placed OL Martinas Rankin on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list according to the NFL’s official transaction report.

Rankin, 25, suffered a knee injury during the Chiefs’ Week 10 loss against the Tennessee Titans. We’d find out the following Monday that the injury was a season-ending injury. The only description we ever heard about Rankin’s injury is that it was to his patella.

The Chiefs acquired Rankin in trade with the Houston Texans, swapping RB Carlos Hyde ahead of the 2019 season.

Like Thornhill, who was also added to the PUP list today, Rankin can participate in Chiefs’ team meetings, do solo conditioning and work with the team training staff. He’s simply prohibited from practicing with the team while he’s on the PUP list.

Rankin can also be activated from the PUP list at any time during training camp. If he remains on the PUP list through training camp he’ll be sent to the reserve/PUP list to start the seasons. From there he’ll have to wait six weeks before he can return to practice. After those six weeks, another six-week window will open where he can resume practicing. If he doesn’t return to practice during that window, the Chiefs will be forced to place him on injured reserve.

This one is a real bummer because Rankin had some serious potential to come in and earn a starting job for Kansas City. He played really well filling in for Andrew Wylie at LG starting in Week 6 of the 2019 season. Now, he’ll likely be competing for a reserve job when he returns from the PUP list.

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Mitchell Schwartz confident in Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive line depth

Schwartz thinks that the Kansas City Chiefs can withstand some losses along the offensive line.

The biggest question for the Kansas City Chiefs entering training camp is who will earn the vacant jobs at left and right guard. The team will be without former starters Stefen Wisniewski and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. Wisniewski left in free agency to join the Pittsburgh Steelers and Duvernay-Tardif has opted out for the 2020 season.

As things start to gear up for training camp, right tackle Mitchell Schwartz is feeling very confident in the group of players that Brett Veach has brought in. Whether it’s the rookies or the free agents, Schwartz knows that they’ll all be ready for whatever is thrown their way.

“In terms of new guys, we have guys who have been here and a couple of new guys,” Schwartz said. “That’s something that Coach [Andy] Heck has been extremely good with in terms of moving people around and making sure that throughout training camp and the practice time, he’s cross-training as many people as possible so that when you inevitably do have guys get hurt or something happens, you’re not playing next to someone that you’ve never played with before. Even if it’s drill-to-drill, it doesn’t really matter where you line up, you just kind of get a feel for who is next to you. We’ve got a lot of good players. I think our offensive line is going to be awesome this year. It’s nice to get back into the normal swing of things.” 

While Schwartz says the offensive line won’t really get a feel for things until they get into pads, he’s not worried. They’ll be getting just as many padded practices as they normally would. That means there will be no disadvantages as he gets used to someone new working at right guard. Schwartz does seem to have a preference toward lining up next to one of the veteran players on the team.

“Honestly, with the older guys, I think that the longer they’ve played, the easier it is to mesh them together,” Schwartz said. “Obviously, K.O. [Kelechi Osemele] has had an awesome career and [Mike] Remmers has too. Those are guys who understand how to play with people and next to people. That’s something that I’m not too worried about. [Martinas] Rankin played great last year. I was really excited to see him keep progressing. It was a bummer, my injury kind of made him get hurt as well because he had to move to right tackle. I hope to see him healthy. I don’t know what exactly his status is going to be, but I know that he played really well last year. I’m excited to keep seeing that growth. We’ve seen offensive lineman get injured every year. It could be one, it could be five. They’ve always had really good depth here, and that’s what’s allowed us to keep having success.” 

Left tackle Eric Fisher seemed to have a preference toward playing next to a veteran player too, so that’s certainly something to watch as training camp progresses. But as Schwartz explained, the depth on the offensive line is what will make this group successful. Offensive line coach Andy Heck will likely have guys playing at a number of different spots during camp, not only to find out their best position but so they’re prepared in the event of an injury.

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Chiefs send OL Martinas Rankin to IR, sign OT Jackson Barton

The Kansas City Chiefs have sent Martinas Rankin to IR and signed an offensive tackle from the Indianapolis Colts practice squad.

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The Kansas City Chiefs made a pair of roster moves on Monday. Following the report that offensive lineman Martinas Rankin suffered a season-ending knee injury, we now have some clarity on that situation. According to the NFL’s transaction report, the team has opted to place Rankin on the injured reserve list.

Rankin joined the Chiefs this season in a trade that sent running back Carlos Hyde to the Texans. He’d been starting at left guard since Week 6 after Andrew Wylie suffered an ankle sprain. The move to place Rankin on IR suggests his season is over.

In a corresponding move, the Chiefs have signed a rookie offensive tackle from the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad. Jackson Barton was a seventh-round draft pick by Indianapolis out of Utah. His brother Cody plays linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks. Jackson was making well over the weekly minimum on the practice squad, with the Colts shelling out $20,000 a week to keep him there. That alone shows you what they thought of him.

Barton didn’t make the 53-man roster out of the preseason and spent the first 10 weeks of the season on the Indianapolis practice squad. At 6 feet 7 and 302 pounds, Barton is a big body that is better suited playing tackle than he is in the offensive interior. He has experience playing both left and right tackle.

Given the injury concerns for the Chiefs, Barton might have to get up to speed quickly. Eric Fisher has been out recovering from a groin injury, and Mitchell Schwartz was dinged up in Week 10. If Barton fills a similar role to Rankin in Kansas City, expect him to be listed on the depth chart as the backup right tackle with the ability to fill in at other spots as well.

Report: Chiefs LG Martinas Rankin’s knee injury believed to be season-ending

Martinas Rankin’s injury appears to be a serious one that could cost him the remainder of the 2019 season.

The Kansas City Chiefs fear the worst with left guard Martinas Rankin’s knee injury.

According to a new report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the belief is that Rankin’s knee injury will end his 2019 season. Rapoport described the injury as an injury to his patella. He also says the Chiefs are still awaiting the results of an MRI.

Rankin joined Kansas City via Houston in a player-for-player trade involving RB Carlos Hyde. He’s actually been a bright spot along the offensive line after struggling early in his career with the Texans

The Chiefs have suffered multiple injuries along the offensive line this season. Their starting left guard, Andrew Wylie, suffered an ankle injury in Week 5. Rankin filled in for Wylie, starting the last five games for the Chiefs, beginning with their Week 6 game against Houston.

Now it appears the remainder of his 2019 season is in doubt and losing him will be a big blow to Kansas City’s offensive line depth.

“…Rankin hurt his right knee,” Reid said following Sunday’s loss. “We’ll know more tomorrow once we get the MRI.”

Andy Reid was brief on Sunday when it came to Rankin’s injury, but you already knew this had the chance to be serious when the cart came out for Rankin during the game. Pending MRI results it appears like this promising young player will have to focus on his rehab and recovery moving forward.

Part of the reason that Rankin was so appealing in trade is because of his contract. He’ll remain under team control through 2021 at the very least. There’s no reason to believe that he won’t be able to return to action for Kansas City next season and pick up right where he left off.

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