Chiefs 'Seeing Improvement' from Kingsley Suamataia Despite Wanya Morris Starting

Although the Chiefs are sticking with Wanya Morris at left tackle, offensive line coach Andy Heck believes rookie Kingsley Suamataia is making progress.

Jul 22, 2024; St. Joseph, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia (76) walks down the hill from the locker room to the fields prior to training camp at Missouri Western State University. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Even with injuries continuing to impact the team in a significant way, the left tackle situation remains one of the Kansas City Chiefs' biggest question marks through seven games. The team appears to be giving second-year man Wanya Morris a long leash as he maintains the starting job, leaving rookie Kingsley Suamataia on the bench midway through his debut campaign.

Earlier this week, head coach Andy Reid doubled down on Kansas City having plenty of youth at that left tackle spot. Morris, after all, just turned 24 last month and Suamataia is only 21. Neither player is a finished product, and both have plenty of football ahead of them. That inexperience has certainly shown in games, though, as Suamataia's disastrous Week 2 got him removed from the starting lineup and Morris is coming off his worst game of the season.

The Chiefs are taking the good with the bad by moving in unison with Morris keeping his job, but that doesn't mean Suamataia isn't doing good things. Speaking to the media this week, offensive line coach Andy Heck gave his rookie a vote of confidence for having a good attitude and making progress behind the scenes.

"I've been pleased with Kingsley," Heck said. "He's been a good worker. He's a young player and he's got tons of things to improve upon but in terms of how he's responded, I mean, he's a positive guy in our room, takes coaching well. I feel like he works hard every day, and I've been pleased with that. And I've been seeing some improvement. We'll keep at it every day. Both he and Wanya, they are young players that are ascending and they will push each other."

When the Chiefs originally selected Suamataia with the 63rd overall pick in April's NFL Draft, this surely wasn't the developmental arc they had in mind for him. After productive stints in OTAs, training camp and the preseason, he was given the first-string job for Week 1. In just his second career game, however, the BYU product struggled immensely against Cincinnati Bengals pass rusher Trey Hendrickson. Since going to the bench late in that game, he's played sparingly and just joined in for six offensive snaps.

Despite fielding plenty of questions about a possible temptation to go back to Suamataia, Reid has consistently emphasized patience with that side of the offensive line. It helps when all four running mates are playing at a high level but at a certain point, Kansas City will want to get everything in order for a postseason run. Right now, that seems to include Morris being the preferred option at left tackle.

That doesn't spell the end of Suamataia, though.

Read More: Jawaan Taylor on Contract Restructuring and KC's Push to Keep Adding Talent