ORLANDO, Fla. | The Chiefs still have some issues to resolve with respect to their offensive line, but recent moves forced them to decide on a position for Branden Albert.
The free-agent additions of Ryan Lilja and Casey Wiegmann crowd the middle of their line and leave no room for Albert at guard, the position he played in college.
Unless there’s an injury elsewhere, Albert is a tackle. Whether he plays on the left side or right will be determined by what the Chiefs do, or don’t do, in the upcoming draft.
“Right now, Branden Albert is our left tackle,” coach Todd Haley said at the NFL’s annual meetings. “He lined up in some pretty difficult situations. He knows he needs to be better this year. There was an injury factor with him also. He’s ready to go.”
Making projections for what the Chiefs might do at various positions is risky because Haley, in his only season as their coach, showed a tendency to bench underachieving players even if they seemed entrenched at a particular spot.
But it would take a massive upset for Haley to demote from the starting lineup either of two guards, Lilja and former Pro Bowler Brian Waters. Similarly, he’s unlikely to bench both starting center candidates, Wiegmann and Rudy Niswanger, the incumbent.
“The interior of the line was definitely an area we felt we had to get better at or make sure we were solidified,” Haley said. “I think everybody feels good about that, not to say that we wouldn’t … go that direction (in the draft).
“The name of the game is competition and getting guys in there to push other guys and then play the best ones, the guys that give us the best chance to win.”
The line was a major concern of Haley’s as last season progressed. The offense floundered over the season’s first half in part because of shaky pass protection and subpar run blocking.
The lineup changed because of injuries to some players and ineffective play by others. The Chiefs never truly settled on a right guard, a spot Lilja will now likely occupy.
Albert was the left tackle and Ryan O’Callaghan played the right side. The line’s play improved greatly in the season’s second half. Sacks were dramatically reduced and the running game became a strength once Jamaal Charles was installed as the featured back.
Niswanger could lose his starting job but Haley said he might have improved more than any other starting lineman through the course of the season.
“Rudy continued to improve throughout the year,” Haley said. “A steady, tough guy that doesn’t get a lot of publicity but he ended up playing a lot of games for us and he played hurt and he came back from injury faster than you would ever thought and had a difficult job in communicating a lot of different things to a lot of new guys.
“So I think Rudy made substantial gains from the start of the year to the end of the year. I think Branden Albert continued to make improvement again. This will be his big year.
“The offensive line developed. That unit across the board really made strides. Not just statistically, which was obvious on our sack numbers but from our vantage point of really going through the tape and studying.”
That Haley qualified his support for Albert as the starting left tackle indicates his position is still a dilemma for the Chiefs. Albert allowed nine sacks last season, the fifth highest total in the league.
Drafting fifth in the first round, the Chiefs are a candidate to select an offensive tackle who would allow them to move Albert to the right side or, in case of injury elsewhere, guard. The Chiefs also have two picks in the second round.
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/03/23/1833083/chiefs-are-still-lining-up-their.html#ixzz0jhHp9Y9o
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