With Laurent Duvernay-Tardif opting out of the 2020-21 season, will the Chiefs have more upcoming struggles on the offensive side?
Hello again everyone and welcome to another week of the ArrowChop! This is the column where we look at the positives/negatives of a certain Chiefs/NFL issue and look at both sides of the aisle. Then you, the readers, will come to your conclusions after I lay out the case. So sit back, relax, and enjoy as we breakdown this week’s hot topic.
As of July 24th, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif is the first player to opt-out of the 2020-21 season due to Covid-19. He will be working in a long term care facility in Quebec to help battle against the pandemic, which is very admirable of him since hospitals all around the world need all the help they can desire. Another reason on why he chose to opt-out is because he doesn’t want to risk himself or others to become infected with the virus. He stated on his social media pages, “I cannot allow myself to potentially transmit the virus in our communities simply to play the sport that I love. If I am to take risks, I will do it caring for patients.” Now with him opting out of the upcoming season, will it hurt the Chiefs offense in any way? Let’s go further into this topic and discuss it now!
Tardif’s absence won’t hurt the Chiefs offense
The main cause of this point falls under a new offensive guard that was recently signed: Kelechi Osemele. Osemele was formerly a member of an atrocious New York Jets franchise until he was cut in October of 2019. He was also a former first-team all-pro selection back in 2016 and a two-time pro-bowler from 2016 to 2017 with all of it being with the Las Vegas Raiders (that’s still odd to type/say). For only 2 million dollars, it’s a steal of a signing for a player of his caliber. I can’t wait to see what he does on the field.
Another cause of this point coming is due to the depth we have to replace Tardif. Removing Osemele from the equation, we still have another recent signing: Mike Remmers, a new rookie in Lucas Niang, a young offensive guard in Martinas Rankin, and a good amount of other lineman looking for a shot on the roster. The Chiefs have the numbers and the coaches available to be able to adjust to any situation possible to win. Just look at how well the Chiefs held their ground when Mahomes was out with an injury. This team can do so many amazing deeds without one great player.
Tardif’s absence will hurt the Chiefs offense
A key point that comes up for this argument is the uncertainty there is for the backups that will be replacing his spot on the line. Osemele hasn’t played a full season since 2017, we truly don’t know how Niang will thrive in the NFL, and we can’t determine at this rate on how Remmers will fit into Reid’s scheme. Some fans believe that this is a wait and see scenario to determine if his replacement will do better or worse than he has done in recent years. They aren’t wrong in the slightest with this point as even though we have these new pieces, we don’t know how effective they’ll be yet. This decision could potentially make the Cheifs run and pass blocking worse than last year’s.
All in all, the case has been laid out for if Tardif’s absence will hurt the Chiefs offense. While the side of the Chiefs offense being hurt doesn’t hold a lot of points, that one point holds a lot of merits. If the lineman replacing Tardif is worse than him this upcoming season, then there will be some worries surrounding the whole line. I do wish Osemele and the others luck though as the kingdom of the Chiefs runs deep.
Thanks for reading and have an amazing day!
