The Kansas City Chiefs could be getting some reinforcements along the offensive line as early as this week.
Martinas Rankin is free to begin practicing this week after starting the season on the PUP list. He’s been allowed to attend team meetings and rehab at team facilities, but his practice window finally opens this week. That means Rankin has a new six-week window where he can return to practice and be activated from the PUP list to return to play if he’s deemed healthy.
If Rankin doesn’t return to practice and get activated in the next six weeks, the team would have to choose between sending him to injured reserve or releasing him from his contract. That’d be an absolute worst-case scenario for Kansas City.
Rankin was first acquired by the Chiefs in the trade that sent RB Carlos Hyde to the Houston Texans. He started five games at guard for the Chiefs in 2019, but he has the flexibility to kick out and play tackle. The Chiefs could obviously use the help on the offensive line as their depth has taken a hit with Kelechi Osemele’s knee injuries and now Mitchell Schwartz dealing with a back injury.
It’s not clear if we’ll see Rankin return to practice this week yet, but from Andy Reid’s comments last week, it didn’t sound like he would be ready to return for Week 7.
“Yeah, so Rank (Martinas Rankin) has done a good job of working to get back,” Reid told reporters. “He’s not quite there yet but he’s working at it.”
Rankin suffered a season-ending knee injury in mid-November during the 2019 season. So he’s nearly hit the 12-month mark in his recovery from injury. The Chiefs should still be cautious here and not rush Rankin back just because they’re in need of depth. There are other options out there and available in the interim.
