In an expected move, the Kansas City Chiefs formally placed second-year RT Lucas Niang on injured reserve on Friday per the NFL’s daily personnel notice.
Niang played just six snaps in Week 17 against the Cincinnati Bengals, filling in at left tackle for Orlando Brown Jr. before suffering a torn patellar tendon. The injury is expected to be season-ending for Niang and his placement on injured reserve is only more confirmation of that.
A third-round draft pick in 2020, Niang was one of the few Chiefs players to opt-out of the 2020 NFL season. Returning to the team during the offseason, Niang worked his way up to a starting role after injuries to Mike Remmers and Kyle Long.
Niang opened up the 2021 NFL season as the starting right tackle for Kansas City, going on to start five consecutive games before the team made a change. Mike Remmers would get the opportunity to start in Week 6 and 7 as Niang dealt with a minor injury. Niang would reclaim his starting role in Week 8 before suffering a rib injury against the Green Bay Packers that would cost him several weeks. In total, Niang would appear in 12 games this season and start nine of them.
He has a long road to recovery from his injury, and fans shouldn’t expect him back in action until training camp at the earliest next season. In the interim, look for Andrew Wylie to continue working at right tackle for Kansas City, while Kyle Long will slot in as the new backup right tackle for the team.
The Chiefs now have one open spot on the active roster, with three players (Joshua Kaindoh, Chris Lammons and Khalen Saunders) who have been designated to return from injured reserve. None of those players were activated to the 53-man roster on Friday, but expect a transaction ahead of the start of the playoffs.
