The Kansas City Chiefs added a new guard into the fold, agreeing to terms with free-agent OG Kelechi Osemele on Saturday evening. To the naked eye, the proximity to Laurent Duvernay-Tardif’s opt-out decision suggests that Osemele might be an option at right guard. However, the eight-year veteran has practically played left guard for the entirety of his career. No matter where he plays, the Chiefs are getting a veteran offensive lineman — who when healthy — is quite effective.
Here’s a look at four plays that show what exactly the Chiefs are getting in their newest player:
A player who is always looking for work
It didn’t take long for me to find a standout play from Osemele from the 2019 season. I started with his first preseason game for the New York Jets and three plays into it he’d already impressed me. Osemele is an enforcer in pass protection. He doesn’t just sit back and wait for the play to come to him. Instead, he’s always looking for ways that he can impact the play, even if that means going beyond his initial assignment within the framework of the play.
Here Osemele peels off of his assignment and delivers a finishing blow to New York Giants defensive end Lorenzo Carter, who is engaged with the left tackle. This isn’t a one-time occurrence for Osemele either, look back at 2016 when the Chiefs played in Oakland. You’ll find a near-identical play against Chiefs ROLB Tamba Hali where Osemele disengages his blocker and flattens Hali. This is exactly the type of effort that you want to see from a guy tasked with protecting Patrick Mahomes when he drops back to throw.
Someone who can singlehandedly clear a path for the running back
It’s not a secret that the running game in Kansas City has been a bit of an afterthought since Patrick Mahomes took over at quarterback. It became even more of an afterthought once Kareem Hunt was released halfway through the 2018 season. It seems that with the addition of LSU RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the 2020 NFL Draft, a resurgence of the running game could be coming in Kansas City.
Osemele is an interior offensive lineman that you can scheme a running game around. He’s really good at latching onto defenders and creating movement without getting holding penalties. He can clear lanes and climb to the second level with ease, bullying linebackers and creating free yards for a running back. At 6-5 and 330 pounds, Osemele’s power is put on display often in the run game. He constantly bullies smaller and less powerful defenders.
A player who is mobile enough for Andy Reid’s screen game
Chiefs HC Andy Reid typically likes to get creative and innovative with the screen game. Even with a savant at quarterback like Patrick Mahomes, Reid likes to find ways to incorporate easy passes with potential for huge gains.
When you have a big guy like Osemele, usually those types of players come with the stereotype of not being the most mobile or agile guy in space. Fans in Kansas City will be excited to learn that Osemele can get up on his horse and go. While Osemele might be better when he blocks a guy in a phone booth, he’s entirely capable of blocking out in the open field. In fact, he can be a heat-seeking missile in the screen game — one that linebackers, safeties and corners will struggle against.
Someone who can buy time for his quarterback in the biggest moments
Osemele (No. 72) was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft, the same season in which the Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. That’s one thing he has in common with the Chiefs’ current roster — he earned his Super Bowl ring facing the 49ers. Osemele filled in at left guard during the Super Bowl run in place of injured guard Jah Reid.
When the spotlight was perhaps the brightest it’d been, Osemele stepped up in a big way and solidified himself as Baltimore’s starting left guard moving forward. Pass-blocking isn’t always perfect and when you have a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes, who flourishes when he goes off-script, sometimes you need your offensive linemen to get creative when buying you time. Osemele has been able to do exactly that for his quarterbacks throughout his career. He’s done so in some big moments, but perhaps not any more important than the above play in his first Super Bowl win.
