The Kansas City Chiefs had some big changes to their offensive tackle positions this offseason. They moved on from veterans Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wylie and signed Jawaan Taylor and Donovan Smith in free agency. The goal was to secure new bodyguards to protect their star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.
Recently, PFF released their 2023 offensive tackle rankings, which listed the 32 best players at the position heading into the 2023 NFL season. Jawaan Taylor came in at No. 24 on the list.
While the Chiefs' believe they managed to get an upgrade in Taylor, PFF's rankings show that he ranked lower on the list than Brown Jr., who came in at No. 14.
Brown Jr. is considered one of the NFL's "high-floor" players and has an overall grade over the last five seasons. It is however, interesting to note that Brown Jr. finished the 2022 NFL season with the most pressures in the league at 58, while Wylie had the second-most at 54. In comparison, Taylor only allowed 21 pressures all season, coming in at 40th.
In addition, Taylor is considered the fifth-best offensive tackle in the AFC West, with only Kolton Miller (8), Rashawn Slater (9), Mike McGlinchey (21), and Garrett Bolles (23) ranked ahead of him.
Clearly, heading into the 2023 NFL season, Jawaan Taylor has some doubters to prove wrong. It remains to be seen whether he can rise to the occasion and provide the protection that Patrick Mahomes needs to lead the Chiefs to another Super Bowl victory.
