Kansas City Chiefs: Reinforcements coming for ailing offensive line

Following a Week 6 loss to the New England Patriots, the Kansas City Chiefs find themselves worrying about more holes on the roster than just the shallow defensive depth chart.

The Kansas City Chiefs are working out an old friend in offensive guard Jeff Allen. According to a report from NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the team plans to sign Allen, should he pass his physical.

Allen, a former second-round selection of the Chiefs in 2012, would be returning to Kansas City following a short stint with the Houston Texans. After spending the 2012-15 seasons as a staple on the interior of the offensive line for the Chiefs, Allen signed a four-year deal with the Texans in 2016.

His big-time contract did not last beyond the first two seasons, as he was released in July with an injury settlement.

The move to add Allen comes following a lower body injury to starting offensive guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif during the team’s Week 5 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. As mentioned before, Duvernay-Tardif has since been placed on injured reserve. To top that, starting center Mitch Morse went down this past Sunday with a concussion and has yet to be cleared by team doctors.

Veteran offensive lineman Jordan Devey replaced the aforementioned Duvernay-Tardif at guard for the Week 6 tilt against the New England Patriots, but was shifted to the center position following Morse’s departure.

Coming into the season, the offensive line seemed to be well in tact and as solid as the Chiefs have had in many years, but it seems that one of the stronger units on the team has taken significant hits in back-to-back weeks.

It is unclear as to whether Allen could step into a starting spot along the line, should he pass his physical, or if the team sees him as emergency depth. Regardless, the addition of Allen, a veteran who has spent time in the Andy Reid offense already, should be the easiest move that the team could make.