*****The Wanya Morris Thread*****

[Dante84]

More to come!

Wanya Morris was drafted with pick 92 of round 3 in the 2023 draft class. He scored a 8.35 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 215 out of 1294 OT from 1987 to 2023. https://t.co/KnzoH8NdfS pic.twitter.com/KZgxtMNcfb

— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 29, 2023

Pick 95: Wanya Morris OT OU

The competition at RT isn't eye popping but it may be enough to feel comfortable to not reach. Adding another hat to the ring may be the move.

Morris has the length and natural movement the Chiefs often look for at OT. Clean up his hands & thrive pic.twitter.com/tDDr7f22NC

— Matt Lane (@Matty_KCSN) April 24, 2023

[Jamie]

For what it's worth, Morris made the PFF All-Rookie team. By default, because all the other rookies played on the right side. But to be fair, they didn't exactly blow him away either.

For reference here's the PFF grades for all the rookies taken in the first 4 rounds who played significant snaps at tackle.

6 (AZ): Paris Johnson - 60.1
10 (Chi): Darnell Wright - 62.4
14 (Pit): Broderick Jones - 60.7
27 (Jax): Anton Harrison - 53.0
92 (KC) Wanya Morris - 54.6
106 (Ind) Blake Freeland - 44.2
111 (Cle) Dawand Jones - 64.7

[O.city]

Rookie tackles are gonna struggle. Unless it's just a dude coming in that's drafted high, it just is what it is.

[RunKC]

He reminds me a lot of Eric Fisher. Got the size and athleticism but needs to put on muscle in the off-season.

Fisher got his ass beat plenty his first year but they stayed the course and it paid off. I hope he can take on a similar trajectory.

I'd guess they stay with him unless a damn good LT prospect falls and is a reasonable trade up option

[O.city]

I just don't think they have to picks to really trade around in this draft.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by RunKC

He reminds me a lot of Eric Fisher. Got the size and athleticism but needs to put on muscle in the off-season.

Fisher got his ass beat plenty his first year but they stayed the course and it paid off. I hope he can take on a similar trajectory.

I'd guess they stay with him unless a damn good LT prospect falls and is a reasonable trade up option

Fisher's athleticism was substantially better than Morris's.

It was why Fisher was the pick to make at 1.1 - unlike Joekel, he had the athleticism and length to play LT. You needed to coach him up, but the raw tools were there. And LT is a tools position first - all the technique in the world can't make up for simply not having the athleticism to stay in front of your guy.

I mean you very rarely get a Jason Peters sort of technician who's big and slow, but even then, those guys are going to struggle here given the depth of our pass sets (see: Brown, Orlando). They may be fine for some offenses, but not ours.

Morris has heavy feet. I just don't see him playing LT here long-term. I think if you're hell bent on making him a starter, you need to move him over to the right side and re-visit the Jawaan Taylor at LT experiment. Taylor has the tools to do it. I just don't think Morris does.

[O.city]

If that's the case, with the way we throw the ball, they shouldn't have even taken Morris.

[Wisconsin_Chief]

Originally Posted by O.city

Rookie tackles are gonna struggle. Unless it's just a dude coming in that's drafted high, it just is what it is.

Even ones taken high still struggle these days. Look at Anton Harrison, he grades out worse than Morris. There seems to be a drop off in pro ready tackles coming out of college.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by O.city

If that's the case, with the way we throw the ball, they shouldn't have even taken Morris.

I still kinda feel like they had him lined out at RT more than LT. And I think he'd be fine there; with the TE on the right side, you can give him a little more help in-line and protect that outside shoulder a little bit.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Wisconsin_Chief

Even ones taken high still struggle these days. Look at Anton Harrison, he grades out worse than Morris. There seems to be a drop off in pro ready tackles coming out of college.

Teams have been complaining about that for about a decade now. College systems are making much more pro-ready WRs and QBs than they used to. The DBs are also improved. But the OL is suffering mightily.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I still kinda feel like they had him lined out at RT more than LT. And I think he'd be fine there; with the TE on the right side, you can give him a little more help in-line and protect that outside shoulder a little bit.

I dunno. Listening to Scwartz talk about his time here, the RT is just left on an island alot as well.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by O.city

If that's the case, with the way we throw the ball, they shouldn't have even taken Morris.

He was the 92nd pick in the draft and has been passable in every game but the Raiders game.

If at worst you're getting a decent swing tackle then that's not a bad thing. I mean we literally had to use this guy already.

All the talent left the board around pick 80. It was pretty much pure developmental players after that.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Teams have been complaining about that for about a decade now. College systems are making much more pro-ready WRs and QBs than they used to. The DBs are also improved. But the OL is suffering mightily.

I think the limited practice time has really hurt OL play as well.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by O.city

I dunno. Listening to Scwartz talk about his time here, the RT is just left on an island alot as well.

They are - but they don't have to be.

It's a LOT easier to help out a Jah Reid at RT than it was a Cam Ervin at LT. And if that's the adjustment that has to get made, it's the adjustment that gets made.

You can just be a little more conventional in your approach. Moreover, whether you leave the guy on an island or don't, the DE is going to have to respect the possibility that you haven't. It'll slow him down just a little more.

Moreover, Mitch ain't gonna be the MOST reliable narrator there. It certainly behooves him to make RT sound as close to LT difficulty as possible. But from a purely schematic standpoint, it just isn't going to be.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Fisher's athleticism was substantially better than Morris's.

It was why Fisher was the pick to make at 1.1 - unlike Joekel, he had the athleticism and length to play LT. You needed to coach him up, but the raw tools were there. And LT is a tools position first - all the technique in the world can't make up for simply not having the athleticism to stay in front of your guy.

I mean you very rarely get a Jason Peters sort of technician who's big and slow, but even then, those guys are going to struggle here given the depth of our pass sets (see: Brown, Orlando). They may be fine for some offenses, but not ours.

Morris has heavy feet. I just don't see him playing LT here long-term. I think if you're hell bent on making him a starter, you need to move him over to the right side and re-visit the Jawaan Taylor at LT experiment. Taylor has the tools to do it. I just don't think Morris does.

I still wish we would have just bit the bullet and done Taylor on the left side this year.

The potential of the Smith signing was too good to pass up. I get it. I don’t blame the Chiefs for trying it out. But now they’re at risk of having a question mark at LT for yet another year.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by O.city

If that's the case, with the way we throw the ball, they shouldn't have even taken Morris.

Teams take flyers on possible LT's in the 3rd round all the time. Comparing him to the 1st overall pick in the draft aint apples to apples.