The majority of the Kansas City Chiefs’ draft this year was spent on the defensive side of the ball. But one exception was offensive tackle Darian Kinnard.
The Chiefs selected Kinnard in the fifth round out of Kentucky, and the 6-foot-5, 322-pounder could have an opportunity to play quickly as right tackle Lucas Niang is starting training camp on the PUP list and it’s unknown when left tackle Orlando Brown will report.
“Coach (Andy) Heck put in my head get reps at either,” Kinnard said Sunday in St. Joe, Mo. “I’m not going to be very valuable if I only play one position or only specify one position. I’m going to do my best. He’s going to be able to come up to me, if he has confidence in me to say play guard, I’ll play guard. But I’m just learning one day at a time.”
Kinnard spent the majority of his college career playing right tackle but could provide much needed depth for the Chiefs playing multiple positions along the offensive line whether it’s as a starter or backup.
“For me the biggest thing right now is learning the whole offense,” Kinnard said. “If you don’t know what you’re doing regardless of what position you’re at you’re not going to be any help. So my biggest thing is understanding what tackles do, what guards do and try to do my best to make sure I’m mentally prepared for when we get out there and are going full speed with everybody.”
Many veterans have already reported to camp, and the first full-squad workout is Wednesday. Kinnard said he has heard stories of how tough Andy Reid’s training camp practices are and he’s looking forward to competing.
“I’ve been told he prides himself on having one of the toughest camps,” Kinnard said of Reid. “Because when we get to the season we’ve already been through the grinder, been through the ringer. And when we’re out there we feel 100 percent confident that we’re going to be more physically tough than the other teams and be more physically in shape than the other teams.”
