Kingsley Suamataia film review: Meet your new Chiefs OT
Examining the film of the BYU tackle who will look to seize the LT spot in Kansas City
The Chiefs continue to push all the sensible buttons in the 2024 draft. Following their small move-up to grab speedster (and much more) Xavier Worthy in their first round, general manager Brett Veach moved a single pick last night (and right in the nick of time, given how the draft went thereafter) to draft Kingsley Suamataia, a tackle who has played both sides of the line at BYU.
Kingsley (I’m almost certainly going to be calling him by his first name based on its awesomeness and my inability to pronounce last names) is a big, well-built OT who measured at 6’4 1/2” at the combine and 326 pounds at the combine. That puts him at just a tad shorter than what you’d normally see at LT, but Kingsley’s arm length measurements of 34 1/4” check the box for what Andy Reid generally looks for in his tackles, and Kingsley carries his weight extremely well disbursed throughout his entire body, so the height isn’t a concern for me.
Kingsley is a multi-year starter at BYU who has played both sides of the line, but played last year at LT (that matters, as not everyone can play both sides of the line, regardless of what Madden allows you to do). He also, in a fun fact, is the cousin of NFL players Penei and Noah Sewell, whom you have undoubtedly heard of. He’s got a really good “NFL build” and moves well for a guy his size… but we’ll get to that.
Several years ago, when the Chiefs appeared in the business of drafting an OT (before they traded for Orlando Brown), I did a “know your draft crush” series on offensive tackles. During that time I came up with a methodology of going through offensive linemen, breaking down their upper body power, lower body power, handfighting, lateral agility/feet/balance, awareness, and athleticism in space. That’s what we’ll do with Kingsley, then I’ll give an overall assessment.
Let’s talk some Kingsley film, shall we?
(NOTE- Kingsley played in a pretty RPO-heavy offense, so there’s SOME sample size issue for pure dropback pass protection. But his offense took enough deep shots that it’s there)
Upper body
Kingsley has good but not elite power in his upper body. He’s got strong hands/arms and the ability to freeze defenders in place when his hands are right. He can also, when he’s positioned, fold defenders and bend them backwards utilizing his upper body. He also shows the upper body power to direct defenders where he wants them to go, such as moving them all the way across the front of the pocket when they try to get inside.
