Donovan Smith Named Key Chiefs Player to Watch This Season

The Kansas City Chiefs have a decent cast of newcomers entering the fold this season, and left tackle Donovan Smith is among the most intriguing names on the list.

Coming over to Kansas City following an eight-year stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Smith is attempting to rebuild his image a bit in 2023. This past year wasn't very kind to the now 30-year-old, as he dealt with injuries throughout the season and posted quite easily the worst Pro Football Focus run-blocking grade of his entire career. On top of that, he was penalized 12 times on 908 snaps at left tackle. That ranked second to his career-high 13 total penalties back in 2016, although that year saw him log 1,135 snaps.

In May, the Chiefs pivoted away from their previous plan to allow Jawaan Taylor to make the transition to the left side of the offensive line in order to accommodate Smith. The signing of Smith to a base yearly cash amount of $3 million appeared to be harmless at the time, and his available incentives still manage to leave the franchise with a mostly cost-efficient deal to work with. The low-risk move may not end up panning out but regardless, it insulates the tackle room with another veteran who could be in line for a bounce-back campaign.

Ahead of the regular season, many national outlets, analysts and media personalities alike are singling out their must-watch players for 2023. On NBC Sports' Chris Simms Unbuttoned, former NFL quarterback Chris Simms said Smith is his key Chief to keep tabs on. It ties back to one thing: ensuring that Patrick Mahomes is safe.

"There's this thing called, 'We have to protect the franchise. His name is Patrick Mahomes and if we don't protect him, we're not as good.' So I'm going to look at the left tackle Donovan Smith, who was not good last year. It would be way worse if they called holding on him ever. I mean, he only had 74 holds in the Saints Monday Night Football game that wasn't called the last three drives of the game. Remember us making a big deal about that? It was an underwhelming year for him.

"Kansas City obviously sees something. Andy Reid is kind of a savant with offensive linemen. This could be the kind of place where they get technique back, right? Just like we talk about with (Aaron) Rodgers and quarterbacks — reenergized. 'Man, this team has culture. I've got to live up to their standard' and all of that. I'm very interested to see what he looks like."

Ever since bookends Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz were unavailable for Super Bowl LV and the Chiefs got blown out by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kansas City has made a constant and concerted effort to invest in the offensive line. Players such as Orlando Brown Jr., Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith and Andrew Wylie have worked to protect Mahomes in recent seasons, and the same interior core remains in place for yet another year. With Brown and Wylie no longer in town, another offseason rebuild-on-the-fly effort was undertaken by general manager Brett Veach in the spring.

For the Chiefs, they're hoping that the addition of Smith will turn out to be a wise one. Brown was far from an elite tackle in 2022, so it isn't as if the new veteran has to be a world-beater in order to give the team its desired value. Considering the cost and Smith's track record before last year, it's easy to see why Kansas City pursued him. The worst and best-case scenarios are both certainly imaginable, though, which could be why Simms is keeping an interested eye on him over the next several months.