The Chiefs have a big question mark on the left side of their offensive line. A lot of people, most importantly Patrick Mahomes among them, are wondering how Jaylon Moore will hold up as the quarterback’s blindside protector. Well, Moore himself addressed that subject Thursday.
“In my opinion, the tape doesn't lie,” Moore told reporters in his first comments since signing a two-year, $30 million contract to fill their hole at left tackle. “I know it's a small sample size, but I mean, I just go out there and play ball the way I know how … They see something in me, so I'm excited to go balls to the wall for these guys.”
The small sample size is 12 starts for the 49ers in four years, including a career-high five late last season in place of an injured Trent Williams. And obviously the Chiefs saw something in his film to make him their top target once the free-agent negotiating window opened March 10.
Moore didn’t say the Chiefs have promised him the starting role but most observers believe he’ll open the season at left tackle. Kansas City’s three interior linemen last year, center Creed Humphrey and guards Trey Smith and Joe Thuney, were impenetrable throughout the regular season. Opponents compiled 36 sacks of Mahomes, most in his career, and they all came from Kansas City’s tackles.
Noting the Chiefs are giving him all the support he needs to hit the offseason program in stride, Moore said his small sample size is also valuable because he learned from Williams, an 11-time Pro Bowler. With Williams as a mentor, Moore learned to set his own bar very high.
“It was it was everything I could have imagined,” Moore said. “You kind of sit in the film room every day and to me, I kind of set a standard for myself and with that being a standard every day, day in and day out.
“It's kind of hard for the floor to be very low, I would say. Not saying that it's hard for anybody else to be able to do that, but just being put in that position and being able to study behind him and kind of critique my game based on what I see every single day. I mean, it made all the difference in the world.”
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