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In regards to KC, I think Mahomes is just different. I honestly couldn’t name one OL on that team. Kelce is very important to that team and frankly probably more than the random OL they bring in to protect Mahomes. Mahomes has a quick release and is very mobile too.

In all honesty, it's the inside OL that keeps the pocket clean for Mahomes that makes the difference. Trey Smith, Creed Humphrey and Joe Thuney are the best G/C/G combo in the NFL, and they give Mahomes room to step up in the pocket whenever he wants.

His pocket is so clean and his release is so quick that the OT's don't have to work as hard to keep pass rushers off of Mahomes' blind side. The Chiefs also use so much movement and "eye candy" stunts that it's always a crapshoot for a pass rusher to overpursue.

And let's not even talk about Mahomes ability to scramble when a pass rusher DOES manage to get near him. Or what Pacheco can do if pass rushers focus too hard on Mahomes.

So, yeah, using KC as an example of the value of OT's is probably a stretch. Any other QB, or any other inside OL combo probably doesn't have the same oomph as the current Chiefs. But right now? It's a dream team setup at the core of the KC offense.

That said, would the Chiefs give their right eyetooth for a legit LT? Maybe. But like the Saints they've been burned drafting OT's (Eric Fischer says "Hi"). So they went shopping and found serviceable OT's that fit into the offensive scheme and the core of that offense: Mahomes, Kelce, Pacheco, and the inside OL.

IMO, though, if the Chiefs had a choice between Bowers and Alt right now, they'd probably take Bowers. They know better than anyone how valuable an elite TE can be to an offense (having had Tony G and then Kelce would make anyone spoiled, no?). And they won a SB with average OT's they picked up in the offseason.

That said, if the Chiefs had the chance to draft Bowers and develop him behind Kelce for a couple of seasons, I don't see how they could pass that up.

It's all moot, though, since KC would have to trade away the barn AND the horses in it for a pick high enough to get Bowers. Weirder things have happened, though....