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Experts Agree Chiefs Unloads Struggling Guard to Fix Line
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- Experts Agree Chiefs Unloads Struggling Guard to Fix Line
Brad Penner-Imagn Images
A fresh start in red and gold
The Kansas City Chiefs needed help on the line. They found it in a trade with the New York Giants . Joshua Ezeudu is now wearing the red jersey. According to Arrowhead Pride , the Giants struck a deal to send him to Kansas City . This move ends a long struggle for the former third-round pick. He spent years playing out of position. Now he has a chance to shine where he fits best. The team did not wait long to put him in the right spot.
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Ezeudu played 47 offensive snaps against the Miami Dolphins in the first preseason game. All of those snaps came at right tackle, per Arrowhead Pride. Wait, that sounds like the old problem. But the plan changed fast. Daniel Faalele , a guard, was traded by the team to the Jacksonville Jaguars . This opened the door for Ezeudu to play guard. The position he understands is where he finally received his opportunity to play. The Giants used him as a utility lineman at both left guard and left tackle. That mix of roles hurt his development. He is a guard who was forced to play tackle for too long.
More than just a body on the line
The numbers tell a clear story about his past. Ezeudu played 738 snaps for the Giants from 2022 to 2024. Of those snaps, 402 came at the left tackle position. Another 317 came at left guard. In 2023 and 2024, he played almost exclusively at tackle. He had just 28 snaps at guard in 2024. That is a tiny number for a player with his skills. Reports state that a calf injury caused him to miss the entire 2025 campaign. That injury stopped him, but the position change is the real story now.
Chiefs fans know that protecting Patrick Mahomes is key. A guard who can run block and pass block is gold. Ezeudu has the size and the technique for the interior. The Giants looked at him as a utility lineman. They moved him around too much. The Chiefs are smarter. They saw a guard who was stuck at tackle. They fixed it with a simple trade. This is not a gamble. It is a correction of a mistake made in New York.
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The preseason is short. Every snap matters. Ezeudu played 47 snaps against Miami. He split time between right guard and right tackle. The team is testing him. They want to see if he can hold the line. If he stays at guard, the Chiefs get a solid starter. If he struggles, they can move him again. But the odds are good. He has the talent. He just needed the right spot. The Giants traded him because they had other options. The Chiefs took him because they see a gap in their line.
This trade changes the outlook for the offensive front. The Chiefs do not need to search for a guard. They have one who is ready to play. The preseason game showed he can handle the speed of the NFL.
