Around the NFL, there continues to be plenty of talk surrounding the name Taylor, and it has nothing to do with the famous pop star Taylor Swift. The discussion regarding Kansas City Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor has been loud since his debut with the team in Week 1 because of his alignment on the offensive line.
Former NFL Vice President of Officiating and current FOX Sports analyst Dean Blandino recently spoke with The 33rd Team about Taylor’s controversial start in Kansas City.
“After opening night, Lions vs. Chiefs, I really thought we would be done talking about tackles getting lined up on the line of scrimmage. And specifically Jawaan Taylor from the Chiefs. But now we’re through three weeks, and we’re still talking about Taylor.” said Blandino, “Week One doesn’t get called; we get a lot of attention on whether he was on the line of scrimmage. Look, he wasn’t, but there are a lot of tackles that aren’t on the line of scrimmage. And it’s up to the officials again to warn and then after the warning to flag so that the tackles can correct the issue.”
Taylor was tagged with two more penalties last Sunday against the Bears, leading to head coach Andy Reid and Mahomes to come to Taylor’s defense.
After most of three weeks, Jawaan Taylor’s positioning is still a hot topic around the #NFL @DeanBlandino explains the flags on Taylor in Week 3, and wonders if the league may continue to emphasize keeping tackles on the line pic.twitter.com/1Ze34OIHZW
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) September 25, 2023
“Now look, he was off the ball. There’s no question that he was too far back; you got to break the belt line of the snapper. And he was too far back. Patrick Mahomes touched on the issue when he said that he watches a ton of film. And he doesn’t think that Jawaan Taylor’s lined up any further back than other tackles. I can’t say Patrick Mahomes is wrong when he says he watches a ton of film and sees other tackles because here’s the deal. We had five illegal formation calls in week three so far; three were for different violations, maybe a receiver covering up another eligible receiver. There were only two illegal formations for a tackle not lining up on the line of scrimmage. And that’s right. The only two were against our guy Jawaan Taylor, and look, you can look at a lot of film. Is this something that the league has to continue to emphasize? And it’s not just one player. It’s all tackles; they got to be up on the ball.”
The Chiefs will be back on national television this Sunday on the road against the New York Jets, with more eyes likely on Taylor.