MASSIVE TACKLE: Kansas City Chiefs Sign Matt Waletzko: Kansas City Chiefs News Today

MASSIVE TACKLE: Kansas City Chiefs Sign Matt Waletzko: Kansas City Chiefs News Today

A couple of days ago, I made a video talking about Andy Reid promising to tickle your tonsils. But the other video that I made that day was about the Kansas City Chiefs bringing in eight players to try out. And I called Matt Wletkco the most intriguing player on that list. Well, it looks like the Kansas City Chiefs have gone ahead and signed Matt Wletkco to the practice squad, promoting as a to active roster as Josh Simmons was moved to IR. So, some intriguing news, some awesome news about Ezo, and maybe the worst news that we have had thus far through the Kansas City Chiefs season. all happening pretty simultaneously. But it is worth going back again and looking at Matt Wletkco. And I know we spent some time on his RA score the other day. We’re not going to spend the whole video here. I just want to go back through it. So with Matt Wletsko, you have a 6 foot7 and a half tall offensive tackle, but maybe not an offensive tackle. And we will get back to that in a moment. He is 6’8, basically 312 lbs. That but not anymore. He is currently listed at 305 by the Kansas City Chiefs. Did 28 bench press reps with 225 lbs. Probably not anymore. And we’ll get to that in a little bit as well. Or at least not anymore quite yet. Maybe. We have no confirmation on this, but speculatively a 30in vertical for a guy who is 6’8 is a pretty impress impressive feat. Maybe he can block some extra point attempts because he’s not only 6’8, he’s 6’8 with 36 and 1/8 in arms. He’s also got 10 and a/4 in hands. Good hand size. But at the end of 36 and 1/8 in arms, they do look like small hands. It is a weird combination there. A 9 foot5 in broad jump here scores 9.53 out of 10. But you’ll see you’ll notice that 9.96 RA score. That is 9.96 out of 10. And this side of the list here is pretty impressive, but I mean nothing mindblowing. This side of the list, however, is every bit as good. A 503 40-yard dash scores 9.18 out of 10. A 2.87 20yard split scores 9.6. And it just keeps getting better. A 10 yard split of 1.7 scores 9.68 out of 10. Those first 10 yards. Absolutely important, especially if you’re going to be pulling. Something we will consider that foreshadowing. Um, a short shuttle number of 4.59 is a score of 8.55. And his most impressive score yet, a 7.26 three cone drill scores 9.81 out of 10. So a very good RA score on Matt Wletkco. Well, let’s go on and see what else this prospect has to offer. I thought this was worth pulling up because, well, for one, he has a December 15th birthday. It is currently December 4th. So, get on your Twitter machine and wish him a happy birthday soon. He is 25 years old and 354 days, not quite 26. So, we’re talking about him in a way or the other day as if he had washed out of the NFL. Well, at just under 26 years old, at 26 years old, for all intents and purposes, that’s not completely true, especially at offensive line, a lot of times these guys take a season or two to get up to speed. And by the way, it’s not as if he is uh without, what would you say, without prestige? Prestige Worldwide. He has a fifth round draft number. He was taken 155 overall by none other than the Dallas Cowboys. And say what you will about the Cowboys. They can be pretty good at drafting offensive linemen. So, he has a little bit going on for him in that regard as well. Moving forward, this is what he has done in the NFL. You can see it’s a whole lot of not much. His rookie season, he appeared in three games, played one offensive snap, and 11 special team snaps. His 2024 season, sophomore campaign in the NFL, seven snaps, zero special team snaps. And in 2024, he played 12 offensive snaps and 27 special teams snaps. Uh the most of his career, in fact, more than the rest of his than his first two seasons combined. But there is no 2025 number here. So, uh, one thing that I did not know when I posted the video yesterday was that he does have an extensive injury history. In that video, basically all I had time to do was bring up the athletes and and who they were. I didn’t have the time to go into it, but Kyle let me know the following. Wletkco has had multiple shoulder injuries slashsurgeries in the league. I was hoping he’d blossom into some not some into some backup tackle depth with the Cowboys, but he could never get his functional strength to the level necessary to play consistently. Well, thank you for letting me know that, Kyle. So, I went and I looked into it a little bit more, and this is what I found uh from Wikipedia. So he pardon me he suffered a shoulder subluxation when his previous injury resurfaced during the second practice of training camp. This was in 2022. Um the second practice in training camp. Where did I go here? He missed most of the preeason with should with the shoulder injury that eventually would require surgery. So, we need to remember that he played in the third preseason game against the Seahawks. He played mostly on special teams. Uh, his only offensive snap was helping spring running back Ezekiel Elliott for a one-yard touchdown. So, here is something interesting about that. If you were playing for the Cowboys and you were springing Ezekiel Elliott for a touchdown in the preeason, that means you were probably on the field with the first teamers or at least first or second teamers. But then we get this. He again suffered a left shoulder subluxation while practicing for the seventh game of the season. He was placed on injured reserve October 22nd, 2022. On August 30th, 2023, Wletkco was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury uh and activated on December 27th. So, you see that distance there, August, uh he was injured, he was activated in December, he was declared inactive for the week 17 game. And then um so we’ll get back to that in a moment. But I did think that there was one other thing worth talking about in this little blurb on WLCO from Wikipedia. In 2025, he didn’t make notice he didn’t make notable improvements compared to previous seasons and was moved to offensive guard during the preseason and then he was released on August 2nd. So, uh, offensive guard possibly in the, uh, in the works as well. So, just keep that in mind because I think it’s important when we’re talking about what it is that we’re getting with Wlets, especially when you’re talking about the fact that the Chiefs have shown a propensity towards wanting to acquire players with multiple position versatility the past couple of years. They got away from that a little bit when they were trying to rebuild their offensive line the first time. They wanted a center who was a center. They wanted guards who were guards and they wanted tackles who were tackles. Prior to that, Andy Reid was known for your best five offensive play offensive linemen play, right? So, it could be that the Chiefs are moving a little bit back more in that direction. So I went and I asked Wikipedia or not Wikipedia Chad GPT what is a shoulder subluxation. This is the reply that I got. A shoulder subluxation is a partial dislocation of the shoulder joint. The head of the humorris slips partly out of the glenoid socket. Glenoid. Didn’t he play quarterback for the Cowboys for a little bit? uh socket but goes back in on its own or with minimal help unlike a full dislocation where it’s completely out and usually needs reduction. So it is a shoulder that pops out and then back in. Then I asked uh chat GPT trying to give it a little bit of uh coaching. Sometimes in the NFL a guy will return in 7 8 n months from like a torn ACL. That is something that happens in these days. And I said, but they say that even though the player will be back the next season, he’s not 100% until the season after that. What happens with shoulder subluxations? And Chad GBD told me the following. if they choose stabilization surgery, which we know he did have surgery on his shoulder. Timelines look more like months, not weeks. In the NFL data, operative repair returned at a median 39.3 weeks, about 9 months. Many sports medicine summaries and reviews place typical return after bank type stabilization around 6 months with wide variation and procedure criteria. It is the not 100% until next season idea fits shoulders differently than ACL’s with subluxation. It’s often not it’s often not that the tissue biologically needs an extra full season is that the player returns quickly without stabilizing the joint. They may they may spend the rest of the year managing pain apprehension and repeat episodes. The repeated instability can contribute to problems like bone loss over time. So we have seen that he had the same injury multiple times possibly from trying to rush back from this surgery. Another thing that I will um emphasize here, you’re talking about the shoulder, you’re not talking about, for example, a wide receiver. you’re talking about an offensive lineman. For an offensive lineman, a shoulder is nearly as important as his knee. But with the knee, most of the it it’s not about the strength or the stability as much as it as it is getting up to speed. With the shoulder, it’s all about it’s just strength. It’s just strength. So, when he is returning from this surgery, he’s not bench pressing, he’s not doing push-ups, he’s not doing um man makers, none of the things that you might do to strengthen your shoulder, depending on what your definition of a man maker is. Um, without doing those things, it takes a while for that strength to get back. So while and whereas he might be he might have been u 2023 2024 in shape for football would he have had the functional strength to excel at football I think that is where we are starting to maybe get the questions come up as to can he still play things like that but let’s go backwards from there what are we talking about when we talk about Matt Wletkco well as he was coming out of college. He uh NFL.com said he was a 5.8 grade, which means average backup or special teamer. Well, yeah, I think we’d take that if that were still in the cards. What did Lance Zerline say about Wletkco as a prospect? Well, said he was a probable sixth or seventh round pick. The Cowboys ended up taking him in the fifth. Uh the overview was skyscraping FCS tackle with tremendous length, but there are too many holes in the physical profile to project NFL success at this stage. Wletsko’s length and upper body power are traits that teams will want to cultivate, but his pad level issues and average foot quickness are limitations that could be difficult to work around. The run blocking should improve with more experience and coaching, but his habit of leaning in pass protection reflects core strength concerns. If his pass posture isn’t fixed as a right tackle prospect, power rushers will eat him up. Now, I think that um in addition to his posture, a little bit of hand work will help him as well. So having those 36 plus inch arms uh really could do a number on power rushers because a lot of the power rushing game is coming up at you and bulldozing you this way. So they want to get under your pads which that’s a problem if you’re giving up leverage by being up too high. But you can also club uh a defensive lineman’s arms down. You can you as they are leveraging you up. One thing that you started to see is offensive linemen who are willing to scoop. Right? So there’s a lot of things that you can do with hand work that are um that will neutralize some of that power rush. Still obviously you you want you want to not give up the leverage to begin with. Uh but there are a couple of things in his game that I noticed that I I think I think suggest that it is a concern about his technique rather than a concern about his ability. So, NFL.com had listed his strengths as arms measure over 35 inches. Well, they measured over 36 in. Blocks with consistent base width, uh, accelerates through run fit, frequently bounced opponents around the field with upper body power. Again, if upper body was his power game and he was throwing out his shoulder, it’s going to take him a little bit to come back from that. So, maybe there is still football. Good football, developing developing football to be had from Matt Wletkco. Adequate mirror quickness to play right tackle will be able to weaponize length in additional coaching with additional coaching. Looks for work in both run and passing games. He is very active. He is not a passive offensive lineman. That is absolutely for sure. That might be one of the reasons why the Kansas City Chiefs are willing to take a flyer on him because that sort of player seems highly coachable. The weaknesses, however, few tests on his schedule at defensive end. Didn’t have didn’t play against the best competition in the nation. Pad level is a consistent nemesis due to his height. Needs to improve footwork to become more efficient on workup blocks. overstrides on the initial step allowing entrance to to inside shots. Now, I think that the fact that his 10 yard split was so elite lets us know that he can improve on that. Again, it’s probably a technique issue, not a capability issue. Pass setting strides are too long and lethargic. leans and collects the rusher rather than sitting back and punching. Needs more mass and muscle to withstand power rushers. This one is a very big red flag from what we have seen so far. Uh which something we already mentioned, but we’ll get back to in a moment. Lacks desired twitch to handle quick developing twists. This is a problem, a big problem at offensive tackle. I don’t know if it’s as big a problem at offensive guard. So, a couple of observations that I had about him while I was trying to do some research on my own. Yeah, he does look like he needs to add weight. And I was judging on college film because that’s all you have from him. Uh does look like he needs to add weight, which is a bad thing because he’s lost weight in the NFL. Came out listed at 312. He is currently listed at 305 by the Kansas City Chiefs. That’s not great. A good thing he does lumber when he moves, but he is mobile. Uh he does have uh a bit of a strange gate to him. Almost like a knock needed gate the way he runs, but it doesn’t seem to hinder his mobility. It doesn’t seem to hinder his speed. I wonder that it if whether or not it affects his uh accuracy downfield. So, there’s times where you’ll see him on the move and it’s almost as if he almost misses a block, not because of some great evasive maneuver from a defensive player, but because he just w he seems like he wasn’t where he thought he would be. So, maybe something to keep an eye on. Now, in college at 6’8, he lined up at tackle in a three-point stance and he did not look uncomfortable. I think his his stance was a little bit wide, but he made it work. If he has not lost flexibility, that leaves offensive guard on the table. Does he shoot up out of his stance too fast? Yeah. Yeah, that’s there. But if you can get him to realize what he’s giving up by shooting up so fast, leverage and give him the tech. So, here’s the thing. He did not face the best competition in college. That also means he didn’t have the best coaching in college. the best coaches are flocking to the SEC and the Big 10. They’re not going to North Dakota State, right? So, you’re looking at a guy who probably did not have the absolute greatest coaching at college either. So, some of these things could be written off to to coaching. Uh the number four thing here, this is a long, this is a long shot, but it’s absolutely one worth taking. We are seeing here again the Kansas City Chiefs have offensive depth, offensive line depth issues late in the season. Josh Simmons was just put on IR, pardon me, and Jawan Taylor is still not practicing. So, who it is that the Chiefs are going to roll out along the offensive line this week could be an absolutely terrifying proposition with two of the best pass rushers in the NFL on the very same team uh this coming weekend. But it does prove that you have to have as many bodies as possible along the offensive line, especially when your team fails or succeeds based on the quarterback. And it’s always going to work that way so long as you have one Patrick Mahomes pulling the trigger. So, an interesting signing from the Kansas City Chiefs and one that is probably priming for next season. The same way that that Taekquin Thornton signing with the Chiefs around this time last year was priming for the 2025 season. That is all I have for this video. If you like or appreciate what it is that I do here, hitting a like button really does help me out as it tells YouTube to share this video with other Kansas City Chiefs fans. And if you find yourself here by chance but not design, the Chiefs are the only thing I talk about on this channel, dropping multiple videos every single week. And as always, I hope to have you back for the next one.

The Kansas City Chiefs sign offensive tackle Matt Waletzko

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