There's a ton of positive to this. That they even considered returning him last season without surgery, that he's trying to return, that this procedure has a shorter term recovery. I'll be an optimist.
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A lot of reactionary takes here lol. I would think at this point its safe to assume that,
A. Its minor enough he feels confident in a possible return.
B. Its something that did have a chance to heal on its own.
C. The recovery time must have been expected to be as long as there were weeks left in the season, so they were hopeful it would heal on its own without surgery.
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What kind of surgery?
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4 disc replacements and spinal transplant. 3 weeks recovery time.
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ingrown toenail

He'll be back in a couple of years.
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Great player with a lot of mileage on his 31 yr old, 6’5”/320+ lb body. He has started nearly 200 games between college & the NFL. I suspect that he’ll end up retiring before next season. Hope I’m wrong and he comes back with an all-pro season next year. But big guys with bad backs don’t usually do well in the NFL.
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I am guessing if it was a have surgery now and you'll be back for the playoffs for sure he would have done it. If it was a it might heal and you'll be fine but surgery will keep you out for sure he did that. Probably gave it the max time to heal on it's own and no progress. Glad he is getting it taken care of now and sounds like he will be back!
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Great to hear Mitch. See you next year for another run.
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If NFL teams aren't allowed to have a "normal" offseason, I highly doubt the Chiefs will have a single rookie starting on the offensive line in Week 1, unless of course it's due to injury.

Niang won't have played football for nearly 2 years so without a true offseason, I just can't foresee him as a starter Week 1, especially at left tackle, unless the Chiefs just decide they can't compete in 2021, which I find to be highly unlikely.
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The plan was to start Niang out at RG and then slide him out to RT after Schwartz is gone.

That was before LDT opted out and Fisher tearing his Achilles.

I think I have a lot more confidence in Niang than most.
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Same here.

There were two playoff teams starting rookie T’s, and one won the SB. Not to mention Becton and Thomas who also started week 1.

If Niang can come in and look like the guy we saw on tape, there’s no reason he can’t start.
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There's no doubt that Niang has upside but without rookie minicamps, OTA's, in building workouts and normal minicamps, he's going to be way behind the curve, especially since he won't have played football at a high level in two years.

It's not as if he played at Alabama or Clemson or Ohio State or any other SEC or Big Ten school at a high level. The dude played in the Big 12, which is known for shitty defenses.

I just don't see how the Chiefs can pencil in that guy at this point in time as a starter, unless it's due to necessity.
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No, he didn’t play at Ohio St., but he had a better game against Young/Bosa than just about anybody. Competition is not a concern at all with Niang.

He also played football in 2019, so he’ll really only miss one year of football.

And it’s not like he’s been sitting on his ass. He’s been working out and looks to be healthy and in shape.
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:-):-):-):-):-):-):-)
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I respect your opinion, but strongly disagree.

Niang gave Bosa and Young everything they could handle.

If he was in this draft, he’d be a first rounder.
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