The thing is, Reid didn't say Niang was the starting LT - that would be what needed to be said to convince other teams they had no need.

Instead, he said they had aspirations of putting Niang at LT and they felt like he could play the position the last time they had him in workouts. That's not definitive enough to convince anyone they don't still need a LT, but it's detailed enough to suggest they've more than just given it a cursory glance, especially since Veach said immediately after the draft that he thought Niang would start out his career inside at guard.

Reid and the coaches saw something in him after working him out that Veach didn't necessarily see at the time he was drafted.
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That's not a lie. He could sign with another team, start working out in early July and everything Veach said would be true.

Veach never explicitly said he would be ready by training camp and still the Chiefs starting left tackle. He simply said he'd be physically ready to start participating in workouts at that time.
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Yeah....I get it. I’m at the point now that I wish the draft would hurry up and start. I’m tired of all of the speculation.
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Yeah, especially all the hand wringing about OT's. At least after the draft, there will be a reason for everyone to panic. :-)
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It’s going to be pandemonium no matter what happens.
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I think it should be considered that Niang's ability to play may have contributed to Fisher's release.

It may be possible that Niang was the plan all along. It wouldn't be the first time the Chiefs made such a move.
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It's amazing to me that people don't want to even consider that Niang could play LT but they're willing to trade multiple picks to get any number of guys that:

1. Have the same lack of NFL experience

2. Don't have the same measurables and

3. Didn't play as well against top competition as Niang did in college.

I honestly find it very hard to believe that Niang is absolutely not an NFL left tackle but a guy like Teven Jenkins is. That seems like backwards logic to me.
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This was right after the draft.

“A lot of people ask me if I can play LT. I played LT my whole life except college. That’s a dumb question.”

I love Lucas Niang’s mentality. Played RT at TCU but says he played LT his whole life before coming to college. Veach talked about him playing guard next year but could potentially move to RT/LT in the future for the Chiefs pic.twitter.com/vroy9fGuwg

— Braiden Turner (@bturner23) April 25, 2020

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I mean, I sincerely hope this guy is the next Willie Roaf for 12 years, and Mahomes becomes his best friend and introduces him for the HoF.

But I am lol'ing at the quote above-- played LT his whole life...except college. He was stoning those 170 lb DEs in 10th grade, how dare you question him?!!
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He’s referring to knowing how to play the position. FFS....Schwartz came out and basically said that there isn’t a huge difference between LT and RT anymore because they’re asked to do the same shit.
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I do not like ANY of this kind of talk. I really hope this is NOT any form of the plan.
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Exactly.

Schwartz was a great RT according to this place but when he flat out says there's no difference between playing RT and LT, they don't believe him.
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What do you mean?
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I get it dude.
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It’s the usual “Niang hasn’t played football in 2 years” crap.
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