While it is very hard to put the blame on any one player for the Kansas City Chiefs starting the season off with a gnarly 0-2 record, but one player that has remained in this fanbase’s crosshairs for most of the last two seasons has been right tackle Jawaan Taylor.

While free agent aigning Jaylon Moore wastes away on the sidelines, Taylor has been one of many reasons why the Chiefs have limped to a few first-half field goals against the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football. Taylor has now taken points off the board on multiple occasions.

Taylor negated a huge Chiefs play in Giants territory with one of his trademark illegal formation penalties. Kansas City’s touchdown drive was negated, and they had to take their points via a Harrison Butker field goal. Things somehow managed to get even worse from here.

The Sunday Night Football broadcast team was already preparing for a Taylor miscue, as they had an illegal formation explainer graphic go live just a few seconds after the penalty. With the Chiefs in the red zone again, Taylor was blown up by Brian Burns on a third-and-12 pass, which led to Harrison Butker missing a 40-yard field goal.

Chiefs fans’ Calls for Jaylon Moore over Jawaan Taylor at RT grow on SNF

While Taylor has graded out as a generally solid pass protector throughout his Chiefs career (2025 included), two fatal flaws in his game are preventing the former Jacksonville Jaguars pick from living up to his massive contract.

First, Taylor is a much worse run blocker than he is when Mahomes drops back. His penalty problem is now such a well-known part of Chiefs games that everyone now knows to expect at least one or two miscues from him before it is all said and done.

While it was a bit odd for the Chiefs to hand Moore a ton of money with their two-year contract after he spent most of his time with the San Francisco 49ers as a backup, they would not have invested that type of money in him if they didn’t believe that he could eventually be a starting-caliber player.

The Chiefs are quickly burying themselves in such a deep hole that it seems very unlikely they will break out of it with the same fervor they usually do. If changes need to be made offensively, and Josh Simmons is as good as advertised, Taylor might be the first to go.