The Kansas City Chiefs might have drafted Eric Fisher No. 1 overall in the 2013 NFL Draft with the intention of installing him on quarterback Alex Smith's blindside, but it's not going to happen right away.
Head coach Andy Reid confirmed Thursday to Bruce Murray and Rich Gannon of SiriusXM NFL Radio that Branden Albert is penciled in as the left tackle, with Fisher on the right.
Reid plans to play the "five best guys," as he did when converting Shawn Andrews from offensive tackle to guard with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Although trade talks with the Miami Dolphinsare now dead, as NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday, Reid hardly sounds convinced that Albert will remain on the Chiefs' roster by the season opener.
"We allowed Albert's people to talk and look and do that whole thing, and it didn't work out one way or the other," Reid said, via ProFootballTalk.com. "And so, you never know, I mean, in this business you'd love to say that he'd be here or not be here, one of the two, but I know he's a good kid, I know he's a hard worker and I know he's a good left tackle. So that gives us a whole lot of flexibility, and if he was here today he would be the left tackle. And then we go from there and we just see what happens down the road."
Translation: As soon as a team meets our asking price on Albert, Fisher will move back to left tackle.
Follow Chris Wesseling on Twitter @ChrisWesseling.