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While in college, Damian Mama was one of USC’s most consistent interior linemen with 25 career starts under his belt and a second team all-conference selection in 2016. He decided to enter the draft a year early, but questions about his weight and his combined performance resulted in him going undrafted.
Despite this, many viewed his free agent signing with the Chiefs as a steal for the club and a couple of weeks ago I listed him as the most likely un-drafted Trojan to land on an NFL roster this Fall. With high hopes for Mama heading into the off-season, let’s take a look at how he has progressed so far.
After the conclusion of rookie mini-camp, Kansas City head coach Andy Reid came away impressed with the young guard but echoed familiar concerns about his weight. He told the Chiefs website, “ “[Damien] Mama, the big kid who played guard. We’ve got to kick (the weight) down a notch so he can move a little better, but I liked some of the things I saw from him.”
Around the same time, Chiefs Daily listed Mama in their top five list of favorite un-drafted signees.
Number 5: Damien Mama, Guard, USC. pic.twitter.com/TT76m6KtCQ
— Chiefs Daily (@KC_Chiefs101) June 1, 2017
Despite Mama’s early praise, he still has a long way to go in earning a spot on the Chiefs roster. Kansas City has a very experienced group at offensive line with “every offensive lineman who played even one snap last year,” returning according to chiefs.com.
After the conclusion of full team mini-camp, ChiefsWire predicted that Mama would land on the Chiefs practice squad, not including him as one of the five interior linemen to make the active 53 man roster.
However with training camp still to come, Mama has plenty of time to work his way into a roster spot.