2017 Chiefs: A Question of Leadership

The 2017 Kansas City Chiefs are beginning to take shape.

• The best running back the Chiefs have ever had, Jamaal Charles: gone. Gone to their nemesis the Denver Broncos.
• The best nose tackle the Chiefs have ever had, Dontari Poe: gone. Gone to play for the Chiefs previous GM.
• The best receiver the Chiefs have ever had since the 1960’s, Jeremy Maclin: gone. Gone with the wind.

That’s a lot of fire power… and leadership. Of course, J.C. had knees made of Lego’s, Poe’s back turned out to be Play Dough and a Mac attack turned out to be a one year wonder. Still, these three provided  a ton of locker room, and side line, leadership.

So, the question of the hour is: will the Chiefs be okay in the leadership department?

What’s the saying? “A picture is worth a thousand words?” In reality…

In many respects, “leadership” is something that you bequeath and Chris Conley appears to be the one who has been crowned the new ringleader of the wideouts. However, 2 years in the league and 24 years old is not what most think of when it comes to being the head master of anything. On the other hand, were talking about a man who is a writer, actor, cinematographer and producer of two movies and has his own IMDB page. Pro Football Talk says Chris Conley is taking a more active role in the wide receiver room:

“The way that you’re a good leader is that you have to be a good follower first.  You have to be a good listener and I got a lot of time just being able to sit back and watch and listen. I think that’s the way you help these younger guys is you just pay attention. It’s not necessarily being a rah-rah guy every day. Sometimes it’s coming out here, seeing what they do, waiting to the end of practice and talking to them about what they’ve got to get better at.”

So, what about other positions on the team like the defensive line and the running backs? Who will lead?

Defensive linemen Dontari Poe, Jaye Howard, and Allen Bailey had named themselves, “The Three Amigos” and it seemed incredible to think that all is left is uno amigo. However, the Chiefs added DL Bennie Logan who is 27 years old and is one of the best run stoppers in the league. Leading by example should be no problem for Logan. The challenge for many Chiefs fans is, they just don’t know who Bennie Logan is. Let’s fix that:

If you watched the video then you know Bennie Logan went to LSU. Logan was then drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 3rd round, four years ago in 2013… and was a team mate of RB Spencer Ware.

Spencer Ware is the new tip of the spear for the Chiefs running backs. What may escape many who don’t know Ware’s background is that he played for a SEC Champ and the first year he was drafted by the Seahawks in 2013 they won the Super Bowl Championship that year. Ware is 25 years old, playing his third year in Andy Reid’s system and coming into his prime, for a running back. Ware had 1,368 yards from scrimmage in 2016 without much support from the RB#2 position.

The addition of Kareem Hunt should only make Ware a better back but more importantly, Ware will be in the position to mentor when it comes to Hunt. Many of you may not know that I worked in the field of education for 39 years and there is a little something called peer-tutoring which has received a tremendous amount of research attention over the years. When someone teaches something to a peer, they learn it and master it more completely. That’s what we’ll be getting from Spencer Ware in 2017. The best he can be: mastery. So, it is my firm belief that we will be seeing the best that Spencer Ware has to give in 2017… and what we got in 2016 wasn’t half bad either. Take a look:

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