For the past five years the Kansas City Chiefs have had players who stepped up to contribute right away as well as players who made a major breakthrough to become stars in this league. This has happened in their rookie year but sometimes not until their second seasons. When you think about it, if this hadn’t happened, the Chiefs — would not have, could not have — become the winning franchise they’ve become over the past half decade or so.
Sometimes specific players became what I’d call, “lesser contributors” too but, contributors nevertheless, thereby assisting the team in a move upwards, towards the top of the league circle of consistent contenders. The team will need several players to step up this year and fill all those roles now that so many significant players have left at some point in the past two seasons, players like: Derrick Johnson, Jamaal Charles, Zach Fulton, DJ Alexander, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Dontari Poe, Marcus Peters and Tamba Hali — all players who were drafted by the Chiefs. Then of course, there are players who came to us in other ways like: Jeremy Maclin, Albert Wilson, Jaye Howard, Ron Parker, Terrance Mitchell, Cairo Santos, David King and Nick Foles — all who have also exited within the past two offseasons, but were contributors in one way or another.
That’s a meaningful bit of transition — roster wise — over the past 2 years.
Since 2013, the K.C. Chiefs have posted records of:
That’s 53-wins and 27-losses for a regular season record, nearly twice as many wins as losses, which comes out to a .663 winning percentage. While the Chiefs playoff record during that period was 1-and-4, that’s what sticks in the craw of most K.C. fans. However, it’s hard to deny the team’s ascension and ability to get to the playoffs having won the AFC West the past two seasons in a row: the first time that has ever been accomplished.
What might be less clear to fans is that none of that would have transpired without the contributions of players who: 1) had breakthrough seasons, 2) stepped up, plus 3) those players who had lesser contributions, but who definitely contributed.
So, who might those player be this season? First, let take a peak at who has done what over the past 5 years:
Without getting into a debate over who made which list, it seems more relevant to me to look at how soon certain players performed well. You could argue that Travis Kelce became a star his rookie year (actually his sophomore season but… it was his first year when he became available following rehab from his injury) simply because he was hurt his rookie season. Consequently, the Chiefs have had a rookie breakthrough who become a star, in each year since Andy Reid has arrived except 2013:
The Chiefs have had 7 breakthrough players from the past 5 drafts so, the question is: who will breakthrough this year? While players like Peters, Kelce and Hunt were picks taken in the first three rounds, the rest were lower-round selections so we can’t just project the players from this year’s draft who were higher round selections and say: those are the target players to succeed. Let’s take another look at the Chiefs 2018 draft.
First, a player has to get on the field. While Andy Reid and Bob Sutton are stingy with minutes for rookies, they will start a player early if they show they can be trusted with an assignment but that usually come out of necessity: Spencer Ware was hurt so RB Kareem Hunt got the bulk of carries, Richard Gordon wasn’t much of a pass catcher so TE Travis Kelce got the bulk of targets behind Anthony Fasano, Sutton’s defense was short on enough good CBs so Marcus Peters got the nod and had an INT on the team’s first defensive play. … … ….
The three positions that stick out in this way, this year, are: OLB, NT, and Safety.
Outside Linebacker: by judging the difficulty of mastering the OLB position, and with Dee Ford still likely having depth chart seniority, I’d say it’s a long shot for Breeland Speaks to breakthrough in his rookie year. I can see him “stepping up” but not necessarily becoming a star in his rookie year. The Upside? Speaks has the body and skills to be a star but I think it will take some time. As far as Tanoh Kpassagnon goes, just because this is his second season doesn’t mean he’s set to make waves this year. I questioned why they drafted him becasue I thought he reminded me of Mike Catapano who was too light in the britches to be a DE but not agile enough to make it as an OLB in the 3-4 defense that the Chiefs still run as their primary set.
Nose Tackle Position: Nose Tackles Derrick Nnadi and Xavier Williams will need ot split snaps this year to be successful at stopping the run. I can see those two taking the run-stopping snaps while Jarvis Jenkins gets his fair share of the passing down snaps, as he has some upside as a rush-defensive-lineman. With the obvious fracturing of snaps, It’s hard ot see Nnadi having a breakthrough season but he Chiefs will need him to step it up and become a consistent contributor vs. the run for the team to succeed this year.
Moving up on the Safety: with Eric Berry back in the saddle again, and Ron Parker still looking for a job, it leaves only Daniel Sorensen and Robert Golden for Armani Watts to beat out for the right to stand next to Berry. Having gone over the film of all the Chiefs draft picks this year, Armani Watts tape is as good as any and I thought he was drafted much lower than he should have been. In fact, Watts may have to learn to dial it back a bit if he doesn’t want to get hit with a boat load of penalties because of the league’s new “leading with your helmet” rule.
Armani Watts is my Breakthrough pick of the year. Elliott Harrison of NFL.com had this to say about the Chiefs selection of Armani Watts the week following the draft:
“Watts could qualify as a steal from this draft. Watts should compete for a starting job in training camp, and with Eric Berry returning from injury, he could be part of a transformation on coordinator Bob Sutton’s defense. Solid coaching should help him capitalize on immense athletic ability. Always respect four-year starters like Watts.”
I not only see Watts having success playing next to Eric Berry, but his similar skillset means he could one day take over Eric Berry’s role once the great one decides to hand up his pads. While there may be other Chiefs who step it up or have a breakthrough in 2018 — like one of the UDFAs (and I’m betting on TE Blake Mack) — Armani Watts is the one I’ll be keeping an eye on once the pads of training camps are on. One more note before I go: Patrick Mahomes better either, 1) breakthrough or 2) step it up… if the Chiefs are to make it to the playoffs this season. Let me know what you think Chiefs fans. Is there anyone you’re banking on?
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