Chiefs Training Camp Day 6:
OPEN THREAD
by Laddie Morse
The Kansas City Chiefs have finished their first week of Training Camp practices and week two gets underway today at 8:15AM CDT.
Chiefs: The Sign of a New ILB
I have personally been — knock, knock, knocking — on wood to keep the injury bug away from the Chiefs but somehow, someway, it has taken two Chiefs ILBs — Reggie Ragland (puffy knee) and Ukeme Eligwe (strained foot) — so Brett Veach went out and signed a free agent ILB: Otha Peters (that’s right, a Peters to fill both the ILB void, but also the Peters void too). This Peters is 24 years old and was originally signed as a UDFA by the Seattle Seahawks in 2017. However, it was the Washington Redskins that gave him a place on their active roster in December of 2017 and he made 58 special teams snaps for them. Some may say he didn’t get drafted because of his size — 6-0, 238 — but honestly, if he could play, he’d probably be on someone’s roster already.
O. Peters started out at Arkansas but moved to Lousiana-Lafayette a couple of years later. He had 41 tackles in the SEC (and he was on the all-SEC freshman team in 2012) and 161 tackles in the SUNBELT Conference. I would say he’s just a camp-body except, Dave Toub might be interested in him… so, we’ll see if he’s still on the roster 9 days from now, when I’m sure he’ll get some special teams snaps in game one of the preseason.
In the meantime, Reggie Ragland doesn’t count toward the roster limit while he’s on the non-football injury list so… the Chiefs currently still have 90 players on their active roster. Which, probably means, as soon as Reggie returns, the “Otha” Peters will be gone too. See what I….
Patty Takes With Stuart Smiley
Hi, I’m Stuart Smiley and today I want to talk about the Patrick Mahomes madness which is reaching new heights. First, you should know Pat — no, not that Pat — was 19 of 21 on Monday, which are very good numbers, so he deserves praise. Rebecca Toback at SBNation writes:
“Chiefs fans couldn’t be more excited about Mahomes. Over at Arrowhead Pride, they’ve created “Pat Tuesday,” to share Mahomes’ best college plays on a weekly basis. The hype is no joke. They say there’s a “mania” in KC over Mahomes.”
While I don’t need to remind fans that Mahomes hasn’t played one meaningful game yet, it appears that Mahomes is heading for stardom in the NFL, and for Chiefs fans, here and abroad, it couldn’t come soon enough. I have watched enough of NFL Network “Training Camp Primetime” and ESPN’s “NFL LIVE” to know that Kansas City never gets their fair share of attention. It’s not just an “East Coast Bias” either. With Russell Wilson in Seattle, including their now defunct “Legion of Boom,” the displaced Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch and Seattle’s 12th Man… have all gotten plenty of attention… because they won a Super Bowl. So, if you’re a Patrick Mahomes fan, you should be hoping he leads the Chiefs to a Super Bowl win in the next three years because after that, his pay rate will sore so highly that signing the Chiefs other rising stars will not be possible (unless Mahomes takes a huge discount so he can win championships like Tom Brady but I wouldn’t count on that). All the pieces are coming into focus for greater national attention if Mahomes comes through: the Cheetah, Mr. Catching Kelce, Sammy Watkins’ impact, and the loudest crowd in the history of stadiums. So, if Mahomes mania is going to continue to escalate… so be it. ~Thus say I, Stuart Smiley!
Damien the Heavenly Demon
One of Brett Veach’s signings this offseason was RB Damien Williams. It marked a departure away from the players the Chiefs have had in house in the past few years. That opened up a flood gate of other Williamses but it was largely Damien’s presence in Miami that allowed them to trade away Jay Ajayi to the Eagles in the middle of the season. In the first week of Chiefs Training Camp Damien has gotten more looks as the result of Charcandrick West going through the concussion protocol and Kareem Hunt returning slowly from a strained hammy. The exciting news for Chiefs fans is that Damien has looked good. My hope is that he can shine in the first preseason game. I recall watching tape on Damien when he was signed and his skillset remnded me of Kareem Hunt’s which bodes well for the future as the Chiefs move through the season and do all they can to keep Hunt fresh and on the field. Knock, knock.
Chiefs RB Damien Williams was probably signed to a large degree because he's also a good receiver shown here catching the ball out of the backfield.#Chiefs #ChiefsKingdom #ArrowheadOne @TooLoose26 pic.twitter.com/mh7MFTnpdD
— Ladner Morse (@Laddiemorse) May 10, 2018
KPass Go and Collect $200
Tanoh Kpassagnon is getting rave reviews. If this keeps up, the problem-child position opposite Justin Houston, could become a strength and spell trouble for opposing DCs, QBs, HCs, and VIPs around the league. The following clip is a favorite of mine because you can see that Tanoh let’s up instead of seriously impairing Chiefs backup QB Chad Henne. Yes, KPass beat 6-6, 309 first-year man left tackle, Andrew Wylie, but it’s easy to see him doing the same to some of the league’s starting left tackles.
Here’s a good look at #Chiefs’ second-year edge rusher and last year’s second-round pick Tanoh Kpassagnon blowing up the play in 11-on-11.
Nice use of hands, and it’s cool to see in slow motion. pic.twitter.com/MTnMfzK26E
— BJ Kissel (@ChiefsReporter) July 30, 2018
KPass uses his long arms to get his hands into the LT’s pads and then is able to push off and get separation leading to what could someday be the “Desolation of Carr” or the “Rivers Runs Through It” or the “Case of Mangled Identity.” Anything that leads to the destruction of opposing QBs… especially AFC West QBs. KPass appears quite capable.
Dick Vermeil Time is Money
Dick Vermeil was interviewed on 610 Sports Radio yesterday. One thing that stood out was his assessment of Andy Reid. Vermeil said he has “Blind Faith” in Reid, and that, “Reid rolls out of bed in the morning and wins football games.” He also said he really believes Reid will one day hold up the Lamar Hunt Trophy (it was noted that he didn’t say the “Lombardi Trophy”). While I believe in Vermeil at this point, more than I do Reid, here’s a little something in honor of what Vermeil thinks:
The Chiefs schedule for the next 9 days looks like this:
- Wednesday, Aug. 1 – 8:15 a.m.
- Thursday, Aug. 2 – 8:15 a.m.
- Friday, Aug. 3 – No Practice
- Saturday, Aug. 4 – 8:15 a.m. AUTOGRAPH DAY
- Sunday, Aug. 5 – 8:15 a.m. AUTOGRAPH DAY – SEASON TICKET HOLDERS
- Monday, Aug. 6 – 8:15 a.m.
- Tuesday, Aug. 7 – 9:15 a.m.
- Wednesday, Aug. 8 – No Practice
- Thursday, Aug. 9 – GAME DAY
- Chiefs host Texans @ 7:30 p.m. C.T.
Appropriately, here’s Carol King with “The First Day in August.” Never a hit but, maybe should have been.
Onward and upward! Go Chiefs!
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