Chiefs Headlines: 10•22•22
Laddie Morse
It’s been a busy week around the league. The Kansas City Chiefs have been part of that news, but have also managed to stay out of it.
Wide receiver Odell Beckham has been the hot news item for several days this week. Much speculation has Beckham coming to the Chiefs. Some even sited him in K.C.. Head Coach Andy Reid says he can’t even comment on the subject:
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Beckham was well on his way to winning the MVP Award in last year’s Super Bowl for the Rams, when he hurt his ACL, which he is still rehabbing. The Bleacher Report says:
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“A “realistic time frame” for the return of free-agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. from a knee injury is reportedly now mid-December.”
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While there have been rumors that Beckham is interested in signing with K.C., the realities are that until Brett Veach and his staff can get closer to clearing him for take-off, he’s not going to be relevant. BTW, signing him won’t have anything to do with the NFL Trade Deadline coming up on November 1st at 4:00 ET.
On Thursday of this week, the Carolina Panthers traded versatile RB Christian McCaffery to the San Francisco 49ers for 4 draft picks: a 2nd round pick, a 3rd round pick, a 4th round pick all in 2023 and a 5th round pick in 2024. There are two things about this trade that I’m happy about: 1) I’m glad it came so late in the week that it should not effect the Chiefs game this weekend, and, 2) I’m even happier that Chiefs GM didn’t involve the Chiefs in this trade.
For those of you who have read AO previously, you might recognize that the staff here is mostly in support of the idea that the Chiefs made a mistake in drafting a first round running back, in this case it was Clyde Edwards-Helaire, but in general, we’ve not been in favor of drafting a RB higher than the second round, and not even in the second round, if possible. So, the idea of giving up a 2nd round, and a 3rd round. and a 4th round, and a 5th round set of picks… all just to get an injury prone RB, no matter how great he is, is not a good deal for the Chiefs.
The 49ers may have been playing one-up-man-ship with the L.A. Rams… but this was not a good deal, no matter which way you turn it over in your head.
Willie Gay is cleared to play vs the 49ers tomorrow. He’s back after a four game suspension and he’s in full gear mode and ready to Rock-n-Roll:
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Let’s not forget that Gay has 4.46 speed, which happens to be .6 seconds faster than Derrick Johnson, and has developed well over the pst three seasons with the Chiefs:
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ArrowheadOne has addressed many issues this week. On Tuesday, David Bell and I debated who was more responsible for the loss to the Bills last weekend in a piece called, “Chiefs Loss: Who’s More At Fault, the OL or the DL. A Debate” in which David said:
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“With so many rookies playing in the secondary, it is necessary to pressure the opposing quarterback. What we are not seeing happen is pressure on the QB from the front four. Carlos Dunlap made a play. So did Chris Jones. What we are not seeing is constant pressure from the four down linemen.”
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On Wednesday, David Bell offered a piece called, “All to Blame or None Move On to the 49’ers” in which he wrote about the importance of the Chiefs running game:
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“With the muscle of the Chiefs offensive line, there is no reason to fail by running the football. Success on the ground means the aerial game is enabled, especially with the play-action pass. I believe this is the most critical aspect of what has sometimes been missing from the Chiefs offense.”
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On Thursday morning, Josh Kingsley gave us a piece called, “NFL Business, Organizational Structure, & a CHIEFS Game Recap” in which he covered a variety of topics including what Tyreek Hill did in Miami by suggesting that their Pool Table be removed so players could focus on game prep more:
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“… the idea that a ping pong table affects game preparation in any way. This is a nonsensical, old school thought process revolving around total focus at work. The idea is a sham that overlooks personal conversations at the water cooler, bathroom time, etc. If an hour of ping pong spells the difference between being prepared or not, it’s already over.”
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Then yesterday, I offered a piece called, “49ers Game Will Not Be a Super Bowl Repeat,” in which I said:
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“While Mahomes was good enough for Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy to listen to him in the Super Bowl, then call a play PMII wanted to run (Jet Chip Wasp), Mahomes has become a much better QB, not only in the pocket, but in taking what the defense gives him.”
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As we all know, GM Brett Veach and his crew of merry men, have been busy beavers and virtually never take a day off. First, lets’ consider the week DB Dicaprio Bootle has had. First, he was activated for the Bills game and played on 8 total snaps. Then, he was released from the team on Monday, and re-signed to the Practice Squad on Tuesday. His salary? $138K.
What many fans don’t know is that the Chiefs have signed a WR this week. No, it’s not OBJ, it’s Ihmir Smith-Marsette. He’s 6-foot-1, weighs 185 lbs. and runs a 4.43 40-yard dash. He was drafted in the 5th round by the Minnesota Vikings in 2021.
If OBJ does sign with K.C., we’ll be sure to let you know asap!
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A new edition of The Franchise: Best on Best came out on Thursday evening. If you missed it, here it is.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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