David Bell
Damar Hamlin UPDATE:
Last night, during the Bills and Bengals game, Bills Safety Damar Hamlin tackled Bengals WR Tee HIggans and then stood up, and immediately collapsed on the field, cardiac arrest. His heartbeat was restored on the field at that time and he was taken away in an ambulance to University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Damar Hamlin remains in critical condition.
Players stopped playing the “game” and many kneeled for prayer. Meanwhile… the Bills players went back to Buffalo and it is unknown what will happen next as far as making up the game is concerned. Per CNN, sportswriters have speculated that the game will end up a tie. –Laddie Morse
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And now, David Bell’s article called:
Chiefs Youth Movement, Not a 2022 Phenomenon
I am sitting here tonight, marveling at the accomplishments of the Chiefs over the past five seasons. Really! Last year, the Chiefs turned over their two starting OTs and have held their own. In 2022, the Chiefs notable WR, Tyreek Hill, departed for greener pastures. I think Tyreek made a colossal mistake, but there it is in black and white. Hill’s move to South Beach has not worked out as remarkably as he verbally told us it would. Life goes on. I am not knocking Tyreek Hill… except for saying he forgot where he came from. When the chips were down, the Chiefs drafted him. When things went south, the Chiefs stuck by him.
And prevail the Chiefs did, despite losing LOT Eric Fisher, ROT Mitch Schwartz, and WR Tyreek Hill. In the process, Patrick Lavon Mahomes II has become a better QB, a better leader, and one of the best representatives of the Kansas City Football club that anyone could have wished for — save for ‘Lenny the Cool,’ I imagine.
God Rest Len Dawson’s soul in the true Kingdom.
Let’s Review
This story is older than just 2022! The Draft of 2016 nets DT Chris Jones (MS. State)* and WR Tyreek Hill(OU)*. It’s hard to think about CJ being around for so long. It seems like yesterday that I was touting his prowess. He has matured into a powerhouse for the Chiefs. Free agent defensive tackle Mike Daniels observed this about CJ:
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“Chris is a bully but not the kind that’s mean,
but he’ll take your lunch money but
make sure you have just enough to eat.”
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What else can you say about Hill? I am sad that he cast his fortunes elsewhere.
The Draft, 2017: The Chiefs traded up to draft Patrick Mahomes(Tx Tech) and drafted Kareem Hunt(Toledo). Hunt fouled up in KC. Of course, PMII is the next GOAT. I don’t give a rats patoot about what Skip Bayless thinks.
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The Draft, 2018: This was the last draft that was player light as only DT Derrick Nnadi is still with the Chiefs. This was the “meh” draft of the later Reid draft years and the first Veach draft.
The Draft, 2019: S Juan Thornhill (VA), OG/C Nick Allegretti (IL), CB Rashad Fenton (SC), WR Mecole Hardman (GA) – a very effective draft. Allegretti is #2 for all three IOL Positions. Fenton was a mainstay in the secondary for three years, and Thornhill has been a solid safety. Juan Thornhill had a great rookie season, but recovering from injury marred his 2020 return. However, he is still a reliable safety and can be depended on for heavy-hitting duty.
The Draft, 2020: 4/3 OLB Willie Gay, Jr. (MS. State), RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire (LSU), Lucas Niang (TCU), CB L’Jarius Sneed (La. Tech), DE Mike Danna (Michigan). Willie has been freed this year. Clyde has become a wash, and Sneed has been super in the secondary. I was very supportive of CEH in the beginning. Not so much now. Gay has emerged in his 3rd season and playing outstanding football. LJ is our most versatile CB. Gay and Sneed fit the bill for the exceedingly talented young defense. Combine that with the draft of 2021; Brett Veach has five players who will contend for, at the very least, Pro Bowl nods yearly. Unfortunately, CEH and Lucas Niang have become disappointments in my outlook for this draft class. Maybe in 2023, we will see Lucas Niang emerge and win the ROT position again. Perhaps that will occur in this coming post-season. The Chiefs need Niang to fulfill his promise.
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The Draft, 2021: LB Nick Bolton (Mizzou), OC Creed Humphrey (OU), OG Trey Smith (UTenn). Bolton has become significant as the green dot LB. Humphrey and Smith? Wow is the word for this threesome of aces.
The Draft, 2022: CB Trent McDuffie (Washington), DE George Karlaftis (Purdue), WR Skyy Moore (W. Michigan), S Bryan Cook (Cincy), LB Leo Chenal (Wisconsin), CB Joshua Williams (Fayetteville St), CB Jaylen Watson (Wash. St), RB Isiah Pacheco (Rutgers), Nazeeh Johnson (Marshall). This draft will go down in Veach’s history as a GM. It was a great draft. Chenal will emerge in 2023, but will play a role in the post-season for 2022, and WR Moore will also. The big surprise, though, is probably RB Isiah Pacheco. Even Nazeeh Johnson has gotten playing time in his rookie year. One of our readers touts Jerick McKinnon, and rightly so. Playing in a duo with Pacheco has been a powerful influence on the success of the Chiefs ground game. Even though McKinnon is not a youth movement player, he deserves much recognition, even as a player/coach.
Youth Starters: Draft Success Extraordinaire!
This list is the fun part of what we have seen since the beginning of the Reid Era in KC and then the bonus of the success of GM Brett Veach. Let’s review as a timeline (subtracting departed players such as Hill and Fenton). Every player in this list is part and parcel of the Chiefs 2022 regular season (and hopefully an extensive post-season effort). My list has 17 players. Add Hill and Fenton in, and it’s 19 despite their departures. Of course, CJ should no longer be considered a “youth,” and PMII is in his 5th season.
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The Year by Year Run Down
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• 2016 – DT, Chris Jones – CJ is now a 6th-year pro. He will possibly be the DPOY. Play-maker
• 2017 – QB, Patrick Mahomes (now in his 5th Season) – The 2022 MVP. He is already the GOAT. Play-maker
• 2019 – S, Juan Thornhill – has been a mainstay safety.
• 2019 – OG/C, Nick Allegretti – the Super Sub! That is a crucially important role for any NFL Team.
• 2019 – WR, Mecole Hardman – His contributions have increased each season.
• 2020 – 4/3 WLB, Willie Gay – Willie has arrived in his 3rd season. Play-maker
• 2020 – CB, L’Jarius Sneed – LJ made a name for himself his rookie year and kept adding to the bona fides. Play-maker
• 2021 – SLB, Nick Bolton – A great pick with the potential to be an HoF player. Play-maker
• 2021 – OC, Creed Humphrey – the best Center in football. Play-maker
• 2021 – ROG, Trey Smith – I love what Trey brings to the IOL. Play-maker
• 2022 – CB, Trent McDuffie – hit the ground running and has not looked back. Play-maker (for a rookie, Trent has had an outstanding year).
• 2022 – DE, George Karlaftis – emerging as a force among the Front Four players. With all the pressures and batted passes? George has become a playmaker in his year one and is likely to notch another Sack on Saturday. The more we see of him, the more he has become a player crush for me!
• 2022 – WR, Skyy Moore – Has speed, moves, and considerable talent but has not yet depended upon as he should have been. I suspect 2023 will be his time to shine-Sunday vs. the Broncos; Moore had 3 important catches.
• 2022 – S, Bryan Cook – It’s taken him time to figure it out, but he is a force both in pass defense and run-defense support. He showed his downhill talent over the past three weeks.
• 2022 – CB, Joshua Williams is no longer a rookie at this point. Arm length and length are keys to the Kingdom.
• 2022 – CB, Jaylen Watson – Neither is Watson a “rookie” in the same vein. Similar in profile to Williams. Both are now part of the secondary. And DB Coach Dave Merritt depends on them and uses them constantly for the secondary. Add to that CB Trent McDuffie and S Bryan Cook. Merritt said these players had grown beyond a rookie classification the other day. Keep in mind that Watson was a seventh-round draft pick! Merritt said:
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“I like the way the rotation is going because right now, both of those guys have proven us right as far as when we drafted them, we thought that both guys could become players for us. So again, you look at Watson; Watson is a 6’2” kid who has long arms, but his skill set is a little bit different than Williams, who’s another 6’3” kid and has long arms. So both of them bring a little something different to the table, so depending on the team that we’re playing, we may play one a little more than the other. But, we’ve rotated both of them in there, they’re both deserving, and we’re going to continue to do it.”
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It’s not going to be perfect in year one with so many first-year players, but they are playing well. -DEB.
• 2022 – RB, Isiah Pacheco – Who Knew? Who could have seen Pacheco emerging as a starter in year one? A seventh-round draft pick, no less, and he is making plays. He could be the rushing game RoY. Scouts fed a very good player to the Chiefs. I love it!
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Game Day Rosters
Game Day Rosters are made up of 48 players since the change due to the Virus panic of 2019-2022. This means that five players are inactive on any given weekend. On the other hand, I have listed above 17 players, and they are usually active each week. They are all the Chiefs draft picks too. The player with the most accrued years is CJ. Most of these men were acquired after John Dorsey departed, so the firm and capable hands of Brett Veach & his scouting crew are doing fine work, and we know that Brett operates in sync with HC Andy Reid.
Tally of Newcomers Plus Adding Spice (Vets)
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Over the past two years, the Veach has added veterans who are significant, as we have seen from their contribution. A short list must include Jerick McKinnon — Play-maker — Carlos Dunlap, Frank Clark, and Kadarius Toney.
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The exposure of playing so many rookies is obvious. Still, the youth movement is working.
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But key Veterans have been secret ingredients. I have listed Three but should include Veach bringing to the Kingdom Marques Valdez-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster who is a Play-maker. As we can see from what QB Patrick Mahomes has done in distributing the ball, both MVS and JSS are game-in, game-out big pieces of the puzzle. Protecting Mahomes is paramount: Add LOG Joe Thuney as a Play-maker to the list. Our IOL is one of the top units in the NFL, if not the best. Orlando Brown was an acquisition that many now question, but the stats show he is an important fixture as an added veteran. Perhaps his 3rd year with the Chiefs will be a season in which we can laud his capability. As the numbers show, he is a “good” OT. I certainly had high hopes for Lucas Niang that hasn’t come to fruition. Sometimes I cringe when something happens with Wylie on the right side in Pass-pro, and the same has been true of Brown. As a depth player for the OL, Wylie deserves recognition for that much.
The earth gives us a curved view, so we can’t see too far down the road. We observers can look further right now, but we want the team, its players, and coaches to focus on the current day and the game of the week. That’s as it should be, but in some ways, I am really anticipating the 2023 draft. After all, it will be held in the surroundings of Union Station within a few months time.
Below, on a ridge not far away, is the statue of an Indian Scout –> How fitting that the 2023 NFL Draft is held in the city just below that.
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This reveals an integral part of my personal history and fits the historical traditions of the area plus the persona of the Kansas City Chiefs. So too, does it seem fitting to think of the area with those images in mind… ruminating about the near future and also the upcoming draft, which will be held in Kansas City in 2023. Veach and his Scouting crew deserve credit for their work, and the statue is worthy of giving them recognition. Give them 2023’s draft and see what happens! This is all good “Stuff.”
I am getting excited about the playoffs. I have also been thinking about the draft next spring with growing anticipation.
Being a Chiefs fan doesn’t get any better than this. Keep this going, Brett Veach and Andy Reid!
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Note: I have listed the players who I think are the Chiefs play-makers with Play-maker in red. As far as play-makers go, we are short 2 or 3 to have a true top-10 defense. However, they are close. For example, S Bryan Cook has come into his own as the second half of the season rolled along. I also think Joshua Williams and Jaylen Watson have made significant strides, and I look forward to all three of these young men and what can be accomplished in 2023.
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David Bell – ArrowheadOne
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