The looming problems of the Kansas City Chiefs for the 2021 season, seemed insurmountable in February. Things changed rapidly. True. I am a home town fan and observer, but the things that have been accomplished by Chiefs, thus far in 2021, have been remarkable.
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After all that? I am no longer worried about the offensive line and linebackers. I confess, that I have a worry about the Cornerback group. All of this is to provide HC Andy Reid the roster to compete again, to get to, and win, the Super Bowl.
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The Offensive Line
There is no doubt in my mind that the offensive line is going to be significantly better than 2020. In fact, I think it will be significantly better than any offensive line since Andy Reid came to town. It’s not that I have an antipathy toward any player but what I saw happen was steadfast work of Brett Veach and his staff to construct a replacement group that was a step up from what it was in 2020. This will be the case.
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Who’s On First?
We can haggle about who is to be the starter and who is to be the swing tackle, and who is to be this or that. My point is, this mix of players is top notch. There are players among those competing for a starting role that I doubt will truly be able to win out. Doesn’t matter. The Chiefs will have players for depth who have been starters at KC or elsewhere and that is a group which will comprise a solid group for depth. Keep in mind that this season adds an additional week with the 17th game. That’a a lot of wear and tear that will affect every team in the NFL. Brett Veach clearly built this OL group with this in mind. By the time camp opens and pads are on, OL Coach Andy Heck will indeed have a great mix of players to mold into a top unit.
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A Gap Blocking Crew?
Well, no, the Chiefs will use the Zone Blocking Scheme this year, but they also will provide a powerful approach to a Gap/ZBS mix and match approach in 2021. The Chiefs have the players to put in place who are powerful men… and versatile in swapping positions and for that matter, blocking schemes. I think the Chiefs can be a Gap enforcement squad and have men with good feet to do the Zone Blocking Scheme as well. Not only that, but it’s bunch of high football IQs who can be maulers or be players who move in space. This group is the foretelling of the future of the OL. Watch for it. They can swap play to play from ZBS to Gap blocking without a worry.
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Linebackers
It’s true that I turned somersaults hollering about getting Willie Gay on the field last season. His snaps were curtailed for a logical reason – he had run into problems at college, did not play much of his senior year, suspended, and removed from the roster. He was out of football until Training Camp, 2020. That’s a long time to be without coaching or encouragement. We also have found out that Gay didn’t have a copy of the defensive playbook by the time the June/July break came around one year ago. Then too, he did not have OTAs or Mini-Camp to make the transition to the NFL. I understood that, but I watched the team suffer a bunch with Anthony Hitchens and Damien Wilson.
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Deep into Gay
For 2021, Gay is gaining on what was missed in 2020. One thing I understand about how Gay made the transition was just watching him play. What I thought was a huge advancement was his play in week 16 against the Atlanta Falcons. In that game alone, Gay showed that he had turned a corner: 9 Tackles, 2 assists, a pass defensed… and Gay had arrived. Unfortunately, the next week he suffered an injury and missed the playoffs.
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A top notch article written by Nate Taylor of the athletic covered many reasons to anticipate Gay’s ascending play in 2021. You must be a subscriber to read the articles at The Athletic, but Taylor’s remarks on Gay were anticipating high success.
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Bolton is the Future
When Brett Veach selected a LB high in the 2021 draft, much of that decision was based upon Nick Bolton’s top SEC numbers for the Missouri Tigers. Two seasons in a row! No doubt, his play, his toughness, his speed, his record, his ranking in the SEC and for the draft was the reason Nick was brought to KC and although we have yet to see him on a single NFL play, adding a LB high in the draft two years in a row told me that the Chiefs believe they have fixed the problem at LB… and I believe it.
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In the Mix
I am not going to tell you that Bolton will start in two LB sets. I will state that Bolton will be an impact player in 2021 and will be on the field as much as Spagnuolo and new LB coach Ken Flajole are able to get done. Another positive for he LB’s was the hiring of Ken Flajole, which should benefit not only the new comers, but I think be a boon to the vets like Hitchens and Niemann. The starting mix for the two LB sets will be Hitchens and Gay, but for a base 4-3, I think Bolton will quickly, if not immediately, supersede UDFA Ben Niemann. Behind them the Chiefs have Omari Cobb and more. I still wouldn’t mind seeing them make a high LB draft pick again next season, but if Hitchens plays as he did in the last few games of the 2020 season, the Chiefs LB starters for this, and next year, are set: Hitchens, Gay and Bolton. Note: I also remain hopeful that Harris and Cobb can step it up as well.
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I am tuckered out, “Tucker”!
Tucker Franklin, for SI.com, did a stand-up job supporting Hitchens, writing an article “Anthony Hitchens Deservers More Love than He Gets” Many of the points Tucker covers are very valid: 1) team captain, 2) signal caller for the front end of the defense, 3) Hitch is now going into his 3rd season as a LB, and his 2nd with Steve Spagnuolo. However, Anthony Hitchens is not a good coverage LB. He’s just not. Tucker though, makes some very valid points. Tucker Franklin (who also covers Hitchens in his podcast called: Roughing the Kicker), wrote this about Hitch:
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“For the first time in three years, Hitchens was going into the second year of a defensive system. In the second season (this time) with Spagnuolo, it was apparent Hitchens had become more comfortable. Despite missing some time in the COVID-19 protocol, Hitchens became an important part of the Chiefs’ defense….Statistical production doesn’t tell the full story of the 29-year-old linebacker, though. He captained Kansas City’s defense as he was crucial in helping rookie linebacker Willie Gay Jr. and others get lined up properly. There was clearly a difference in the defense with him on the field.”
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Cornerbacks
This is my one remaining area of concern essentially because the Chiefs did not re-sign their own Free Agent corner: Bashaud Breeland. It was my thought that with his veteran experience, the group would be solid, if not spectacular. No, I don’t think Breeland is a top of the line CB. I do think he played an important role for the Chiefs secondary with a steady performance and I did want him re-signed… because he would have given KC a solid player, and a long time vet for all the young guys. It didn’t happen. Moving on.
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Deandre Baker, Mike Hughes, Will Parks
Brett Veach did make the appropriate moves in obtaining fee agents Deandre Baker, Mike Hughes and Will Parks. Maybe my worry is not worth spit because Baker was at mini camp and on the field. Hughes shows he can play football well in the NFL and BoPete Keyes NFL emergence is quickly being accomplished.
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Stalwarts
I need to keep in mind that Rashad Fenton is now a solid Veteran in the mix as well as Charvarius Ward and from what I saw in 2020, L’Jarius Sneed is the real deal. This is a threesome that has fulfilled the base role with the in’s and out’s of a solid group.
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Enter BoPete Keys and Will Parks
We know what happened in the 2020 Draft, no 7th round pick, but Brett Veach manufactured one and traded back into the 7th Round so that he could select CB BoPete Keyes. We don’t know yet how fortuitous that move might be, but note that Keyes did get on the field in 2020 (7% of the Chiefs defensive snaps). I think they are counting a lot more on Keyes being part of the solution than we know. Of one thing exists with the potential of players and how they are coached up on this or any other team, my trust in Veach having great direction from scouts and the coaching staff has grown by leaps and bounds for the player selections in the past 2 drafts. For the Secondary? Dave Merritt and Sam Madison have had a player that fits the Chiefs view of the future and these two men have worked well in their role of preparing young talent and teaching “scheme” to the veterans at the same time. I have faith that Keyes will play a more significant role in 2021. When he was on the field in 2020 for a good portion of week 17, he looked pretty good.
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Then Veach added a veteran who has mostly been used as a safety: Will Parks. That is a solid addition to the mix of safeties and Cornerbacks. He is a fit because he is versatile, strengthening the already strong safety group, but adding benefit at Corner, should they choose to use him that way.
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Peering In?
UDFA’s Devon Key(WKU) who looks to me to be a very undervalued player. Dicaprio Bootie (Nebraska), Marlon Character (Louisville), Manny Patterson (Maine) and returning Rodney Clemons (2nd year) and Chris Lammons (3rd year) both UDFA’s added in prior seasons. The trick will be, sorting the wheat from the chaff, for who will be on the PS.
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Front Four: With CJ and Adding Reed
After much wringing of hands about the Interior DL, I thought it was going to be solid with Derrick Nnadi, Tershawn “Turk” Wharton and Stone Cold Jones. However, Brett Veach went and acquire Jarran Reed, a free agent addition that I thought was outstanding. He is solid, he has experience playing with Frank Clark and is a pass rush threat himself, a slow burn pass rusher.
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Chris Jones Extended
There is talk by various observers and pundits writing big things about Chris Jones moving outside to DE. I believe that we’ll see Spags move Jones around on the DL, but please observe that: his play inside is a force. Right side in, and if you go right side in: Clark, Reed, Jones… then I think they’ll have a run defense set up by adding Derrick Nnadi and Tershawn Wharton into the mix.
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What’s Left? LDE Taco Charlton
I still posit the starter on the left as being Taco Charlton. In 2020, Taco recorded 2 sacks in 90 snaps before he was injured, and with a DE, whom I think will be Taco Charlton, then the mix is going to be very good.
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Sleeper Factors: Mike Danna and Tim Ward
I have seen signs that Tim Ward ,from week 17 in 2020, is about to emerge in the mix. Mike Danna surprised me in the times he was on the field in 2020. Expectation is that it is time for Ward to show up. We’ll see. There are a couple other newcomers that I am unfamiliar with as UDFA’s. I’d say both are trying to work up and make the PS, but I cannot offer more: Austin Edwards (Ferris St) and Tyler Clark (Georgia).
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Adding Joshua Kaindoh (FSU)
After a deep look at Joshua Kaindoh, I see that he was a solid player, but didn’t have the sack stats that would make him a coveted draft pick. However, that is how he became a late round pick, was it not? Josh has all the physical traits of the NFL prototype.
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Side Notes
While the fact may be that Jones is pleased about the DE position and getting sacks, I think he is a far superior force from the inside along with Reed. Clark did not have the powerful year we expected in 2020. Hopefully he is over all the illness that affected him and returns to form. Myself? I still have a good deal of optimism for Taco Charlton and see that he was coming on strong in 2020. Am I too optimistic to think that he finally turned a corner? We’ll see. If Charlton finally arrives, the Front Four is going to be a powerful force. I fully believe in Derrick Nnadi as a highly motivated run stopping DT. At the same time, the man who came out of no-where, Tershawn Wharton from (Mo Mining & Tech) has more than surprised us all. My last thought was that the Chiefs brought in Melvin Ingram for a look. Maybe he could add to the mix for the pass rush if the Chiefs signed him late for a limited role. After all, ranking 20th in the pass rush is not an admirable position, no matter what.
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Maybe the best benefit is DL coach Brendan Daly, another of the Chiefs top coaches. That’s a wrap for today.
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David Bell — ArrowheadOne
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