There’s nothing like preseason games to bring clarity. Certain players seem to stand out in training camp, but disappear against real opponents. After finally getting some game tape, I’m ready to update my roster prediction and tackle what some of the bottom of the roster guys need to do to stick around.
QB (2): 1. Alex Smith, 2. Patrick Mahomes
No change here, I still think Chiefs should roll with two QBs. Bray looked awful in his start and Stave managed to look worse. Chiefs can roll with a practice squad QB as their #3, and call in Michael Vick in an emergency. Bray needs to have a much better outing against the Bengals if he wants to squeak into that last roster spot. Stave isn’t as good, but he’s younger, cheaper and should easily make it through waivers.
RB(4): 3. Spencer Ware, 4. Kareem Hunt, 5. C.J. Spiller, 6. Anthony Sherman
We’ll know more after the Bengals game, when Chiefs focus more on the run, but early returns show a surprisingly limber C.J. Spiller, and an underwhelming West. Charcandrick is a great guy, fans and the team love him, but Spiller is clearly better right now. West needs a huge performance or a flop by Spiller to gain any ground.
WR (7): 7. Tyreek Hill, 8.Chris Conley, 9. Demarcus Robinson, 10. DeAnthony Thomas, 11. Jehu Chesson, 12. Seantavius Jones, 13. Marcus Kemp
It might seem absurd to think that Chiefs would keep 7 WRs, but hear me out. With Maclin gone, and a lot of young guys, Chiefs need some options. Several of these guys are very talented STs players. The most likely cut here is Kemp, but you don’t get rid of your QBOTF favorite target. Chesson needs to continue to do well on STs, Jones and Marcus Kemp need to keep up the good work. The rest of the WRs are basically a lock at this point.
TE (3): 14. Travis Kelce. 15. Ross Travis, 16. Orson Charles
The longest running post-season show in KC, ‘The Amazing Disappearing TEs’, is still alive and well. After a training camp full of promise, Harris turned in a meh performance, Escobar did nothing and Ross Travis had one catch for three yards. Chiefs have always had to hold on to Harris because their other TEs can’t block. Enter Orson Charles. Charles is a good enough blocker that he’s playing back-up FB. What’s more, he had two catches on offense and two solo tackles on STs. Chiefs might not be ready to move on from Ross Travis’ potential, but Charles for Harris could be a positive swap. Escobar is a veteran on a one year deal, he needs to show a lot more to make the roster. Harris could make the roster easily, if he would just learn to catch the ball.
STs: 17. Dustin Colquitt, 18. Cairo Santos, 19. James Winchester
Sam Ficken got his shot, he’s just not as accurate as Santos.
OL (8): 20. Eric Fisher, 21. Parker Ehinger, 22. Mitch Morse, 23. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, 24. Mitchell Schwartz, 25. Bryan Witzmann, 26. Zach Fulton, 27. Jah Reid
Based on early returns, I’m ready to say that the OL depth is not good. Chiefs roll with the group they had last year, unless they find a replacement for Jah Reid on the waiver wire. To the rest of the offensive linemen trying to make the roster, I have a helpful trick: try actually blocking the guy in front of you
S (4): 28. Eric Berry, 29. Ron Parker, 30. Daniel Sorenson, 31. Eric Murray
Eric Murray needs to improve his tackling technique significantly, but Chiefs like his ability in coverage. The top three are set, barring a trade, and Chiefs feel good enough about the guys they have here to just keep four.
CB (6): 32. Marcus Peters, 33. Terrence Mitchell, 34. Steven Nelson, 35. Philip Gaines, 36. D.J. White, 37. Kenneth Acker
The CB depth has not been as good as I hoped. Outside of the first team, it was pretty sloppy. Gaines has to stay healthy, White needs to play well in the nickle and Acker has to stay solid in coverage. If his knee gets healthy, Ashton Lampkin is coming for one of their roster spots. The kid may not be an elite coverage CB, but he can tackle, which is more than you could say for the rest of the secondary depth.
OLB (5): 38. Justin Houston, 39. Dee Ford, 40. Tamba Hali, 41. Earl Okine, 42. Marcus Rush
Nicolas is still on the pup list, and could easily start the season that way. Rush has shown nice pass rushing ability, though his run defense is terrible. Okine fits the mold of a hybrid LB/DE that Chiefs are trying with Kpassagnon. His size makes him a good edge setter and an emergency depth option at DE. Zombo is a veteran presence and a good STs player, so the young guys will have to show steady performance to beat him out.
ILB (4) 43. Derrick Johnson, 44. Ramik Wilson, 45. Kevin Pierre-Louis, 46. Ukeme Eligwe
The starters are solidified, KPL has impressed more than expected, and great things are hoped for Ukeme Eligwe. There’s enough promise in this group to jettison some dead weight. The talented, but oft injured Justin March gets cut. Eligwe and Louis need to stay sharp though, because Mauga could easily replace either of them if they make a misstep.
DL (6): 48. Bennie Logan, 49. Allen Bailey, 50. Chris Jones, 51. Tanoh Kpassagnon, 52. Rakeem Nunez-Roches, 53. Roy Miller
This is a deep group. The starters looked pretty good on Friday without Logan or Jones playing. Jarvis Jenkins got some first team reps, but the fact that they brought Miller in indicated that they were’ totally happy with what they had. If Miller is healthy, I think he has the edge over Jenkins, but it’ll be a tough battle between those two. Nunez-Roches has been a pleasant surprise.
The 2017 K.C. Chiefs have pretty solid roster depth and there should be a lot of interesting roster battles to watch. A few positions could still be improved. CB and OL seem to have the least depth at the moment. If Veach is active on the waiver wire, those are positions I’d expect him to target. This Saturday, I’ll be watching the RBs, backup OL and depth in the secondary. After a rough outing for the 3rd string D, we’ll get to see how the players respond to coaching. Go Chiefs.
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