Chiefs at Steelers, Preseason Game 2: OPEN THREAD – It’s time for the second preseason game and this time the Chiefs are traveling to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers. I like this matchup because the Steelers will be motivated simply because the Chiefs, and Patrick Mahomes, marched into Heinz Field and whipped them last year, 42-37. That kind of extra motivation will be good for this young team to fight back against.
There are exactly two weeks until the Kansas City Chiefs must cut down to 53 players and then followed by 10 Practice Squad players. To say it is crunch time… is almost right… let’s call it Munch Time (in honor of the Chiefs new cereal maker). What has consumed my time recently is just how this team has been constructed. It’s obvious to say the Chiefs have had a lot of turnover on the roster in the past two years, since Brett Veach became their General Manage. I’ve been wondering lately just how much more change he needs to make before he feels like it’s totally “his team?” We may never know the answer to that one so let’s take a look at the way the team is constructed. This time, through the eyes of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks Veach has signed and/or traded for. The first chart shows all of the early round players the Chiefs have drafted, who are still with the team.
These are the players the Chiefs still have on the roster who were drafted in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd round. Eleven players in all. There are a number of starters here but not as many as I would have expected there to be. Now. let’s take a look at the players Brett Veach has acquired via FA or trade who were at one time early round players too.
Here are the players all acquired by Brett Veach over the past two seasons. There are a good number of starters and contributors here as well. From these two lists there are probably two players who won’t make the cut on August 31st.
You can see the lion’s share of starters are coming from the first 3 rounds but some important acquisitions have been made of 4th round players… or moving one, like Parker Ehinger (BTW, Ehinger was waived by the Cowboys, signed by the Jags then waived and is now with the Arizona Cardinals).
The Chiefs had 9 picks in the 2016 NFL Draft when they picked Chris Jones at #37 and Tyreek Hill at #165. It looks like they do better with a high volume of picks. All the other drafted players, except one, (Demarcus Robinson) from that draft are gone now (KeiVarae Russell, Parker Ehinger, Eric Murray, Kevin Hogan, D.J. White, and Dadi Nicolas.
While there are many other early round players to be had, which other teams give on all too soon, I hope Veach doesn’t neglect to keep beating the bushes for those players who didn’t come from the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd round. After all, Tyreek Hill came out in the 6th round.
Here are some players numbers you may not readily know, Chiefs numbers to keep an eye on in the second preseason game:
I’ll be watching closely to see if the defensive line can get some pressure on Ben Roethlisberger tonight. If so, I’d expect an INT or two. Go Chiefs!
Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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