Laddie Morse
With Day Ten being a day with Pads, the Kansas City Chiefs are in the thick of it. As Matt McMullen says here in a video posted yesterday, the Chiefs are nearly half way through training camp. Now, with ten days done and nine days to go now (10 if you include the preseason game one), they are officially half way there.
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Injuries
MLB Nick Bolton sat out with an elbow injury, DB Deon Bush was out with an ankle, DE Izaiah Gathings with a hamstring, OT Chu Godrick with an ankle, WR Justin Watson with a foot, and DB Nazeeh Johnson again with a hamstring. All these players didn’t practice for the Chiefs on day 10.
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Ranking
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I think it will take Jim Harbaugh a couple of years to transition over to his run-heavy offense and to get his guys to buy in. While I’m not ready to make a seasonal Chiefs prediction as far as win totals are concerned, I guarantee you it will be higher than 11.
Conor Orr wrote a pice for Sports Illustrated called: “100 Bold Predictions for the 2024 NFL Season” and here his top ten:
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#1 = He’s wrong of course. The Chiefs will make it back to the big game and Miley Cyrus will perform at half time and Patrick Mahomes will lead the team to a come-back victory.
#6 = Who cares. Since those are the only two predictions that effect the Chiefs, I have no further comments.
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Clyde Edwards-Helaire
A lot has been made over the first round selection of Clyde Edwards-Helaire back in the 2020 NFL Draft. What many may not know if that he suffers from PTSD. In an article written by Adam Teicher called, “Chiefs’ Clyde Edwards-Helaire discusses struggles with PTSD.” First, let’s understand that PTSD means: “post-traumatic stress disorder.” In his article, Teicher quotes CEH who says:
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“I feel like talking is a big thing, but it is just getting
over that hump personally, being able to know that
honestly, just everybody goes through things good
[and] bad … It’s a steppingstone. I’m just 25 years
old and trying to live the rest of my life healthy.”
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I have a friend who has PTSD and it’s not just something you got talk to a counselor about once and you’re done. I’ve had many instances in my life where I needed talk therapy and I’m a big believer in talk therapy. At least that’s been my experience. Please, if you have anything to sort out, contact someone appropriate who can help you.
I once went to a counselor who said, “We’ll meet three times then you tell me if you think I can help you… and I’ll also tell you if I think I can help you.” That honesty was refreshing. So remember, you always have the choice to stick with the one your talking to… or not. Your health is up to you. Physically AND mentally. Here’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire talking more about his experience (9:22):
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I can’t imagine what it must be like to have been so close to death with a gunman sitting in the back seat of your car while your friend in the front seat has a gun too.
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Deep Ball Game
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… er… I mean it’s beginning to look a lot like the Chiefs will have a deep ball passing game again this year. Which… if you think about it… is a lot like Christmas for Chiefs fans. Sure, K.C. won the last two Super Bowls in a row without speedster Tyreek Hill, but most anyone who has been watching the team understands that there has been a hole in the offense and that hole has been at WR ever since the 2021 season. Specifically, not having a fast WR. Yes, JuJu Smith-Schuster somewhat helped to heal that problem, but he ran a 4.54 – 40-yard dash and has been successful because he was more of a skills guy. Then last year, Patrick Mahomes had to adjust — AGAIN — with no one who could catch the ball over the top.
Now, GM Brett Veach signed Marquise Hollywood Brown in the offseason and then drafted the fastest man in the NFL, Xavier Worthy, who runs a 4.21 – 40-yard dash. Here’s a look at Worthy catching a long one from Mahomes:
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While Xavier is fast, there just doesn’t appear to be a way to defend his long speed. His short routes? Yes. However, I’ve seen him knocked on his keister and man-handled at the line of scrimmage (see below). That seems like the only way to defend him, if you can get away with it (0:04).
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Although, Andy Reid is excellent at scheming up ways to get a player open, so we’ll have to wait and see how other teams handle Worthy. Since DBs are allowed to hit a WR within 5 yards of the LoS, I can see Reid using Worthy as a player on the move, pre-snap. Pre-snap motion is one of the many tools that Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid utilize within the design of their offense to read, or ultimately to deceive, a defense. Worthy should be seen in motion a lot in the 2024 season.
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Best Camp Day Yet
Wide receiver Justyn Ross may have had his best day at Chiefs camp on Thursday. While I’m not of the opinion that he has the skills that match up with the needs in K.C. there’s no denying that he had a great day on Thursday.
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(0:09)
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Another player who had a good day, and is having a good camp, is backup QB Carson Wentz (31 years old). It’s comforting to know that if Patrick Mahomes can’t go for part of a game, or games, that we have a very good backup ready to go. Wentz (pictured at right) was drafted by Doug Peterson of the Eagles in 2016, the year before Mahomes was drafted and Wentz was taken second overall. In his second year Wentz led his team to the playoffs (and ultimately the Super Bowl), but it was their backup, Nick Foles, who won it for them on a famous play called, “The Philly Special.”
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It’s easy to see how that player could have been Carson Wentz, but many Kingdom fans felt a special connection to Foles, simply because he played in K.C. the year before that, in 2016. CB Keith Taylor also had a good day/week:
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(0:08)
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One more day of camp for this week, on Friday, then the Chiefs have an off day on Saturday.
What do you think?
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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