Chiefs Growing Up Fast
Laddie Morse
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At some point in everyone’s life, they makes the decision to grow up. For the Kansas City Chiefs, they’re embarking on a new journey with so many new faces or young and budding starlets, that it’ll be imperative that they, grow up fast. Good thing is, it’s already happening. Take veteran Frank Clark for example.
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Clark has been working with rookie George Karlaftis III after practice each day to help him learn the nuances of playing the defensive end position in the NFL. While Clark is in his 8th year in the league at 29 years old, Karlaftis is 21 years old and a rookie first round selection out of Purdue. Here’s what Clark said on Saturday in the post practice presser:
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While it’s understandable that Clark is talking about growing up, especially with a 6-year old daughter at home, there are signs that this team — with so many newbies and first-year players on the roster — are growing up right before our eyes.
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DE Frank Clark had a discussion with coach Reid after the end of last season and Reid said:
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“You know what type of player you are and I know what type of player you are. You didn’t show that this season.”
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“Growing up right before our eyes” is happening to more than just Karlaftis and Clark. Matt McMullen at Chiefs.com shared this about Safety Bryan Cook’s preparation for training camp:
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“There was obviously the mental part – the NFL is 90 percent mental, so I dove in the playbook – but [the running] was major during the offseason.”
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Learning From Mistakes
One way to tell if some one is growing up fast is, if they learn from their mistakes. OC Eric Bieniemy said yesterday, that it looks like rookie WR Skyy Moore is learning quickly from his mistakes.
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Moore may end up being one more great draft pick by Brett Veach. Yes, Veach has made his mistakes — like Breeland Speaks and some will even point to Clyde Edwards-Helaire (not me, so far I just think it was a mistake to draft him in the first round) — but Veach has managed to put together at least two drafts in a row of solid, if not great, draft picks.
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I’m a firm believer in Skyy Moore, enough to project him as the Chiefs #1 WR by year’s end. While this training camp has been a consistent display of skill on the part of WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, some of the Chiefs running backs are learning from an older more experienced Running Back: Jerick McKinnon, who turned 30-years old on May 3:
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Actually, McKinnon was drafted in 2014, but his point is well taken and CEH also:
“… mentioned Travis Kelce as someone he
leans on, trains with and learns from.”
Kelce is not only a wonderful player but an incredible role model as well. By adding Carlos Dunlap to the DE room, the Chiefs have added another player with experience to share, who can also help rookie George Karlaftis as well as Joshua Kaindoh or Malik Herring out when he arrives this coming Wednesday. In fact, Frank Clark talked about when he was a rook, and the then 30-year old Michael Bennett, was someone who showed him the ropes. So, Clark has that experience and is likely the reason he shares what he knows after practice with Karlaftis.
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Maturity Starts at the Top
Growing up means maturing and breaking one’s own tendencies (or they could be called bad habits). Brett Veach did just that in this most recent draft. As outlined by Zach Eisen at si.com:
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“First, he’d never taken a cornerback before day three. Second, Veach showed patience and did not make a panic trade-up to get his guy. He spent the Chiefs’ first three picks on a premium position in the form of Trent McDuffie (CB), George Karlaftis (EDGE), and Skyy Moore (WR). Lastly, he made the first trade-down during his tenure as general manager.”
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Patience is also a sign of maturity. I like Andy Reid’s attitude about LT Orlando Brown and whether or he shows up for camp, or not:
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“If he’s here, great and if
he’s not… we move on.”
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“Growth and maturity” have not just been pretty words in the Chiefs organization either. Aaron Ladd pointed to the maturity of LB Nick Bolton last year quoting Andy Reid:
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“He had a couple of real secure tackles that were important for us. It looked like mentally he was able to digest everything that they threw at him. If he did make a mistake, he fixed it the second time around.”
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Frank Clark has had a poor run in Kansas City with sack totals of: 8.0 in 2019, 6.0 in 2020, and 4.0 in 2021. If he can return to the 8.0 or more range, the rest of the DL should get a big shot of adrenaline in 2022. As Job 33 in the Bible says:
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“Let their flesh be renewed like a child’s;
let them be restored as in the days of their youth”
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Sorry to take you to church on that one… but… it IS a Sunday morning. There may be no Chiefs Training Camp practice today but for me, the season can’t get here soon enough. I know, I know: PATIENCE.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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