Chiefs Host Jets: OPEN THREAD – Price Carter

Chiefs Host Jets: OPEN THREAD – Price Carter – Teachers really aren’t appreciated enough. That statement can’t be said enough in the current climate that we are living in. I’m very blessed to have come from a family of teachers, including my wife, who simply blows my mind with her passion for her students. As we enter the fall season teachers start working hard to collect data to monitor the progress of their students and to communicate that progress to their parents or guardians. Report cards are a tradition as old as school itself; it provides a comprehensive assessment of a selected period of time. With that in mind…

Chiefs Mid-Season Report Card

For the Chiefs we will be grading each position group based on their performance over the first 7 weeks of the season. Now, obviously it would be easy to give every position group a high grade simply because the team is 6-1. Our goal today, is to be more critical… in the spirit of improvement. Besides, any teacher will tell you, a grade is just a letter, what you learn is a lifetime.

Offensive Report Card

Quarterback: Honestly it’s a little sad that we are just so used to Mahomes’ excellence. In his third year as a starter we’ve already come to expect excellence from #15 every time he steps on the field. This season has been a unique one for Mahomes thus far, he’s quietly an MVP candidate. Quietly, because he’s posting great stats but is oftentimes not the focus of the Chiefs victories. The last two games are prime examples of this: in both wins Mahomes did not need to be excellent for the win, he just needed to be smart and take care of the football. The Chiefs are dominating teams without Mahomes being superhuman should be one of the most terrifying things to other NFL teams. With 16 Touchdowns, 1 interception and 1,899 yards Patrick Mahomes is pacing for a casual 4,341 yards 37 touchdowns  2 Interceptions.

Grade: A

►Star Student: Patrick Mahomes

Running Backs: It’s safe to say that the hype for Clyde Edwards-Helaire had become exponential this summer. Some Chiefs fans were even talking about a 1,000 yards rushing and receiving for him. While at times it has seemed like Edwards- Helaire has been lost in the shuffle he is still second in the league in rushing. What has been disappointing is CEH’s role in the passing game thus far, hopefully that can continue to grow as the team heads into the playoffs. There’s been a real lack of depth behind him that led the Chiefs to signing Le’Veon Bell; Darrell Williams and Darwin Thompson have both been very limited in their contributions. The addition of Bell appears to be a huge step forward for the third down offense and makes Darrell Williams a nice 3rd option out of the back field. 

Grade: B-

►Exciting new student: Le’Veon Bell

Pass Catchers: The success of the Chiefs’ pass catchers is really defined by their star students and not much else. Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce are both having excellent seasons especially because they are both succeeding in different roles than what they are used to. Tyreek has been able to expand his role in the offense as more than just a deep threat; especially with defenses being so careful to not get beaten over the top. Hill has still been able to get his catches. Kelce has seen his role change with the increased usage in the run game as a blocker and missing Anthony Sherman.

As for the rest of the pass catchers it’s been a fairly disappointing season. Sammy Watkins was having a nice season production wise until his annual soft tissue injury. Many Chief fans looked for Demarcus Robinson and Mecole Hardman to build off their 2019 seasons and  yet Byron Pringle seems to have flashed the most. Nick Keizer has been increasingly disappointing as a pass catcher and Ricky Seals-Jones might as well be put on the side of milk cartons now. Despite all of this it’s still one of the best receiving corps in the league for one of the best offenses in the league. Robinson, Hardman and Pringle all have untapped potential for when the offense truly needs to be unleashed. 

Grade: B

►Most likely to Improve: Mecole Hardman

Offensive Line: It’s impossible to assess the current offensive line without acknowledging the huge amount of adversity that has faced the unit. It starts with losing what was potentially two starting offensive guards with LDT and Niang. Then, Kelechi Osemele was showing some great signs until he suffered a season ending injury a few weeks ago. Mitchell Schwartz was the Chiefs’ anchor at right tackle who is dealing with the dreaded back injury. All in all that’s a loss of 4 starters despite that the line has put together some nice performances. 

Another notable change to the line was Austin Reiter being benched for veteran Daniel Kilgore. Kilgore has been valuable to the line for his communication skills as the center. Eric Fischer has put together a nice season at left tackle despite some of the plays made by Bradley Chubb last week. Andrew Wylie has quietly been good this season after switching to right guard. The signing of Mike Remmers has been crucial to this line filling in at guard and tackle this season. Overall, the line has played well despite all of this. 

Grade: C

►Get Well Soon: Mitchell Schwartz 

Defensive Report Card

Defensive Line: During camp the defensive line felt like the deepest position on the roster. So much so, that the team cut a former second round pick in Breeland Speaks. Frank Clark (3.0 sacks) and Chris Jones (4.5 sacks) both continue to get theirs and lead the charge for the pass rush. Some of the biggest bright spots on the roster have been the performance of rookies Mike Danna and Tershawn Wharton. The Chiefs will look forward to getting Danna back off of IR in the coming weeks. Derek Nandi and Mike Pennel have continued to be the primary run stuffers for the line with Khalen Saunders returning to play last week in Denver. All of the bodies at defensive tackle have played well. 

Truthfully the only place the defensive line has struggled at, is the end opposite of Frank Clark. Alex Okafor, Tanoh Kpassagnon, and Taco Charlton have combined for 3.5 sack and several weeks on the injury report. Overall, the line has terrific depth and has enough playmakers to rush the passer and be good enough against the run when needed. 

Grade: A

►Most Surprising: Tershawn Wharton

Linebackers: The linebacking core has been one of the biggest liabilities of the Chiefs roster since Derek Johnson retired. One of the most brilliant things about Steve Spagnuolo is his ability to overcome weak points in the defense by using players strengths and weaknesses to the defense’s advantage. He has strategically used Anthony Hitchens and Damien Wilson to excel vs the run game but also not getting over exposed in the passing game. Hitchens, Wilson and Nieman have all had their moments with missed tackles and covering running backs as receivers. Despite that in some of the biggest tests of the season (Ravens, Patriots and Broncos) the trio did enough to control running backs.

Probably the biggest improvement that is coming to this defense is the emergence of Willie Gay. He continues to get on the field more and more each week. His speed and agility make him a nice replacement for Ben Niemann on obvious passing downs. He also brings enough to the run game that he could be a true three down linebacker come January. Spags will likely continue to use Daniel Sorenson in a coverage linebacker role as well. 

Grade: C

►Shows Potential: Willie Gay

Secondary: This is the spot that all Chiefs fans were concerned about in the off-season. While the safeties weren’t the major concern there was still some questions about Juan Thornhill returning from injury. Likewise, there were questions about how the secondary would recover from the loss of Kendall Fuller who was a great chess piece as well. As always, the Chiefs seemed to be depleted of trustworthy cover corners with Breeland’s suspension and relying on rookies such as L’Jarius Sneed and Bopete Keys. 

All the Chiefs have done in the secondary is become one of the best pass defenses in the league including 3 corners (Fenton, Breeland and Sneed) in the top 40 cover corners according to PFF. Tyrann Mathieu continues to be the most valuable asset to the defense by being flexible and allowing other players to do what they do best.  What was at one point a major concern for the defense might actually be a strength when Sneed returns and as Thornhill  and Ward continue to get more and more healthy. What Brett Veach continues to do with the secondary with minimal investment continues to be nothing short of witchcraft (Halloween pun intended). 

Grade: A

►Outstanding Leader: Tyrann Mathieu 

Special Teams: Before the Denver game the Chiefs; Special Teams ranked 29th in DVOA according to Football Outsiders despite Harrison Butker’s heroics in Los Angeles. Special teams has struggled in many elements: giving up a return TD in Baltimore, not getting punts downed, penalties and missed extra points. While the special teams has plenty of room for improvement there is reason to think that it can improve. Dave Toub is about as good as they get as a coordinator. Butker has the ability and has proven to be clutch, Townsend is a rookie and will progress, Pringle is a nice addition to the return game and Hardman is bound to break a return eventually. 

For now they get the only bad grade on the team, but that’s also acknowledging that there is correction coming for their poor performance thus far. 

Grade: D

►Needs to show improvement : Harrison Butker

Overall, the Chiefs are quietly the best team in the NFL. While they might not be the flavor of the month for power rankings or debate shows they have put together a great season without playing a truly complete game. It feels like the offense still has its best games ahead of it and the defense is still getting pieces back.  

Price Carter — ArrowheadOne

Game Time Weather Report

If you are viewing this in Apple News and would like to join the Discussion, [GO HERE.](http://arrowheadone.com/chiefs-host-jets-open-thread-price-carter/#disqus_thread)