Laddie Morse
The Kansas City Chiefs just won a Super Bowl which is the highest achievement in the National Football League for a team. You would think that any team who has won that game is at the height of their abilities. That’s not necessarily the case with K.C. and the loss of Tyreek Hill last offseason… then winning it all… is as good an example of that as anything. With that in mind, let’s take a look at several key players and see if they are destined for a better 2023.
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Kadarius Toney
Since we’ve just mentioned Tyreek Hill, is appropriate to begin with the WR position. Many fans in the Kingdom have been wondering if Kadarius Toney can stay healthy enough to make his own run at the WR #1 position. With K.C. walking though the transition of allowing Hill to walk away, then Patrick Mahomes throwing for a record number of yards in a season. KSHB 41 has an article called: “Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes sets all-time NFL single-season yardage record” in which they said:
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“No quarterback in NFL history has ever been responsible for more yards from scrimmage in an NFL season than the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes… Mahomes finished the season with 5,614 yards — 5,250 yards passing, 358 yards rushing and 6 yards receiving — to set the all-time record.”
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What fans need to realize is that when we talk about the success of one player, it’s hard to do that without talking about the players — and coaches — he deals with directly. From the same article mentioned above, Mahomes said:
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“It starts with the organization and the coaches. They set a culture here, it started before I was even here. So, you get a lot of guys in here that learn how we do things. We have a lot of veterans on our team and when you bring in new guys, you show em by the way you act and luckily for us, Brett Veach and Andy Reid brought in a lot of guys who are ready to work and want to get out there as quickly as possible.”
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That pretty much describes Kadarius Toney. However, this section is not about Patrick Mahomes… directly. It’s about Kadarius Toney and his desire to, “work and want to get out there as quickly as possible.” Toney arrived in the middle of last season and is already being counted on to play the #1 WR role, and why not trust him? Many have pointed to his injury history in his short stay in the league, after all, he’s only starting his third NFL season. However, Cole DeRuse of “How Bout Those Chiefs” says Toney saw more snaps in only his second game than Skyy Moore (3:49):
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Cole DeRuse also points out that the Chiefs were without Mecole Hardman and JuJu Smith-Schuster for that game but that’s also exactly what will happen this year –> no Hardman and JuJu. Will we see the best of KT this season? I’m counting on it. If K.C. doesn’t sign a WR like DeAndre Hopkins in the next month, we should be able to expand our expectations for Kadarius Toney.
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George Karlaftis
George Karlaftis had a very good rookie year with 6.0 sacks. In fact, he ended up with the 8th best grade among Defensive Ends in 2022 by ProFootball Focus. Frank Clark, who helped train GK, was graded as their 12th best DE but he was also responsible for helping to train GK after practices.
Jackson Krueger published a video called: “George Karlaftis, Expectations vs Reality” in which he says (1:16):
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Many have bemoaned the fact that Frank Clark has signed with another team (especially a team in the division like the Broncos) which means Clark won’t be able to train GK up after practices like he did last year during training camp. However, Karlaftis has been sited working out with the second leading sacker in Chiefs history, Tamba Hali:
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The use of his hands is where GK can improve. That’s also the reason why I’m tickled pink to see GK workign with Tamba Hali. Hali was always great with his hand usage.
Do I believe George Karlaftis will take another step up in the process of his year two in the NFL? Why the heck not. He already appears invested enough to ask the Chiefs one-time great Tamba Hali for help, so why shouldn’t he take the next step?
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Nick Bolton
Nick Bolton took one giant leap for mankind… er… the Chiefs, in his second year last season. Somehow the Chiefs coaches knew he be “good enough” to take on the starting role after his rookie campaign, enough to let their three year starter go: Anthony Hitchens.
Bolton went on to have the best season ever as a Chiefs ILB with 180 tackles: a single-season record for the Chiefs. The question is: should we expect Nick Bolton to improve in 2023? Caleb James wrote a piece for ArrowheadPride called: “Where Nick Bolton can improve in 2023” in which he said:
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“Bolton is good as a downhill runner and running to the sideline in pursuit of outside runs or screen passes, but quick transitions and change of direction are not where he excels.”
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The place where Bolton needs to improve is in coverage. That’s also where his “change of direction” or lack thereof, come into play.
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That may also be a reason that Brett Veach signed a guy like Drue Tranquill, who is an excellent LB in coverage. Whether or not Nick Bolton takes a step up in coverage this season may be a moot point, especially with Tranquill in play.
The way and times that DC Steve Spagnuolo uses Nick Bolton may be more situational this season and the effectiveness of the defense may depend on his calls. Bolton should be able to take another step up this season and even if it’s not as big a step as he took from year one to year two, his improvement will be glaring for all those paying attention.
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Special Teams
The Chiefs brought Special Teams guru over when Andy Reid came to eb HC in 2013.
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“The team made it to the playoffs eight times (2013, 2016-2022) and had a 11-6 record under Coach Toub in playoff games… [Dave] Toub is the special teams coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs since the 2013 season, a total of nine years. Toub’s record as the team’s special teams coordinator was 96-33-0, making him the most successful special teams coordinator in Kansas City Chiefs history.”
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In a year which saw WR/KR Skyy Moore fumble away three punts, the Special Teams came under intense scrutiny, perhaps more than ever. Then the Super Bowl punt return by Kadarius Toney happened and he returned that punt for 65 yards down to the5 yard line setting up the Chiefs go-ahead TD.
Dave Toub said recently:
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“Really it’s those last year’s young players that are getting better that are going to – guys like [Jack] Cochrane and Nazeeh [Johnson]. You know towards the end of the year Nazeeh Johnson, as a gunner, he was playing better than anybody in the league. So, I’m excited about him. He’ll probably be our number one gunner coming into next year.”
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If you’re wondering is the Chiefs Special Teams unit will be better next season (2023), the answer is clearly yes.
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Patrick Mahomes
If you’re wondering if Patrick Mahomes would show up on this list, the answer is an unequivocal yes. At the beginning of June I wrote a piece called: “Chiefs Patrick Mahomes Has Room For Improvement” and in that piece I quoted new OC Matt Nagy about Mahomes and what he had to work on, and Nagy said:
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“… I think the other thing would be working with his getting to progressions, getting to No. 3 and 4 is always another thing that, instead of maybe trying to force a throw here or there — which I thought he did a good job last year, of making smart decisions — working to that third, fourth and sometimes that fifth progression in the play. Really, in training camp, we’ll really be able to focus on that with the pads.”
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If each of these players does indeed get better, the Chiefs could end up winning the Super Bowl this season going away.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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