Chiefs in Flight: Insight Driven by Scouts, GM and Staff

 

 

 

 

Chiefs in Flight: Insight Driven

by Scouts, GM and Staff

 

by David Bell | March 17, 2019

 

 

Things are coming to fruition for the Kansas City Chiefs and I am sure it’s different than you expected. Let’s refer back for some detail. In the past year or so, the Chiefs have released or traded:

 

• Tamba Hali
• Derrick Johnson
• Justin Houston
• Eric Berry
• All 3 Amigo’s gone, with Allen Bailey the last
• No player remains on the roster from the 2011 draft
• Marcus Peters was traded
• Demetrius Harris was not re-tendered
• Nor was Center Mitch Morse
• I do not expect Daniel Sorensen or Eric Murray to return in 2019
• The Chiefs were also forced to release Kareem Hunt

 

 

 

Keep in mind that I had predicted that Bailey, Houston, Berry, Harris, Sorensen and Murray would not be retained. So far the latter two remain with the club. The first five have departed. I was torn about Morse but, it was too much risk with his concussion history and still receiving north of $11M per season. Mitch is gone and the Chiefs at least have the position covered.

 

More Changes In the Offing

Most of these changes are on the defensive side of the ball. It appears the Chiefs are not going to re-tender RB Spencer Ware and there are others. New additions have arrived with the import, the signing of Tyrann Mathieu. What we thought might be a good signing, CB Ron Darby, was the case and he re-signed with the Eagles.

 

 

I wanted to delay this piece as long as I could hoping that GM Brett Veach would figure out and sign another piece of the puzzle of retooling the defensive roster but by the time I proofed this item, it had not happened. We do know that Free Agent Cornerback, Darqueze Dennard, is up next and there may be more scheduled but, we are not yet privy to whom that might be.

 

As much as I wanted to get the Darby contract signed it was to to be. Meanwhile, Steven Nelson signed a contract with the Steelers and I wanted to reflect on that a moment. He was our 2nd highest ranked cornerback in 2018 and he did not play poorly. With the way his partners sallied forth, it’s no wonder that any given player struggled and Nelson was targeted more than any other DB in our secondary.

 

As much as I felt Dee Ford had a totally rotten deal in KC, so to do I feel about all the criticism of Steven Nelson, who was our best outside CB in 2018 and ranked highly by PFF. Bob Fescoe had a stint on a Pittsburgh radio station about the player that the Steelers acquired and I had drawn the same conclusion but knew as well that Nelson would move on. Listen in to the program yourself:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Chiefs also signed ILB Damien Wilson to a 2-year contract and that is going to strengthen the Linebacking corp. I don’t know how they will handle the starters but this is really looking up as a group. I read a second view of Reggie Ragland by Nate Taylor in the Athletic yesterday which tells me that Ragland is being looked to for the role of MILB. That would mean that Damien Wilson and Anthony Hitchens would man the WILB and SILB roles with the SAM being a potential resolution by Dorian O’Daniel or Ben Niemann (or others down the list). We have a couple of other Linebackers in the mix: Raymond Davison had a big time turnover in the last pre-season game which gave him a spot on the Practice Squad. However Terrance Smith has not been tendered by the Chiefs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GM Brett Veach has freed up $39.5M in cap space but some cap has been used for Tyrann Mathieu already. I think there is room to work and use the money from Berry’s release to finish up 2 contract extensions — for Chris Jones and Tyreek Hill — and still have monies to cover rookies and contingencies. It will mean shifting priorities to get things done but that is what GM’s are for. I will say that I am hoping that Veach is able to resolve finding a CB so that added focus on the front 4 can occur. Alex Okafor is a great start in that regard. It’s my idea, that it’s possible that Veach will try to sign a DT or DE. Indeed we have heard that Veach is interested in signing Markus Golden a Defensive End and Mizzou alum, but that quickly fell to the wayside as Okafor was signed and Golden was picked up about the same time by the NY Giants.

 

 

 

Priority by Early June?

Get Hill and Jones both extended so that next season Veach can implement the extension of Patrick Mahomes contract. They can delay completion as long as the agreement is made, until Berry’s money is present to get it formalized. I am not adding unfinished business regarding Ty Hill and a Friday News report. It’s not final and what is known indicates that Hill was not named in the domestic abuse case still open and being investigated.

 

Chiefs Change is Rapid

I’m sure you are beginning to see how this shift fits in terms of team youth, speed, and persona already and this is self-evident in how firmly Veach and Company pursued Ron Darby. With the moves made by the Chiefs thus far, I like very much the aggressiveness of Brett Veach in this years offseason.

 

At worst? We have moved on from the abysmal three seasons — the last three — with Bob Sutton as DC and I cannot see a bad defense with the players that are intended as starters and who are being acquired. It’s just not in the cards. The change is obvious in the attitude of staff and pundits alike. They are excited by the changes going on, even as old time champion players have departed. I do believe that with existing players and no changes, that Steve Spagnuolo and his staff would make a difference and create an improved defense. Adding the players that we are adding, and subtracting others, is giving us an indication of which way the defense is going to go in the new 43 base.

 

Thus far I truly like what the Chiefs have done with the leadership of GM Brett Veach. Certainly there is considerably more work to be done. Part of that is going to be reflected in the draft but this is only the first week of Free Agency. You can begin to see the formation of a new Roster. I have penciled in 36 or 37 players for the upcoming year. To that you can add the draft picks and the Chiefs have 8 of those which puts the active roster somewhere near 46 or 47. Of course, they’ll start with 90 men and whittle it down from there.  I do think the Chiefs will be taking a hard look at bringing CB Keith Reiser back to the Kingdom after he’s done playing in the AAF for the Apollos.

 

The Chiefs made an addition to the Running Back room by adding Carlos Hyde. His running style is quite different from Damien Williams… or Darrell Williams… so he will offer a tough punch from a more sizeable back. It’s an added benefit that he is a very good receiver in his own right and a good blocker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kahlil McKenzie will have import this season on the Offensive Line as will Austin Reiter at Center. Also Andrew Wylie on the offensive line is going to get a good amount of playing time. Jimmy Murray was on the PS and played well in pre-season in 2018. I expect him to move up to the big boy roster. There are others as well.

 

Brett Veach Personified

Veach has had a couple of three earmark pressers. In one he observed that we had two second round draft picks that fit the 43 base DE role: Breeland Speaks and Tanoh Kpassagnon. He indicated in that conversation that Spagnuolo and staff are looking forward to utilizing these two players. My response is they are two 2nd round picks and those guys don’t belong on the bench. Adding Alex Okafor makes that a strong suit for the Chiefs. Inside are Chris Jones, Xavier Williams and Derrick Nnadi but I can see them drafting a DT to add to the mix. Earlier in the past week Veach discussed direction:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He also illuminated that Cap Space was necessary to make moves:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This past week Veach observed, in a piece by Adam Teicher for ESPN, that the $39.5M in cap space and the 2nd round draft pick for 2020, in the departure of Ford, Houston and Berry, was crucial to the direction of the Chiefs, especially on defense. He observed that cap flexibility was necessary to acquire players and extend the contracts of Tyreek Hill and Chris Jones.

 

… all of those guys could help us (but) just being real, the cap (was) an issue… You have to take that into consideration. You look at can they help us at the cost of what it would take to do that, knowing that contracts and extensions are looming behind here. What can we do now to put ourselves in a good position not just for next year but for the next three, four, five six years? You go back to where we’ll be with both draft capital and cap space, this put us in a really good position in regards to potential extensions coming up and it put us in a position to maneuver around the draft and to potentially do things outside the box from now until the start of the season.’’

 

Even though we’ve lost four top players in the process — Houston, Berry, Ford and Bailey — I very much like the direction that the Chiefs are headed. What was acquired was the necessary monies to take care of business… and move forward in a completely new direction on defense.

 

As I am Writing, the Chiefs sign Former Saint’s DE Alex Okafor, another target position filled

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okafor is a run stopping 43 Defensive end. Paired with Breeland Speaks, Chris Jones and with pass rushing Tanoh Kpassagnon and Derrick Nnadi paired inside with Jones, the Chiefs with the new Linebacker crew ought to be able to be very effective against the run. It remains to be seen how Speaks and Kpass might be used in a pass rush or if the Chiefs make another move across the front four base. Still, Alex Okafor was the leader in Defensive Ends in 2018 for stopping the run. Okafor’s deal is signed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have not begun to address the offense but don’t get your panties bunched: recall that Jimmy Murray looked pretty good in the pre-season as a Center and we had a couple of tackles (both offense and defense that earned one of the 10 spots on the PS as well). Patience is to be preached because… It’s Happening!

 

 

 

David Bell – ArrowheadOne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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