Laddie Morse
Yesterday I covered the Kansas City Chiefs Defense and Special Teams and handed out grades for each player for the first half of the 2021 season. Today I’l be handing out mid-season grades not only for the Offense, but for Defensive Coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, Head Coach, Andy Reid, and General Manager, Brett Veach as well. Let’s begin with the O-line.
Offensive Line
Orlando Brown: C
Brown has been up and down this season, his first with the Chiefs. It leaves the team — so far — in a quandary as to whether or not to re-sign him this coming offseason. He’s been much worse than Eric Fisher ever was, and likely worse than Fisher would have been if they’d kept Fish. His PFF grade is 77.3, on the verge of being good. The problem is, Patrick Mahomes needs a LT much better than someone on the verge.
Joe Thuney: B+
Thuney fractured his hand but went right back into a game for the Chiefs. In weeks following Thuney’s injury, he played 100% of the snaps. He’s been stellar for K.C. but until the OL as a whole plays better, his grade will remain lower.
Creed Humphrey: A-
I’m sill unsure whether or not Humphrey king the ball left-handed is having a negative effect on Patrick Mahomes. Humphrey should make the NFL’s All-Rookie team this year based on his play so far, but the OL still needs to come together.
Trey Smith: A
Smith has far exceeded expectations this year, especially when you consider he was a 6th round pick (226 pick overall). He has allowed GM Brett Veach to trade away LDT, a long time Chiefs player who was sitting on the bench and taking up valuable cap space. Trey Smith Pancakes have become legendary already and we can look forward to many more years of top shelf play as Smith continues to improve.
Lucas Niang: B-
I’m not sure why Niang was benched but he was good when he was in. You may recall that Niang was mentioned as a possible Left Tackle last offseason. If Brown doesn’t work out this year, Niang could again be a LT candidate in 2022:
Andrew Wylie: D
Most Chiefs fans don’t want to see Wylie on the field, especially after his Super Bowl LIV performance. Count me as one of those fans.
Tight Ends
Travis Kelce: A-
Kelce is on pace to catch passes for 1,186 yards this season. That would stretch his 1,000+ yards receptions seasons to 6 in a row when no other TE in the history of the NFL has no more than three (3), and the only one to do that was retired Greg Olsen. Kelce’s catch rate, 54-of-79 for a 68.4% catch rate, is his lowest in five years and part of that is Patrick Mahomes, but until they get that corrected, he gets a minus sign attached to his A grade.
All Other Tight Ends: D
We thought draftee Noah Gray might be the answer. We thought Blake Bell might be the answer. Now were supposed to believe Dan Brown might be the answer? You can’t run multiple TE sets, without multiple TEs who can threaten in the passing game.
Running Backs
Clyde Edwards-Helaire: C-
I’ve come full circle about CEH. I once thought he was a great draft pick, but no longer. He could have been a very good 4th round pick and he might have lasted that long if K.C. had not taken him with the 32nd pick of the 2020 draft. The Lions would have likely still have taken RB D’Andre Swift with the 35th pick that year. The Colts would likely have still taken RB Jonathan Taylor with the 41st pick. Cam Akers was likely still headed to the Rams at #52 and the same goes for J.K. Dobbins to the Ravens at #57, as well as A.J Dillon to the Pack at #62. While CEH would have probably gone in the 3rd round, if he’d survived that round, he would have been a very good pick in the 4th. Instead, K.C. took him with the 32nd pick that year and he’s averaged 61.5 YPG since that time.
Darrel Williams: B-
As a 2018 UDFA out of LSU for the Chiefs, his success with K.C. only supports the idea that the Chiefs gave up way too much to get CEH, especially when you consider the need for other impact players who could have been taken with that 32nd pick of the 2020 draft.
Derrick Gore: B+
Gore has been a breath of fresh air. He follows his blockers and is able to hit the designed hole making the offensive linemen in front of him look really good. Gore’s PFF grade of 74.2 is a crucial comparison when you consider the PFF grade for CEH of 55.9.
Wide Receivers
Tyreek Hill: A
Hill is on pace for 1,458 yards receiving this year. While he remains a deep threat, teams have figured out how to always leave two Safeties deep thereby changing Hill’s impact on any given game.
[Chart of Tyreek Hill career numbers]
The reduction in Hill’s YPC rate is the stat that tells the tale of this season, perhaps more than any other.
Mecole Hardman: C-
For years, I was asked if a student had met or exceeded expectations. Mecole Hardman clearly has not met expectations. So much so, that after three (3) years, I can see the Chiefs moving on without him in the coming season. Yes, every now and again, he makes a nice play, but he’s not made enough “nice” plays to want o keep him. His punt returning is legendary… but unlike Trey Smith’s “legendary”… Hardman’s is legendarily bad. It’s not like Hardman hasn’t been doing this bad Punt return routine for a long time…
Hardman’s Yards per Catch rate has taken a nose dive this season too, going from 20.7 in 2019, to 13.7 in 2020, to 9.8 in 2021. With a PFF grade of 62.7 he rates a solid shm.
Byron Pringle: C+
Pringle has a PFF grade os 63.9, and while that sill rate a solid, shm, he often exceeds expectations.
Demarcus Robinson: D
It’s time to move on from Demarcus Robinson. His 50.2 PFF grade sounds generous to me and he has all of 13 receptions this year.
Josh Gordon: B-
We still haven’t seen enough of Josh Gordon to truly evaluate whether or not he can be WR#2. We now know Hardman can’t, so we might as well still give Gordon his shot. 79 snaps in 5 games is NOT giving him a shot.
Fullback
Michael Burton: C-
Burton isn’t Anthony Sherman. 3 rushing attempts for 9 yards and one reception for 11 yards, doesn’t sound like a commitment to the FB position. He’s another wait and see kind of guy.
Quarterback
Patrick Mahomes: B+
Mahomes is having perhaps his worst year as a QB, yet he remains one of the league’s best at that position. Only Sam Darnold and Joe Burrow have thrown more interceptions this year than Patrick Mahomes: they have eleven (11) each and Mahomes has 10. In the meantime, only three (3) QBs have thrown for more yards this year and those QBs include: Matthew Stafford, Tom Brady and Derek Carr. With a 5-and-4 record, the QB needs o take his fair share of blame, and that’s why Mahomes is not getting an “A” grade for his first half of the year performance.
Defensive Coordinator
Steve Spagnuolo: B–
Spags defense was the reason for the Chiefs games being as close as they have been this year. His defense has also taken a positive turn in the past half of the first part of this season. Hopefully, the defense is on the rise.
General Manager
Brett Veach: B-/C+
This grade is fuzzier because of the role Veach plays in the organization. You’ll understand that more as you read on.
Veach has taken a lot of heat this year. Heat that I feel is mostly undeserved. However, the criticism regarding Clyde Edwards-Helaire (CEH) is justified and I’m hoping K.C. has learned an important lesson here: you don’t draft a RB in the first round, unless you’re pretty darn sure he’s on par with the best to ever play the game, which I don’t believe CEH will ever be. Also, some have blasted Veach for not signing DE Melvin Ingram in the offseason, then turning around and giving up a 6th round pick to trade for him. Although I can’t blame Veach for not coming to an agreement with Ingram initially, at least he eventually saw the error of his ways and was willing to bring in the guy he wanted all along, even though it meant giving up something to get him. Props to Veach for his willingness to admit a wrong… enough to turn a negative into a positive.
Has Veach taken a giant fall since becoming the youngest GM to ever win a Super Bowl? Not in my mind. My greatest criticism of Veach is that he and Reid decided to… keep the band together… from 2019 to 2020 and then again from 2020 to 2021… as much as possible. Now, some may site the complete change over of the starting offensive linemen from last year to this year, but I would ask, is that more the doing of Brett Veach or Andy Reid? No, my criticism is based on what happened from 2018 to 2019: the Chiefs took big bold swings and hired Steve Spagnuolo, brought in the 4-3 defense, parted ways with: Mitch Morse, Spencer Ware, Charcandrick West, Chris Conley, Demetrius Harris, Eric Berry, Justin Houston, Allen Bailey, Frank Zombo, Breeland Speaks, and Dee Ford… and when all was said and done, won Super Bowl LIV.
I can understand the desire to bring back all the same pieces — as many pieces as possible — especially from your SB winning season. However, you have to consider why K.C. actually made all the right moves in the first place… the place that got them to the Super Bowl, and then won it. That Super Bowl win was based on the team taking “big bold swings.” Big bold swings is what Bill Belichick has done in New England to keep his teams in contention year after year for over twenty years now. The Chiefs triumvirate need to trust themselves enough to make all the big bold moves they need to make every offseason.
Note: Brett Veach is only part of that decision making trio because he has to get the approval of Clark Hunt and Andy Reid for every move he makes. So, when fans say, “Brett Veach” this, or “Brett Veach” that, they need to consider that he is just part of a much bigger team… and many times his voice is the weakest in that threesome team.
Head Coach
Andy Reid: C
Reid seems distracted to me. Read my piece called: “Open Letter to Clark Hunt: Please Sit Andy Reid,” to find out why. No matter what side of the fence you land on here, the blame, as well as any praise, must always land on the Head Coach’s shoulders. While you can argue until you’re red in the face that the Chiefs should have, could have… won some of their games — which were losses this year — they didn’t, and now stand barely over .500.
Let’s hope for better grades by the end of the year. Go Chiefs!
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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