Kansas City Chiefs Laddie Morse

Chiefs: Return of the DAT

LadnerMorse August 21, 2019 No Comments Gallery

Chiefs: Return of the DAT – At first I thought the moves to bring back WR De’Anthony Thomas (DAT) and OL Jeff Allen to the Kansas City Chiefs roster was confusing or perhaps meant to be a favor to two previous players who could still play and eventually be signed by other teams once cut down day arrived and those players could use the Chiefs remaining weeks of the preseason to shop their talents. Delusional, I know, so, as quickly as those thoughts came into my flea brain, I realized that Veach and Reid aren’t going to waste the space on their 90 man roster to do that and if they thought that one of these players — DAT and Jeff Allen — could improve the team, even if it was just the bottom of the roster type improvement, then they would make those moves.

As those ideas seeped into the magma of my neocortex, I woke to the legitimate notion that the Chiefs knights of the round table were intentional about their additions, and specifically, De’Anthony Thomas (DAT).

With Marcus Kemp becoming unable to help this season because of his ACL and MCL being hurt in last Saturday’s game vs the Steelers, Special Teams coach Dave Toub needed someone who could step right in and fill Kemp’s considerable shoes. Since no one on the 90 man roster compared to the impact that DAT could have, the door opened for him and then the comparisons to other wideouts who could possibly make the roster surfaced secondarily. Even then, the question became: would Byron Pringle make a better 6th WR or would DAT? Add in his ability on Special Teams and DAT’s knowledge of the offensive scheme and playbook likely made the decision to bring him back a slam dunk.

I understand some fans concern because DAT is not their favorite player. When he came to the Chiefs as a 4th round pick in the 2014 NFL draft, I had high hopes for him too. He came to the Chiefs as a small running back who had 5 return TDs at Oregon and he had one Punt Return TD his rookie season for the Chiefs. However, he was switched to WR the next season and he struggled there and hasn’t had a return TD since.

Although I’m a big DAT fan, I get that many fans are tired of him and may not understand his place on the roster. However, he has provided 6 rushing and/or receiving TDs and gives the Chiefs another option on who will run the Jet Sweep which has now become a staple of Andy Reid’s scheme and another play the defenses of the NFL must plan to combat.

You’ve heard a hoard of oratorical hype about Chiefs team speed this offseason. I’ve wondered before this if DAT could return to the team and I assumed he would not, once they drafted Mecole Hardman. Now, it looks like Reid wants to make speed a central issue of his offense. Opposing NFL defenses will be facing more gridiron gridlock than driving on the Santa Ana Freeway in rush hour traffic… while the Chiefs offense will be that Kawasaki Ninja motorcyclist you see whizzing past, down the shoulder of the highway at 100.

Sidenote: the issue of who will wear what number has already been settled:

Special Teams coach Dave Toub has praised DAT several times. DAT was having a very good year last season before he broke his tibia:

So, the Chiefs carried on as if they would not need to save a roster spot for DAT ever since he left the team. In the first game of the 2018 season, Thomas started off the second half with a TD before his home crowd in Southern California:

You’ll notice how Reid’s scheme on that play has half the defense going one way and half the other. Now, he has all the players he needs to perfectly execute his 2019 edition of the offense. Dave Toub has used Thomas skills on special teams to accomplish one of his goals: turnovers. From a Seth Keysor piece on DAT last year at The Athletic:

Many of us aren’t privy to the relationships players and coaches have behind the scenes. De’Anthony and Dave have had a very close relationship. When DAT was asked “Why are you and [Dave] Toub so close?” he replied:

“He sets me to a high standard. It’s been that way ever since I’ve been here, and it’s great that he knows I can be there to make the plays. It’s good to have that feeling, that my coach trusts me. Special teams is so big because we can get better field position or turnovers to help our team.”

While DAT’s benefit to the offense may not be as great as his benefit to Special Teams, it is based on a strong relationship between he and Dave Toub. In a piece by Blair Kerkhoff for the KC Star, Toub was quoted, saying:

“… De’Anthony Thomas ended up becoming one of our best special-teams players. He’s not afraid. He’s 167 pounds, and he plays like a 200-pounder. He’s not afraid to stick his head in there in kickoffs and make tackles. He’s a tough gunner with great quickness and top end speed.”

When a player and coach have that kind of mutual respect — or you can call it a LOVE-IN — then it’s hard for other, newer, players to bump that player out. It’s not just Reid and Toub who think highly of Thomas either:

“One thing about De’Anthony, if you know

anything about him, he’s very tough.”

-Eric Bieniemy, Offensive Coordinator

Now, DAT has his flaws. Teams can knock him over with a pinky it seems sometimes. He has been hurt and on IR before as well but, his speed is rare. Even though he wouldn’t make a great 3rd WR, he will be terrific as a 5th or 6th and it looks like the Chiefs have plans for DAT this year: on Special Teams… and… when Andy Reid decides to goose the accelerator on his offense and go full speed ahead. Like he’s the Kawasaki Ninja.

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

 

 

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