Chiefs: Short Takes in the Short Squeeze

.

The past week had some great observations by followers of ArrowheadOne and others around the Chiefs Circuit! What follows are some positive thoughts about the Chiefs Football Club as we wait for Training Camp to Open. In an article published on July First, Laddie reviewed the Rankings and made some good observations in the article: “The Top Ten Rankings of NFL Rankings.” In it you can see how the Chiefs are viewed by other: Pundits, Observers, Authors, and it also includes Stat sites. Take a peak!

.

About Those Rank Rankers!

Rankings are always interesting. You can see how things like reputation, both team and player as well as
inertia factor in. These few notes worth repeating come one of our previous writers, and now regular commenters, here at ArrowheadOne, Merlin:

.

1] The offensive line ranking of the Chiefs is very speculative. It all depends on how well they work together. You may have great ingredients, but if they don’t blend, it’s not a good meal.

2] Reputation played a huge factor in the QB rankings. I am not sure Brady is a top 10 QB right now, let alone #2. Off the top of my head, a ranking of Mahomes, Rodgers, Wilson then Allen seems more accurate. Over-hyped Cowboys is a redundant phrase.

3] With the 100 best games list. An average distribution would have each team listed 6.25 times. Since the Chiefs never went on a sustained championship run while in the NFL, they are not going to get the love there. There are so many great games in NFL history, fans of each team can come up with close to ten great games involving their team. How about that great comeback against the Oilers in the playoffs? I can still picture Keith Cash throwing the ball at the Buddy Ryan banner. I think he hit Ryan in the face. Really nice to see you list a Chiefs loss on your list of games.

4] I do think Bellicheat is way over-hyped as a Head Coach. You are very correct to point out his record outside of having a HOF QB. Most great Head Coaches have been paired with a great QB. Looking at how they do without one is a great indicator and Reid’s record is excellent there. So is Marty Schottenheimer’s. Noll without Bradshaw? Not good. Jimmy Johnson without Aikman? Not good either and he had Dan Marino. The list goes on. Excellent analysis there.

.

When you take into account Laddie’s observations, it was pertinent to highlight Merlin’s thoughts above. The first thing that came to my mind was the recent PFF TOP 50 NFL Players that left off Chiefs Safety, Tyrann Mathieu. See what I mean? Or how many times was a player not included in the Pro Bowl who clearly should have been, or All-Pro for that matter. The Chiefs had RT Mitchell Schwartz who definitely was left out several years in his 10-year Pro Career. That list could go on ad infinitum.

.

About Willie Gay, Jr. and Nick Bolton –> Willie Gay und Nick Bolton zusammen werden tatsächlich besser sein, als Sie erwarten! (from a German Observer) meaning –> “Together, better than you anticipate!”

.

I think a lot of Willie Gay and Nick Bolton.

.

.

.

.

Gay was used sparingly in 2020, but came totally correct when he started in week 16. During the season, Gay only had 25% of the snaps at “Buck” while Damien Wilson had 50%. The Chiefs opted with play book familiarity with Wilson. Gay who missed most of his senior season due to off the field nefarious actions and was kicked off the team in 2019, did have some numbers but that single game saw him rack up 9 tackles in week 16 vs. the Falcons. That was the game that proved what he could do. Unfortunately, the very next week, Gay was injured in a game against the Chargers in week 17 and missed the postseason.

.

This should be Gay’s breakout year. I believe that. Charles Goldman wrote a piece called: “What would a breakout season for Chiefs LB Willie Gay Jr. look like in 2021?” in which he stated:

.

“Gay also needs to pass the eye test if he’s to notch what is considered a breakout season. One of the most glaring deficiencies in Kansas City has been a lack of speed and coverage ability at the linebacker position. He needs to play fast, make big hits and cover ground in the passing game if he’s to pass the eye test.”

.

Brett Veach believed that Gay was a Round One talent and he spoke about this more than once. The year that occurred with the draft had much affecting how players were selected. Gay had not played football due to his being suspended from the team for 2020. Other factors played a part as Mark Van Sickle of Si.com wrote:

.

“From the start of the year, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said that it might take some time for Gay to get acclimated to the defensive scheme. Gay practiced at every linebacker position but was mostly used in the base 4-3 defense. If the team was in a pass-heavy defensive formation, Gay wasn’t seeing the field unless it was on special teams. This made for an up-and-down rookie season.”

.

This latter point, about Gay learning all three positions is going to keep him on the field more often than not. From there, his ability to read plays and sort them out to make a play is where Gay excels, whether SAM or BUCK, and even knowing the role for the MIKE. Gay’s physical talents and speed, plus his ability to avoid tackles and use his speed is quite superior to every other Linebacker. 2021 is where he proves it.

.

I am sure that Nick Bolton will be getting work at all three LB positions just as Gay did. The big difference is, Bolton was playing football right up to the time before the draft. Plus, he was the Top LB in the SEC two years running.

.

Seth Keysor spoke about both Gay and Bolton recently on Roughing The Kicker with Tucker Franklin. The question was: Would Bolton interfere with Gay getting snaps or vice-versa? I see Bolton as the Mike and Gay as the SAM, a heat seeking missile. That’s appropriate. We should see Gay with a 100 tackle season in 2021. Seth Keysor’s comments were:

.

“I think the idea there is, I know the Chiefs value smart linebackers… There’s a reason they like Anthony Hitchens more than the fan base does. There’s a reason they liked Damien Wilson so much. There’s a reason they like Ben Niemann even more than the fan base does. As much as people hate hearing that, they like smart linebackers. I’m not saying Willie Gay Jr. isn’t a smart linebacker, I think he’s a very natural fit for the game. But that’s not what his calling card was coming out, whereas Bolton’s calling card is, ‘I understand defense. I understand the offense. I understand everything that’s going on here. I’m the guy that you want telling Willie Gay Jr. what to do on the field.’  You want him calling that stuff out. And it is his calling card, similar to Anthony Hitchens.” 

.

I am not alone is observing that Ben Niemann had a down year as a LB subbing in mostly at the MIKE when Hitch was out, but he got snaps over Gay in passing down sets also. That won’t be the case this season. He may be a high IQ football player, but that won’t get him on the field more than Bolton, or Gay for that matter.

.

.

I actually can’t wait to have both Willie and Nick — in tandem — and we will see that this year. Again, I have been harsh about the play of Anthony Hitchens and noted his improvement at the end of 2020, no matter what the explanation. This year, the Chiefs have 3 front end linebackers with Hitch calling the plays and getting Gay and Bolton in the mix is the obvious course of action for Spags and House.

.

My thoughts mirror the way Seth Keysor sees it, but I thought Spags waited far too long to get Gay in at the WILL. I don’t want to degrade Damien Wilson as a person but even in the short time we saw Gay before the 2nd half of the season, what we could see was player far more skilled than Wilson or for that matter Ben Niemann. Gay should have gotten on the field later in the season because he was proving it with spot snaps in the earlier games. For that matter, Gay is more talented than all the LB’s on the roster, with the caveat that we have not yet seen Nick Bolton in a game with the Chiefs. That’ll come up in August.

.

Seth revealed more in his talk with Franklin which was a very good session. He went on to discuss both Gay and Bolton, highlighting the differences between the two players. Gay has more speed and is able to play side-line-to-side-line, but so does Bolton. They both are capable in pass coverage, dropping into the short zone or playing man up but Bolton is a field general and called plays for Mizzou as the MIKE.

.

.

Seth Keysor also said:

.

“I think they just provide two very different roles there in terms of I think they both can play downhill. I think Gay showed that last year. They both show good downhill, closing speed and sideline-to-sideline speed… I think Bolton flashes a little more of that than Hitchens. But I think it’s mostly going to be in the specific roles that your primary MIKE linebacker and then your secondary guy, who’s probably WILL in the base defense and then stays on the field in nickel sets. I think that it’s more the role in the defense specifically, as opposed to the two of them playing particularly differently.”

.

The Offensive Line, No Matter What!

.

.

After covering the Chiefs new Offensive Line from several angles… all the offensive linemen who will make the roster depends on them needing to learn their roles and gel. That’s it. They were recently ranked as the 7th rated OL in the NFL and I daresay they will be better than 7th… if… they gel. If, by the time they get to the season, the players have “exhibited closure,” then this offensive line is going to be a tough unit out of the gate, no matter who they play.

.

I am tickled pink with the players on the roster, top to bottom. Laddie and I wrote a joint article about the potential Round One quality players the Chiefs have brought aboard in 2020 and 2021. That really tells the story about how I feel about this position group. We felt the two drafts are exemplary of the Chiefs acumen in finding talent. See this piece at ArrowheadOne: “Chiefs Last Two Drafts Filled With Round 1 Values”

.

It’s all fun stuff and I m pleased as punch, but having difficulty being patient in waiting for Training Camp. How about you?

.

David Bell — ArrowheadOne

.

If you are viewing this in Apple News and would like to join the Discussion, [GO HERE.](http://arrowheadone.com/chiefs-short-takes-in-the-short-squeeze/#disqus_thread)

.