Chiefs: Sunday Potpourri – It’s a tough deal to switch out from a singular topic article and cover several different things. Why? We are not yet at camp and we have not gotten to the point that the Chiefs take the field, sans pads, at a minimum.
Previously on this Same Station
Covering the draft and player potential has been fun. The pundits, not surprisingly, did not value the player selection made by GM Brett Veach much — they continue to be pound foolish and penny wise. This Chiefs draft is going to go down as a stellar draft and you should put this remark in the “Book of David”… because, it will come to pass.
In a previous article I lauded the first four picks of the Chiefs and also given shade to round four pick, L’Jarius Sneed. He’ll be a starting quality CB by the end of the 2020 season. Ransom Hawthorne presented this in his coverage of the upcoming season, dissecting the 16 games into four quarters. Sneed was covered in a previous article regarding the overall outlook of the upcoming 2020 season in this piece from May 21st: Capturing Lightning in a Bottle
Yesterday Ransom covered quarter three and had L’Jarius Sneed as rising to the occasion, the timing being right for a new talent introduced to the Chiefs Defense early on and rounding out to a major influence on the game when playing the Raiders in week 11. See Ransom’s article for the 3rd quarter appraisal: QUARTERS: Chiefs Schedule in Four Pieces – Q3
A Worry: Chris Jones’ Extended Contract
The worry arrived on Friday when a couple of authors covering the Chiefs wrote that Brett Veach and the Chiefs had not dealt with Chris Jones and an extended contract since February. This is something I didn’t see coming believing instead that a tough proposition was being mulled by both sides. This turns out to have been an incorrect assumption on my part. Chris Jones and his agent have not had conversations about a new contract with Veach and Co. since February.
If Chris Jones and his agent won’t approach a more realistic proposal and come to a logical 5th year construct, then perhaps a trade is a better alternative. He is not yet worth $21M a season. He will be. He is certainly more valuable than the Tag Value, but if that demand is not in line with a fifth year pro who was not a round one pick, then it appears to me that the players self-valuing has gone beyond the scope of being more valuable than Frank Clark.
My view of this is that he doesn’t meet that level of play. Jones is not tops across the board. He is not a great run stopper. His other skills are extremely valuable but that doesn’t mean he has shown us that he is a “Complete Player” at the DT position. His own words demonstrate that money is more important than a long term tenure with the team he claims to love and the city he has worked to become a part of. I don’t wish to diminish his importance, as he has been integral to the defensive front four. I think in his fifth NFL season, he will have gone to school on how to be a better run stopping DT, but this is in fact, not yet a proven skill.
He is now attached to a $16.1M tag for a team that already has a $20 million-plus-average annual value defensive lineman (Frank Clark) and has begun talks for what will almost certainly be a record-setting extension with Patrick Mahomes. GM Brett Veach said in April the Chiefs wanted to get an extension done. That was in the 2nd month since the Chiefs and Jones held “talks.”
Here’s what Jones said about the situation:
“It’s like a mix of emotions, “Because you figure, you know, after four years, you do everything the right way, within the team way, you try to stay under the line, out of trouble, and be a good citizen for a team and for the city, you expect to be rewarded….It’s like, ‘Man, what else you want me to do?”
After the 2019 season, Jones was seeking a contract that immediately paid him $20M+ in the current year. That might be due that mythical “complete” player evaluation. It’s not in line with the NFL valuation as shown by the amount of the tag money. I am sure that Veach is dealing with the a 5th year value below $16M. We already know what other DT’s are valued at salary-wise. Jones demands, in the face of the other contracts that have been signed, tells me that he may be headed for different pastures. It’s not something I was thinking would happen.
Another observer points out that when a team has a $20M per year star, they do not field two of them. So okay… Chris plays for the $16.1M in 2020. They can still get to a resolution and have until mid July to seal the deal.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire
I can see by what CEH says in public, that he understands NFL talk and how to approach public interviews as a rookie. He said recently:
“I’m the young guy in the room… I’m 21 years old, and right now I’m learning. I’m a rookie, so I’m staying in my place and I’m doing what I need to do.”
Brendan Daly on Breeland Speaks
This was one of the many topics that I wanted to have covered as we wait for the NFL lock-down to end and I heard it from Brendan Daly, the DL Coach, who said:
“Breeland has done a nice job in terms of his rehab, in terms of working post-surgery, he’s had some good time in terms of recovery. We’ll see. I’ve got high expectations for him. The third year, I’ve found over the course of my career, is a year that guys kind of define themselves in a lot of instances. Hopefully, we’re going to see that out of Breeland. I’ve got great anticipation and hope for what we’re going to see out of him when we can get back on the field.”
People who have been writing off Breeland Speaks are mistaken. He was a top notch player with his hand in the dirt. As a rookie he was miscast on the edge of the 3-4. Didn’t work. In 2019? His season ended before the first snap. If Speaks plays in his familiar role, it could be inside or outside or a combo of the two. He’s had to overcome competition in his career and it’s my view that he’ll do that in 2020.
In the News: Former Chief Zach Fulton
I spent enough of my life in Houston to have developed an appreciation for Warren Moon and the Oilers. They left town and that was good enough for me. I was not a fan of Bud Adams at all. Then Houston had to await a new football team which arrived with the Texan personna. I was pleased with this.
Recent news about the Texans has been all about trading a top receiver and how miserable a GM they had. I don’t actually share that view but 2020 is going to tell the story. One thing that occurred this week was former Chiefs Offense Guard agreed to a reworked deal for less money. Field Yates of ESPN reported:
What is Standard Table Fare Up Front?
Part of the Chiefs good draft was adding OT Lucas Niang late in the round 3 pick. K.C. got a future starter at OT, perhaps for 2021. Looking ahead at contract value, Eric Fisher is the bookend piece to Mitch Schwartz and above solid.Fisher though, has not played at a high enough level for a round 1 pick across 7 full seasons. For this reason, I think Niang is his replacement and the Chiefs will shop Fisher for 2021 or release him to free agency. I actually don’t want to see this happen, preferring that players who arrive in K.C. and play well, stick with us for their entire career.
I want to look past the OT’s and Niang’s addition and take a look at the Interior Offensive Line. A popular critique of Laurent Duvernay-Tardif is misplaced. I’ve posited previously that LDT tried to come back too soon from an injury, believing it had a deleterious effect on him during the 2019 season. LDT should return to his old self in 2020. I believe this, I truly do. Daniel Harms arrived at the same conclusion this past week when he reviewed LDT’s off year in 2019 for ArrowheadGuys in a piece called, “Could We See an LDT Rebound?“
This year, LDT and Mitch Schwartz should provide a top level tandem on the right side of the Chiefs offensive line and I see the whole offensive line playing far better as a unit in 2020. Adding Lucas Niang is going to help. This brings into question: what happens on the left side and who will play and back up at center. I suspect that the competition will be fierce in camp.
Martinas Rankin, Andrew Wylie and Nick Allegretti will be going at it to win the LOG position. Keep in mind that the potential exists for Lucas Niang to be trialed at LOG as well. That’s not an ideal move for Niang as he far better fits the the OT role and would be a superb Swing Tackle.
At the same time, Nick Allegretti should give Austin Reiter a run for the money as the starting Center.
With these considerations in mind, there may be a big competition to determine starters up front for Patrick Mahomes protection and blocking for CEH because he will be the feature back during the 2020 season and the OL competition will yield the Chiefs 10 potential players for the active roster. I think there’ll be 9 players plus the “Emergency 10th” who can dress according to the new CBA. Before the team gets to the first preseason game we will learn the final outcome.
David Bell – ArrowheadOne
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