By David Bell
A Speculative exercise: Here we were on the cusp of Week One, and then Sh–, er, Stuff Happens
On Friday, the Chiefs released DT Tyler Clark. Up to that point, my accounting of players and transactions had 18 men on the PS. That of course is 2 over the 16 man limit. Even now, there must be a player that I am listing who has not yet signed a contract, but many PS players have already inked their deals. The 17 PS players are listed at the further down in this piece.
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Swirl 1A: Willie Gay goes to the IR
This means a 3 week/3game minimum, and certainly was a setback and I was anxiously anticipating Gay in real game time. I believe strongly in his prowess on the Linebacking front. We now have to wait for 3 full games to be put in the book in order to see him in week 4. Daddy always said, “I couldn’t stub my toe hard enough to make you feel the pain.” Oh, Daddy@!
Since I expanded the list to 18, and then subtract Clark, we have 17 players to deal with by getting the contracts done and moving players around. With four players added to the PS, another Swirl must occur to get the number on the PS to 16. I have so many scenarios going through my head that I can’t “Swirl” my brain cells fast enough to keep pace.
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Swirl 1B: Tyrann Mathieu to the Covid-19 IR List
If Tyrann passes a swab 2 days in a row, he can return to the active roster. Keep in mind that he had indeed partaken of the Vaccine regimen. Also, consider that the test could have been a “false-positive”.
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Crystal Balling It:
Projecting Potential Swirls
Swirl 2: Could Injury Mean a PS Call-Up?
Even without Willie Gay for three weeks, the Chiefs still have 5 LBs on the Active Roster: Anthony Hitchens, Nick Bolton, Ben Niemann, Darius Harris, and Dorian O’Daniel.
It won’t be necessary to call up another LB, but there is more maneuvering that must occur on the PS. The Chiefs have operated with as few as four Linebackers in the past. They had to be concerned about Gay’s status and may still worry the wart until he returns. So Cobb may indeed move to the active roster, which aids in sorting out the PS.
I expect to see Nick Bolton take on a lot of the workload. That is a big benefit to the player and I think the team as well. What we might see is Ben Niemann subbing in for Hitch and then perhaps see what Dorian O’Daniel or Darius Harris brings to the table in the Base 4-3 or a set where Spagnuolo goes with 3 Linebackers. As things stand, the Chiefs have two Linebackers on the PS: Omari Cobb and Christian Rozeboom. What I would expect to happen is that Cobb or Harris gets the nod since both players have experience in the Spagnuolo system.
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What Will Swirl 3 Be?
Slice it, Dice it, Swirl It Around! The position Swirl may indicate that the Chiefs can solve another problem in the short-term swirl. Since Cobb could get the call up from the PS to bring the number to 6 LBs active, there’s another reason to think that might happen. The Chiefs have 17 players listed on the PS… at least.
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There are just too many players for the PS. Considering moving Cobb up to the Active Roster brings the PS number down to 17 and it must get to 16. Keep in mind that the PS may now have 6 players who are veterans.
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Swirl 3 & 4: Could K.C. put another player, or two, on IR.
That’s possible. This would remove another player from the active Roster, putting the number at 52. It might possibly be that the player moved is Austin Blythe (OC), a veteran who had hernia surgery. Or it might be Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (OG) who suffered a broken hand in Camp. Either player could go on IR and have the 3-week tenure set, and in the meantime would provide an additional roster move because the Active Roster now sits at 52.
Without any insider info, which player(s) makes the most sense to go to the IR? LDT or Blythe? Either one provides the space to make the one Active Roster spot available. If Reid thinks the need is greater to have an OT brought up to replace the IR candidate, then I would expect that we would see a second player called up from the PS: Prince Tega Wanogho. That provides another OT, but Blythe, can man all three interior OL Positions. Since Nick Allegretti can do the same, I’d expect that to be what could happen. ________ (imagine who you will) is called up and magically, the Active Roster is now 53 players again. At the same time, the PS is now set properly at 16 players.
Bottom Line? The Chiefs Swirl either Blythe or LDT from the PS. Or… both, since I don’t believe that either is going to be ready to rock and roll for the Season Opener. However, we did hear from the Chiefs on Friday that LDT is nearing ready to return. Another Wait-n-See.
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Swirling: The Best Front in the NFL!
We really have a Taxi Squad! — Here’s why?
So let’s take a peek at the Chief’s existing “Taxi Squad”… shown below. This group of 17 players was built from the NFL transaction list. This is my understanding of the PS at this point and I may not have all the updated info. but at the heart of this article is, “anticipation.”
I do believe the list of 17 is correct. However, from multiple sources, I derive a PS that would list 18 total players… but the Chiefs don’t and can’t. The number must be 16. The Chiefs have yet to publish a list of players on the PS and maybe on Monday, we’ll see that definitively.
“The Practice Squad.” I think the common vernacular should return to Taxi Squad because a player can get called up and take a taxi to the stadium and report for duty as the nomenclature of old described these backup, inactive players. If you think about 2020 and the injury plague that occurred, players were called up and sent back down due to injuries and recoveries. That reminded me of the old days and the use of the term: Taxi Squad.
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Potential Swirl 5? Put Prince Tega Wanogho on the Active Roster
Here is why: the Chiefs made room for Kemp on the active roster because Mathieu went to the Covid IR. This is going to be an interesting situation to watch. Yesterday I noted that the group was OL Line Light. Today add Tega Wanogho to the list, which also includes OC Darryl Williams.
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The Unofficial List of Players on the PS:
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1. DE Demone Harris
2. DE Austin Edwards
3. DB Devon Key
4. DB Zayne Anderson
5. LB Omari Cobb
6. C Darryl Williams
7. WR Cornell Powell
8. LB Christian Rozeboom
9. QB Shane Buechele
10. DT Cortez Broughton
11. DT Benito Jones
12. WR Maurice Ffrench
13. RB Derrick Gore
15. WR Gehrig Dieter
16. CB Dicaprio Bootle
17. OT Prince Tega Wanogho
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Swirl 6: DT Tyler Clark, released 9/03/21
On Friday, the Chiefs released DT Tyler Clark. Up to that point, my accounting of players and transactions had 18 men on the PS; That of course is 2 over the 16 man limit.
Two Players that I am positive the Chiefs wanted to retain were poached by other teams: CB BoPete Keyes and DE Tim Ward. Unfortunately, they have sauntered off to greener (?) pastures. They were followed by the waiving of DT Tyler Clark: Released, 09.03.21)
Fun things happen around the world of NFL Football. As of this moment and writing, we appear to have 17 PS players, but Veach will make more decisions and announcements.
Swirl 7: New Additions to the PS
DT Cortez Broughton, DT Benito Jones, and LB Christian Rozeboom
On September 1st, I did a bit of digging on all three players and wrote about who they were and what they brought to the table. Then another Swirl happened. The Chiefs added Shakur Brown, a Michigan State CB. Brown is a 5-foot-10, 185 lbs. and had a good rating via NFL.com (6.23). He was not selected in the draft, so his status is UDFA. He has some positives which I can see as reasons for Veach to bring him aboard. Sure, he was noted for some weaknesses in his play as well, but from that list of things were defects that are able to be “coached” out. Two notes about Brown: 1) he has great instincts in the secondary and, 2) he plays downhill versus the run. We wait and see what happens with all four young players.
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So Now We Wait!
The Chiefs staff knows more about the rehab status of LDT and Blythe than I do, but these projections still make sense. Heavens. They could move both Blythe and LDT to the IR. That would free up another roster spot and allow Veach to pull in one of his targets. Remember…
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“Brett Veach’s Work Is Never Done!”
-JPChiefsFocus
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David Bell – ArrowheadOne
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