Fool’s Gold: Training Camp Crushes Who Will Break Your Heart

Training camp is an exciting time of year, for many fans. With so many players on the roster, everyone is looking for the next big surprise contributor. The Kansas City Chiefs have had some nice successes, in guys like WR Albert Wilson, RB Charcandrick West and Safety Daniel Sorenson. Still, more than once fans have fallen in love with a player who tore up OTAs, only to watch him disappear, once preseason games started. Here’s a look at some of the players most likely to draw fans attention, and subsequently break their hearts:

WR Byron Pringle- Regarded by some as the star of Chiefs UDFA class, Pringle has impressive college stats, and quality speed. There’s a couple of issues with his game, though, that will need serious work before he can ever see an NFL roster. Pringle was plagued by focus drops in college. Perhaps more critically, he struggled against press coverage. Guys who can’t beat the press can only play in the slot. To succeed in the slot, you need speed out of your breaks. Pringle’s pedestrian 20 yard shuttle paints a picture of a guy who doesn’t accelerate well, when asked to change direction. Between these issues and Chiefs reticence to use rookie WRs, I think you’ll find Pringle on the practice squad, not the roster, in August.

OC Tejan Koroma: Koroma is the type of guy teams look for in training camp. He’s got great technique and offers opposing DL a quality opponent in drills. The trouble is, once you get outside the half-speed, half-effort of training camp, you just aren’t going to find any starting Centers who are six foot nothin’ and 290lbs. Fans won’t know Koroma at first, but they’ll likely hear a lot about how good he looks in OTAs. Appreciate him for the role he plays, but don’t get your hopes up. He’s not likely to ever see the main roster.

SS Jordan Sterns: Sterns is similar to Koroma. He’s a high effort player who loves football and sets a good example. He also plays with solid technique and that, combined with his work ethic, will produce in training camp. When cut down day comes, though, the Chiefs won’t be blind to the fact that he’s a below average athlete. 20 years ago, Sterns could have been an average SS. With modern passing offenses, there’s no way you put him out there.

While these players will soon follow in the footsteps of Kenny Cook, Seantavius Jones and Austen Lane, that doesn’t mean they’re useless to the Chiefs. The competition that these guys provide will push the better players on the roster to perform at their best. That’s something we all can appreciate. Just don’t get too wrapped up in reports from practice. The guys that make the roster, will be the guys who show up on game day. Go Chiefs.

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