It’s time for the Kansas City Chiefs to make the move to St. Joseph for Training Camp 2022.
Chiefs quarterbacks and rookies report to camp this Friday, July 22. Many fans are concerned about Orlando Brown not signing his deal with the Chiefs. These same fans need to know K.C. is in the catbird seat when it comes to Brown and his contract. Perhaps it wasn’t prudent that the team said they love Brown and want him to be their LT of the future long before negotiations were finished. However, it was probably more a case of a young agent not knowing what is best for his client. As to the concern many feel about Brown and his future with the team, just remember, LT Geron Christian did a better job for the Texans last season, on a bad team mind you, than Brown did for K.C.. His ceiling may not be what Brown’s is, but he can play ball.
Also, let’s not forget that Andy Reid likes to stick with a lineman once he’s in place to give the unit some continuity. So, once a LT has established himself this year, Brown’s year may be over before it gets started. Even if Brown does show up for Training Camp on time and re-establishes himself at LT, he will have to play much better than he did in 2021 to get another shot at the security laden contract he is seeking, or at least, that his agent is seeking.
While LT may be the biggest question fans have heading to St. Joe, you can be sure the coaches and management are ready to roll in the event Brown holds out. The next question fans may be pondering is: who will take Tyreek Hill’s place in the offense? The clear answer is… no one. Well, not exactly no one, but several players. That’s why JuJu Smith-Schuester was signed, as well as Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and then Skyy Moore was drafted. It looks like we’ll get a good look at all of them this coming week in St. Joe.
The next concern in Chiefs Kingdom may be how well Safety Justin Reid can replace Tyrann Mathieu? With Reid’s positive attitude and playing well on such a bad team, which was ranked the 27th best defense out of 32, in 2021 by Pro football reference.
While Chiefs Kingdom has their eyes fixed on the Safety position, they may also be able to see a brand new Juan Thornhill ramping up his game. Juan has said out loud that his goal in to make the Pro Bowl. While Reid was playing on a bad defense, Thornhill was playing on a much maligned, and improved unit. The same site ranked the Chiefs with the 8th best Team Defense last year. I expect big things from Thornhill and it won’t surprise me if that shows up right away in Training Camp at St. Joe.
I’ll be keeping a close eye on the defensive backfield. Some are concerned with the loss of Charvarius Ward and Mike Hughes but I believe it’s DeAndre Bakers time to step up and shine, and the addition of first round draft pick, Trent McDuffie, should help make this a better unit from the get-go.
McDuffie is ranked too low on this list but you can see he is already thought highly of.
From a Chiefs Focus come an article called: “Is McDuffie the clear top corner in the 2022 draft?” in which “Chiefsfanforlyfe” says of McDuffie:
“Trent McDuffie spent three seasons for the Washington Huskies, starting all but three games. In 2021, he was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection and was named the team’s defensive MVP, leading a secondary that allowed just six passing touchdowns in 12 games. He was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2020 and a second-team freshman All-American in 2019. McDuffie is worth the 1st-round trade up for the Chiefs…and when I contemplate McDuffie’s true value, I always revert to comparing him to another former 1st-round CB player with the same skill set– Jaire Alexander, Green Bay Packers.”
He goes on about McDuffie saying:
“McDuffie is going to work at the next level as a #1 CB or slot guy…and gives an option as a punt returner like Alexander coming out of Louisville. As evidenced by McDuffie’s last two seasons at UW, allowed him to stick in his assignments’ pocket in one-on-one situations and led to him allowing only a 38.4% completion percentage and no touchdowns allowed over the last two years. McDuffie not only stands out due to his athletic skill set, though. He also is an aggressive player in press-man coverage that is able to place his hands well on the player he is in coverage to interrupt the timing between quarterback and receiver. “
Although I think this coverage group will be top tier in the NFL, it’s the Linebackers coverage skills which I believe will help make the Chiefs new coverage unit shine.
It’s hard to think about the Chiefs new defensive backfield without also talking about their new Wide Receiving Corps. One of the first WRs that comes to mind is the veteran of the group: Mecole Hardman. Here’s a great piece by Charles Goldman on Mecole:
Goldman writes of Hardman:
“… Hardman can excel as more than a gadget receiver, consider how good he is at creating separation. Last season, Hardman’s target separation against man coverage ranked the second-best in the NFL among receivers per PlayerProfiler.com with 2.83 yards of separation per target. Basically, in man coverage situations where he was targeted, Hardman was getting open with some of the highest frequency in the NFL.”
While there are a number of units to keep your eyes on, no one can deny that it’s the coach-QB combination of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes which makes it all go boom. In an article at Fox Sports which ranked all Head Coach-Quarterback combos, called, “TOP 10 QB-HEAD COACH DUOS” Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes were — are — the headliners. The ranking goes like this:
1. Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
2. Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams
3. Josh Allen and Sean McDermott, Buffalo Bills
4. Lamar Jackson and John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens
5. Joe Burrow and Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals
6. Aaron Rodgers and Matt LaFleur, Green Bay Packers
7. Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury, Arizona Cardinals
8. Russell Wilson and Nathaniel Hackett, Denver Broncos
9. Derek Carr and Josh McDaniels, Las Vegas Raiders
10. Deshaun Watson and Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland Browns
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The following Practice Schedule is a screen grab from Chiefs.com:
The first day of practice is NOT open to the public and is meant strictly for those who are season ticket holders. I’ll post other weeks as they come. Cost for parking is $5 per vehicle and admission to the Training Camp event each day is also $5 per head.
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Go Chiefs!
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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