Welcome back to ArrowheadOne! The Kansas City Chiefs have been in a bit of a transition period and our front office has made a change this week. During a time when most teams are on autopilot and readying for the quickly approaching preseason the Chiefs are shifting their top brass and a changing of the guard is in place. This week was a busy one so we will get right to it. Here it is, your Sunday Sum Up!
Hunt Vetted Veach
After careful review of all of the potential replacements for our previous general manager, John Dorsey… Clark Hunt has finally made a decision regarding his replacement. Rather than turn the team in a new direction and instill a new philosophy for our beloved Chiefs, Hunt decided to promote from within elevating Brett Veach from Co-Director of Player Personnel to the big office at the end of the hall. The promotion of Veach should come as no surprise to NFL pundits and fans alike. He is intimately familiar with the current roster and coaching staff and has personal ties to current head coach Andy Reid.
Andy Reid, who has signed a an extension with the Chiefs recently, will be with the team for the foreseeable future with his new contract not set to expire until after the 2021 season. Any general manager coming into the organization from outside the club would have had to have been on board with coach Reid. This also had to be a consideration by Hunt before making the final decision. The official statement by team chairman and CEO Clark Hunt was made Monday afternoon.
“After a comprehensive search process, I am pleased to announce that we have hired Brett Veach to serve as the next General Manager of the Kansas City Chiefs, Brett has a sharp football mind, a tremendous work ethic and a keen eye for finding talent. Over the last four seasons he’s played a critical role in building our football team. I look forward to working with him to continue to build on the strong foundation we have in place.”
With Brett Veach in place he should make a priority of signing new club quarterback, and first round pick, Patrick Mahomes II. Veach will surely have several pressing issues that need addressed in the coming weeks and he will hopefully take a page from John Dorsey leaving “no stone unturned” in searching for new talented roster additions.
Now, it has been said by some that Veach may become a figurehead and take a back seat to coach Reid. Time will tell if this scenario becomes true, but hopefully it is not the case. Reid had a similar setup in Philadelphia and it never amounted to anything of note. Brett Veach reports directly to Clark Hunt so that’s a positive and he is definitely young (39) but, should become his own man and help lead the Chiefs to the promised land. As long as he doesn’t allow himself to be overstepped by Reid and is able to control the ever present salary cap he should be in great shape. Good luck Mr. Veach. We are all hoping you succeed at your new position!
In case you missed it, here is a video of Brett Veach — the Running Back — from 21 years ago, helping his high school win the state championship. If you want to win championships… you got to hire winners!
Brett Veach of Mount Carmel @MCASchDist is the new GM of the KC Chiefs! Here’s Brett in the 1996 state championship game: pic.twitter.com/MI1VHPFrO7
— Eyewitness Sports (@SPORTS_WBRE) July 11, 2017
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Peters Pronounces Publicly
Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters has a few words to the Oakland — Las Vegas — Raiders. More specifically, the words are directed to the Raiders new running back Marshawn Lynch. Peters is a native to the Oakland area and a friend of Lynch but this does not change his thoughts on when it is time for the Chiefs to face the Raiders on October 19th and December 10th. “Its going to be a good feeling. It’s going to be a good feeling for Oakland. But when we come here, we’re going to beat the dog “$h!t” out of him” Peters says.
These are bold words from the Chiefs 2015 first round draft pick. This will be the third year Peters has been a premier corner in the NFL and he certainly has the ability to make true on his words. Lynch has come out of “retirement” to join with the Raiders for the season. He’s nicknamed Beastmode for a reason though as he has the ability to run over defenders and keep a would-be dead play alive with his legs. Whether of not Lynch still possesses the skills and abilities that made him a terror in Seattle is yet to be known. The time he has taken away from the game could be too much for the former pro-bowler. Now while I believe Lynch still has the ability to make big plays he will definitely be affected by his retirement, whether physically or mentally. Either way these games with the Raiders are always a slugfest and will be great to watch.
Tantalizing Tidbits!
The Kansas City Chiefs special teams under the leadership of the extraordinary Dave Toub have garnered some national praise. This time from Nate Davis of the USA Today. Davis recently compiled a list of the best special teams play throughout the NFL and the Chiefs are currently situated at #2 only behind the Los Angeles Rams.
Kansas City has boasted one of the most potent special teams unit since Toub was first hired as the special teams coordinator. Davis writes,
“Tyreek Hill was the NFL’s preeminent punt returner as a rookie, no one eclipsing his two TDs or 15.2 yard average. But his new role as the featured receiver could limit his opportunities, and the Chiefs no longer plan to use him on kickoffs. Dustin Colquitt ‘s 38 punts inside the 20 paced the AFC, and he rarely allows chunky returns. Cairo Santos’ 88.6% FG rate ranked fifth in the league.”
ESPN has released their latest future NFL power ranking list and the Chiefs are in a good position sitting pretty at number 8 on the list. A standard power ranking only looks at the current season but the future ranking list compiled by ESPN looks ahead to the next three seasons to show fans what to expect from each club in the near future.
Field Yates gives a summary on Kansas City and writes: “Is there a more balanced roster in the NFL? Kansas City has a defense with playmakers in the secondary, an offense that boasts budding starts such as Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, plus terrific core special teams. This team will stay in almost any game on any Sunday.” This is the high praise that Chiefs fans are always lacking. Kansas City being such a small market leaves fans used to not receiving much national praise so any time we are able to garner high praise it is something of note. ESPN certainly is a national media and their high ranking will make many Chiefs fans very happy with their words of acclamation.
There we have it guys. This was certainly a busy week and we are all counting down the minutes until the first real Chiefs football. Let me know if there is anything you would like covered in future articles. As always VIVA LA JET SWEEP and GO CHIEFS!
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