THE FLIP SIDE: The Liabilities of Chiefs Perceived Assets – In the offseason hope springs eternal. Every Super Bowl winner is bound to repeat, every injury plagued 6-10 team is going to bounce back and the Los Angeles Chargers are the best team in the NFL. Then, inevitably… reality sets in. Championship teams catch bad breaks, under-performing teams produce the same results, and Chargers’ elite players make their way to the injury tent. There are good reasons to believe the Kansas City Chiefs can return to the Super Bowl, but there’s also a flip side. Much as fans may want to ignore them, there are plenty of potential pitfalls, for KC.
THE FLIP SIDE of Returning Most Starters
It is exceptionally rare for a Super Bowl team to remain largely intact. Contributors usually find lucrative contracts in other places. Keeping all their players would seem to be an extra advantage, for the Chiefs, in a year where Covid-19 could severely limit practice time. The flip side to this, is that Chiefs have no money. While their careful navigation of the salary cap will enable them to sign their draft class, and maintain their existing roster, they are running out of options for clearing more space. Chiefs generally enter the season with $10M in reserve. Finding their way to $4-6M this year, might be the best they can hope for. The Chiefs have enough depth to insulate them from a few injuries, but if they suffer a chain of them, or infections, the resources to acquire quality replacements just aren’t there.
THE FLIP SIDE: of an Excellent Draft
The Chiefs 2020 draft has been pretty well regarded, by all but the most dedicated among the “running backs don’t matter” crowd. The upside, for this class, is high but the potential downside is very real as well. In an era where taking a RB, early in the draft, is looked down on, the Chiefs will feel pressure to get Clyde Edwards-Helaire involved early and often. As good of a player as he is, he’s not Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, or even a healthy Sammy Watkins. Helaire can be extremely productive, for a RB, but if his touches take away from other productive members of the offense. His addition could be a negative, at times. He could also feed into Andy Reid’s tendency to start running the clock out, too early in the game.
Willie Gay is a phenomenal athlete who fell in the draft, for non-football reasons, allowing the Chiefs to steal him, late in the second. While Chiefs vetted him and feel comfortable with his off field issues, the fact remains that those issues cost him valuable in-game experience. K.C. can use him in a variety of roles, but mess-ups in coverage and bad reads are going to happen. Gay should be an asset by the end of the year, but there will be growing pains. Pains that could cost the Chiefs early in the season, when they face their toughest stretch of games.
THE FLIP SIDE: of the Contract Year
Terez Paylor always says: “The contract year is undefeated.” The boost of effort provided by a pending pay-day, for most players, leads to great production. In the rare instances that it doesn’t, it can be devastating to a player’s value. Consider Jadeveon Clowney, a physical freak, and excellent run defender, who remains a free agent, due to a lack of pass rush production, last year.
Effort is nice, but the pressure to perform could be damaging to Chiefs locker room, as too many players are scrapping for opportunities. On offense, that includes Sammy Watkins and Demarcus Robinson. The odds of them both getting enough targets to keep them happy is pretty low. Even if Chiefs can pull it off, it will probably come at the expense of opportunities for Mecole Hardman, whose development they’ll be relying on, next year. Byron Pringle has to be frustrated. He has the tape to demand more play time, but is stuck logging just 36 more snaps than Darwin Thompson. With the current roster construction, that’s unlikely to change.
The Chiefs defensive line group is similarly crowded. Chris Jones, Mike Pennel, Tanoh Kpassagnon and Taco Charlton are all in a contract year. While Alex Okafor is technically under contract for 2021, he also has something to prove, and could easily be a cap casualty. Honestly, the same could be said for Breeland Speaks. Most of the great stunts, that Brendan Daly employs, require an element of unselfishness. Will players looking to prove themselves be enthusiastic set-up men, or will they abandon gap integrity and go hunting sacks? The answer to that question could prove pivotal to Chiefs defensive success, this year.
The Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs should be expected to renew their status this year. They have an excellent roster, great continuity and plenty of motivated players. Nothing is ever easy in the NFL though. Every strategy has its upsides and its downsides. It will be interesting to note how the Chiefs weather injury and illness, rookie additions and the demands of players who may be more focused on their next contract that the next game. Juggling such challenges separates the merely good from the truly great. With everything that Andy Reid, and Brett Veach, have accomplished, it seems clear they are up to the task. Just know it won’t be easy.
Ransom Hawthorne — ArrowheadOne
Editor’s Note: Ransom Hawthorne will be on vacation for the next couple of weeks.
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