The Kansas City Chiefs are Out to Prove Something in 2021

In The Beginning – Not at the start of the offseason, nor as we progressed through the free agency period and the draft, had I ever thought about: An Avenger’s Tour. After recently watching the video below, I went back and recalled everything we have seen from the Chiefs since that fateful February 7th disaster in Tampa Bay.

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A Minnesota Vikings media podcast video

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We haven’t seen, nor heard, any quotes from Clark Hunt, the Chiefs Front Office Personnel, not Andy Reid, nor any of the players.

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Plan A

What we have seen is from GM Brett Veach and his entire staff, who paint a very clear picture. It started with the quick and determined decisions to move on from the once Pro Bowl bookend offensive tackles, Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher. Then at the start of free agency the Chiefs were very aggressive in going after key additions, acting on day one of the free agency signing period, by signing second team All Pro (2019) Left Tackle, Joe Thuney. So after, Veach signed former Pro Bowl Offensive G/T Kyle Long, as well as attempting to sign Free Agent All Pro Left Tackle Tent Williams. Veach even went after Wide Receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, but came up empty.

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Plan B

Then on April 23, 6 days before the draft, we saw what Plan B entailed, as Brett Veach executed a trade with conference rival, Baltimore Ravens, for All Pro Left Tackle, Orlando Brown. However, the Chiefs GM wasn’t done making moves.

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The College Draft

Brett Veach’s aggressive nature continued during the draft process, as the Chiefs 1st^, 3rd^, and 4th  round picks were traded for Orlando Brown, but getting an additional 2nd round pick in return, allowed him to draft LB Nick Bolton at #58 followed by Center Creed Humphrey at #63. Veach continued the Chiefs masterful drafting by trading both up and down to get four more high valued selections at the team’s needed roster positions. 

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“Now For The Rest of The Story“

To steal a line from Radio personality Paul Harvey, we know Brett has a complete offseason roster makeover in place, and he’s done yet. We fans and many media members from both the Kansas City area and from across the entire NFL community well know what went wrong for the Chiefs in the most recent Super Bowl. As well the Chiefs know why the final game of the year was an ultimate disaster for them. Now as the offseason changes are starting to come into focus, it’s clearly evident that the entire Kansas City Chiefs organization is committed to the 2021 season being… a year to prove something.

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Team Roster Fixation

• The Chiefs player personnel staff and all of the coaches know the team’s faults and negatives better than anyone
• They know that last year’s offensive line was not durable enough to survive a full season
• They know that the Quarterback was not protected well at all 
• They also know that both the screen passing and rushing attack suffered because of the inadequacies of the subpar offensive line 
• The Running back depth was not adequate, and no WR showed the ability to replace an injured Sammy Watkins
• The defense front seven did not produce enough pressure on opponents Quarterbacks
• The Linebackers were not even close to average both against the run and pass
• The defensive backfield was the only positive unit on the defensive side of the ball
• The average special teams unit needs to improve overall

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Offensive Line Upgraded With Depth

This all sounds and looks like a lot, but it’s really many minor issues. However, when multiplied, it was disastrous when playing a team that made very few mistakes. We can now see that the offensive line woes have been addressed. Although, at this point of the offseason, all new player acquisitions are just names. The potential of the newly upgraded offensive line is now ranked as a top five unit in the NFL. Not only have they improved the complete overall quality of the five starters, they’ve also improved the overall depth of the backups, while getting younger with that group. With these positive upgrades the Chiefs now have the potential to not only protect Patrick Mahomes, but should also once again have an upper tier screen passing game, and a realistic running threat.

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Improved Skill Positions

The running back depth is improved with the return of Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Darell Williams, and now Jerick McKinnon has been added as a free agent. The Tight End depth was strengthened with the selection of TE Noah Gray, who has triple threat skills that Andy Reid has always desired from a TE, HB, FB position. Anthony Sherman may have retired, but veteran FB Michael Burton was singed. The Wide Receivers depth continues as a team strength with the return of free agents Demarcus Robinson and Byron Pringle, then the addition of WR Cornell Powell in the draft. 

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Team Defense Upgraded

The defensive line did not lose anyone of value from last year, but they will start the year with a healthy return of Taco Charlton, then year two from Tershawn Wharton, and Mike Danna should see improvement from their promising rookie years. In free agency DT Jarran Reed was added, and he’s shown the ability to put pressure on the QB. In the draft a DE, Joshua Kaindoh, was added, who should provide competition, and/or rotational depth. This year’s defensive line seems to have only been slightly enhanced, let’s hope for the best from Frank Clark, Chris Jones, Derrick Nnadi, their tenacity needs to improve from last year. 

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The Linebackers level of play has been very poor for a multitude of years. For 2021 season and into the future the recent new additions, gives the team hope of a much higher level of potential production. With last year’s draft pick of Willie Gay, then this year’s Round 2 selection of Nick Bolton, with also a post draft free agent signing of Kamalei Correa, this gives the Chiefs a much better talent level. Anthony Hitchens showed better play in the latter part of last year, and we’ve seen glimpses of possible skills from  Darius Harris. With what players have returned and the new players added, the competition and depth should be much better with the Linebackers group. While they don’t need to be Pro Bowl players here, they need to not be a severe detriment that we been forced to watch for far too long. Pro Bowl level would be exciting of course, and Willie and Nick do have that long term potential.

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Defensive Backfield a Strength

The Defensive Backfield continues as a strength for the Chiefs. At Safety they will have the trio of Tyrann Mathieu, Juan Thornhill, and Daniel Sorenson for another year. At Cornerback there’s: L’Jarius Sneed, Charvarius Ward, Rashad Fenton, and BoPete Keyes. Also, if Deandre Baker returns healthy from late season injury, and again shows starter level skills, it will be a plus. Not much quality depth seen existing on the CB roster, but then again, as in past years the Chiefs always seem to find high value play from unsuspected players. Proven talented Bashaud Breeland is still available on the free agent market. Brett Veach is not done adding at least one more defensive back for enhanced competition. Does recently signed Will Parks offer anything more than a special team’s competitor? We’ll see.

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Special Teams Returns to Being Special?

Speaking of Special Teams, it was an overall subpar year for a Dave Toub unit. Punter Tommy Townsend had just an average year, and not what we are used to, or had seen, from 15 year veteran Dustin Colquitt. The kick returns showed some glimpses of good value from Byron Pringle returning kicks. However, Mecole Hardman regressed as the punt returner. Harrison Butker missed far too many extra point attempts, not necessarily solely his fault as the rookie holder — Tommy Townsend — seemed to have ball placement issues. Dave Toub is one of the best Special Team Coaches in the league, so it should be expected that we will see better play than what last years group showed us.   

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Now we have heard from a player, one of the outspoken leaders in Chris Jones has made it official, the 2021 theme is:

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Take it Back

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Brett Veach the Master GM

The Kansas City Chiefs  have quickly and aggressively assembled a makeover which appears to be massive upgrades to the 2021 season team roster. All of the known weaknesses have been addressed, with each one of the position groups either stayed status quo or been upgraded. There are 90 players on the roster presently, and while I can’t name them all, we could still see some changes before training camp. Each and every year there has been surprises coming from unsuspected players, and I expect the same this year.

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With the Offensive Line and Linebackers units receiving the most severe changes. With the changes to the Offensive Linemen if they reach their potential then we will see offensive domination by Patrick Mahomes and Mastermind Andy Reid creating more outrageous statistics. These two will be lethal with a legitimate run threat, a seriously dangerous screen passing game added to what we have already seen downfield from Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill and The Legion of Zoom, in previous years. If the Linebackers reach their potential then the Chiefs will be seen holding the Lombardi Trophy once again at seasons end.

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The Chiefs will prove they are once again the NFL team to beat! 

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Alan Haupt — ArrowheadOne

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