A new day dawns
By this time, with
the first game only hours away, I would have normally made my
pre-season prognostication, but a change is as good as a rest.
So I have waited to
see the Chiefs depth chart before penning any thoughts. Maybe I’ll
do better?
One thing is for
sure with a new QB in place and in charge things will be different,
How good or how bad? Only time will tell. Partrick Mahomes is
listed as the starter with Chad Henne as back-up. Mahomes will make
mistakes – all rookies do. How many and of what sort will decide
the season.
What weapons does he
have at his disposal?
Offence
The wide-outs are:
Tyreek Hill (speed to burn who scares the pants off defenders),
Demarcus Robinson (don’t like him, never did, hope I’m wrong),
De’Anthony Thomas (again speed to burn), Sammy Watkins (brought in
specially to be the number one target – did little in pre-season to
justify the huge contract), Chris Conley (always liked him – hoping
for a break-out year), and Marcus Kemp (unknown quantity). There
should be enough weapons here for Mahomes to score touchdowns.
Running backs: Kareem Hunt (spectacular rookie season, can he keep
it up?, Spencer Ware (returning now fully fit – we’ll see),
Damian Williams (unknown quantity – probably a special teamer), and
Darrel Williams (ditto) Don’t forget RB’s are the QB’s best
friend. If a run offence can be generated to help Mahomes – great.
If not he just becomes cannon fodder. Anthony Sherman is the
fullback and has been for years, Dependable and great on Special
Teams.
The Offensive Line
Left tackle: Eric
Fisher (are his best years ahead of him or is he just going to be
average forever?),
Can Erving is his
serviceable backup.
Left guard: Andrew
Wylie is listed (no back-up – he better be good),
Center: Mitch Morse
(ex-Missouri Tiger and a crowd favourite is the stater, backed up by
Jordan Devey and Austin Reiter – both destined for some game time
and lots of special teams action.
Right guard: Laurent
Duvernay-Tardif (crowd love him – I've never been convinced.) Ike
Boettiger is the back-up (never heard of him).
Right tackle:
Mitchell Swartz starts (a crowd favourite) backed up again by Cam
Irving
Tight end: Travis
Kelce (all-pro – hope he avoids injury his back up is Alex Ellis
(unknown)
Significantly the
tribe did not use either draft picks or free-agency to shore up the
O-line. I hope they are right but I fear they are not. Forgetting
Mahomes for a moment, these guys are the bread and butter of any
team.
Defence
The real weakness of
the team last season.
Left DE: Chris
Jones (can he repeat his form of most of last season?, Jarvis
Jenkins(special teamer?)
Nose tackle: Xavier
Williams (Chiefs couldn’t stop a 10 year old last season – he
better be good), Back-up Derrick Nnadi (good back up)
Right DE: Allen
Bailey (part of last year’s group) backed up by Justin Hamilton
(special-teamer?)
LOLB: Justin
Houston (once terrorized the opposition – how much is left in the
tank?) Tanoh Kpassagnon is the back up (an enigma wrapped up in a
riddle – we’ll see)
LILB: Anthony
Hitchens, Terence Smith and Dorian O’Daniel are listed. (they
better be better than last year’s crew or the season is over before
it starts)
RILB: Reggie
Ragland (crowd favourite – I’m not convinced) Back-up is Ben
Nieman
ROLB: Dee Ford (if
he’s fit he is fantastic) His Back-up (Breeland Speaks) should get
plenty of playing time.
LCB: Steven Nelson
(never like him – must improve), Orlando Scandrick (must be ready
to play on day one), Charvarius Ward ( I don’t trust players with
names like Charvious, sorry)
RCB: Kendall Fuller
(big shoes to fill). Tremon Smith (not well-known back-up)
Safety Eric Berry
(the heart of the team – questionable to start game one) Eric
Murray (good enough?) Ron Parker (previous reject brought back?),
Armani Watts (was supposed to be good), Jordan Lucas (unlnown).
Dustin Colquitt
returns to punt and Winchester is the long-snapper.
Prediction time:
the pundits are all over the place. Some even see a Super Bowl
season. I all goes well they win 10 games. Super well – 11 and
the Division Champs. Super bad – 8-8 and no-where.
My money is on 10-6
but I have no real faith in it.
We find out a lot
tonight as they take on the Charger (many folks favourites for the
division in game one). Ask me after this one!
