Two-Day Chiefs Training Camp Report

This post was written by AA reader and training camp corespondent Josh Michaels. Josh was kind enough to forward on his thoughts on the first two days of practices. We are looking for as many training camp corespondents as we can get so if you are going to St. Joe and want to contribute to AA’s fan coverage of training camp, please reach out to me at patrick.arrowheadaddict@gmail.com. 

A HUGE thanks to Josh for providing this writeup for us. Please give him props in the comments. -PA

I’ll start with the RB’s. McCluster has not been running receiver drills at all the last two days. I believe this is a really good move considering how deep we’ve become at the WR position. Plus I believe that McCluster can be a more effective player out of the back field (screens/reverses etc.)

Jamaal Charles looks as good as ever. He seems to have fresh legs and came into camp in great shape. Haley continues to ride Jamaal all practice with his famous lines of “push yourself jamaal” or “Keep fighting.”

The only thing that looks shaky in our backfield is Thomas Jones. Now dont get me wrong, I love what Tom brings to our team and I think he still has a little to offer as a play maker but, he looks so slow!! He could just be running at 3/4 speed but to me he looks like an aged back. That or his huge biceps are getting harder for him to run with.

I asked Pioli yesterday about the Possible signing of LeRon McClain while he was autographing my ball and he gave me the biggest cheese smile and said “Now don’t go believing rumors” followed by a laugh and “Like I’d tell you anyway!” I wasn’t sure how to read it other than it’s a possibility? I think the chefs could really use him if we can land him for the right price.

Now the WRs:

Jon Baldwin is a tall kid with exceptional speed for his size. The first day I watched him all practice and he didn’t drop one pass. However yesterday he showed his mortality and dropped a few in some drills. To me I think the kid looks like a stud. He looks like a basketball player when he goes up for passes. He seems to have really good ball skills and knows how to put his body in positions to either catch the ball or make sure it won’t become a turnover. Now granted he hasn’t been covered much in these drills but he has seemed to be coachable and Haley has stayed by his side a lot of the time the last two days.

Bowe looks fresh. He looks like he buffed up a little in the offseason and he’s been running clean routes. He’s dropped a few here and there but it’s hard to argue his hands on the first two days of camp and he had an eilte season last year.

Breaston hasn’t been in camp yet obviously because of the free agent rules, but Verran Tucker looks like a kid who could continue to make this team. He’s made a few nice plays in some drills so look for him and Copper to be our 4th and 5th WRs.

More after the jump.

The O-Line:

Asamoah is going to be one of the best guards in the league. Mark my words. I used to play O-Line in high school and college and what you look for in the positions is technique and footwork. This kid is ridiculous with both. I really do know now why they let Waters go. Asamoah has been moved to RG while Lilja goes back to left like he played in Indy. Asamoah is a big guy and he has had a convo with me the last two days during signings. He seems to be poised and ready to take the reigns for this team on the O-line. Albert looks good and so does richardson. I really don’t see either one of those guys taking any steps backwards. Hudson hasn’t been getting many reps with the ones and Casey Weigman isn’t there yet so they’ve been having a rotation at the center position.

Offense and Defense:

QB coach Jim Zorn already  looks like he’s gonna be huge for Matt Cassel and Ricky Stanzi’s development. Zorn has been doing some serious coaching with the QB group. It seems like he is breaking down every QB’s throwing motion to the tiniest bit and is trying to make the most out of every throw. Cassel looks sharp. With the exception of a sensational pick yesterday by Brandon Flowers, he has made nice throw after nice throw. It’s seems like everyone out there knows that Cassel is the clear cut leader of this offense and possibly team.

Ricky Stanzi is a huge fan favorite. The kid has a big frame and big arm. He seems like he can make all the throws on the field and he’s a much needed upgrade at backup QB. For him to become a starter in this league seems to be way far down the road but I believe he does have the potential.

On the defensive side, like a mentioned earlier, Flowers is making a ton of plays at corner. Look for him to be a Pro-Bowler with Nnamdi out of the AFC.

Berry is Berry. All over the field, loud and is becoming a leader.

The LB’s look fresh. DJ looks to be in good shape and Studebaker is playing as if that OLB position is his to lose.

D-Line is so thin at DT that Powe has been taking reps with the ones. However that first day Powe was doing some running because of a few missed assignments during a drill.

Long story short, I believe the Chiefs can win this division again this year. Our offense has a lot of talent and potential to be one of the best in the league. If we can get a few holes filled on the defense we can be making some serious Super Bowl runs soon.

I want to end with a funny note, I got Matt Cassel to autograph my jersey and on it he wrote “Come at me bro!!” like his line in the Kenny Powers CEO video. That jersey wound up on the front page of yesterday’s Star.