Kansas City Chiefs Minicamp: Day Two Recap

The Kansas City Chiefs completed day two of minicamp yesterday, and will have one more practice before taking the next several weeks off until training camp. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the notes reporters took while they watched practice.

FULTON IMPRESSING

The answer to who will start at right guard will probably not be answered until the end of August but it appears the two players in the lead for the job are Rishaw Johnson and rookie sixth round pick Zach Fulton. Adam Teicher:

"Rookie Zach Fulton, a sixth-round draft pick from Tennessee, continued his bid for a starting spot at right guard. Fulton split the starter’s snaps with Rishaw Johnson. The Chiefs will get a better gauge on how advanced Fulton is at training camp, where they can wear full pads. But for now at least they are pleased with what they have seen from Fulton."

Kansas City may not have had a lot of picks in the draft, but they certainly seemed to be very efficient with them by selecting guys who can contribute early. It would be a great sign if Fulton can win the starting job.

INJURY REPORT

Here’s the injury situation heading into day three. I’d imagine the Chiefs are being super cautious with injuries in what is still a meaningless June practice.

VANCE WALKER

One of the more curious things during the voluntary practices was that Vance Walker was not taking snaps with the first team defense. This seems to be a thing that is changing.

AARON MURRAY AND TYLER BRAY

Make of these tweets what you will.

Murray is a lock to make the roster, the question with him is more about what is his ceiling. In terms of Bray, if he can prove remotely promising then he needs to make the roster over Daniel even if Daniel is the more secure choice. Put it this way: If the Chiefs have to rely on their backup quarterback to win them multiple games then the Chiefs are screwed no matter if Daniel or Bray is on the field.

DE’ANTHONY THOMAS’ ROLE

It will interesting to see how Andy Reid integrates Thomas into the offense. We know he is going to see time all over the field, but finding a spot Thomas is comfortable and then easing him into the offense is probably the best way to handle the rookie speedster. It would appear right now that the running back position is where Thomas is most comfortable. From Terez A. Paylor:

"Thomas still has plenty to learn, too, thanks to his absence, and running backs coach Eric Bieniemy — who has not been shy about coaching Thomas up on the field the last few days — is among the main coaches trying to catch him up to speed.“I feel like he just makes us be disciplined and being in the right depth in our routes, getting the right foot work on our runs and stuff like that,” Thomas said. “That’s what’s going to make us great. Finishing forty yards down the field, finishing twenty yards down the field. You know, just working hard.”"

Ultimately it doesn’t matter where Thomas lines up as much as getting favorable match-ups and exploiting them. It would seem every day Thomas has been at practice – the rookie minicamp and the two days of full minicamp – there’s been at least one mention of Thomas getting a favorable match-up and creating a big play. Thomas can lineup at fullback for all I care so long as the Chiefs can get more explosive plays on offense.