Chiefs 2013 Training Camp Preview

May 12, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Kendal Thompkins (80) catches a pass during the rookie mini camp at the University of Kansas Hospital Training Complex. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas City Chiefs’ rookies and QBs will report to training camp today in St. Joseph.

Ahhh. Just drink that in a bit with your morning coffee. Full on Chiefs football practice is about to be in full swing.

We can’t send you off to camp without a care package, so here is your Chiefs training camp preview/primer.

Hey, Rookie, welcome to camp!

The rooks are among the first group to show up and they will be there today. They’ll have a chance to get settled in before the veterans show up later this week to haze them and tie them to goal posts.

This is a good chance for the new coaching staff to make sure the rookies are up to speed and get used to the routine of camp. After all, these guys have never been through an NFL training camp before so they are in for a brutal and demanding few weeks. New head coach Andy Reid will likely want to hit the ground running when the veterans arrive so the rookies better use this extra time to prepare.

QBs Go Camping

The rooks aren’t the only players to show up today. QBs are also called. That means Alex Smith is just hours away from his first ever Chiefs training camp. All the reports we’ve read indicate that Smith is extremely focused and chomping at the bit to get to work. There is already buzz among Chiefs players that Smith is taking over leadership of the team. He should be able to cement himself into that role in the coming weeks.

Backups Chase Daniel, Ricky Stanzi and Tyler Bray will also be in house. We’ll get to them later but Daniel figures to be the primary backup to Smith.

Vets Arrive

Everyone else will arrive on Thursday and the first practice will be on Friday afternoon. The players will get checked in, take physicals and load their gear into their rooms. Some rookies will likely be sent on food runs.

And we’er off…

Camp practices will get rolling on Friday afternoon. Practice is at 3:30 pm central and costs $5 to attend. There will also be an autograph session for fans. Yo, someone snag me a JC autograph, will you?

The schedule…

Here is the full training camp practice and game schedule, including Family Fun Day. Remember that these are open to the public but that that is subject to change. The Chiefs could move inside due to weather or because they want to practice some stuff they don’t want anyone to see. Keep an eye on Arrowhead Addict and our Twitter account, @arrowheadaddict, as we will alert you as soon as we find out there is a change to the schedule.

Camp Battles…

The Chiefs have a pretty solid roster so most of the starting spots are taken up. Still, there are a couple of positions that could be up for grabs this summer.

Third QB: Ricky “Real American” Stanzi vs. Tyler Bray

Bray has the tools that generally have NFL talent evaluators salivating but some maturity issues caused him to go undrafted. Stanzi has all the intangibles but hasn’t been able to move up one of the worst QB depth charts in the NFL over his two years in the league.

Combined, these two would be a perfect QB. Unfortunately, there can be only one. Daniel has the backup job in his back pocket. It is Stanzi and Bray to the death.

TE: Travis Kelce vs. Tony Moeaki

It’s the new “Mr. Glass” vs. the rookie drafted by the new regime. Moeaki has shown he can play at a high level in the NFL but his injury issues make him hard to rely upon. Kelce flashed plenty of skill in camp but his inexperience could give Moeaki the edge early. Anthony Fasano is in the mix as well but he seems to be a lock to get playing time. Unless the Chiefs plan to run a lot of three-tight-end sets, the real battle here appears to be between Mo and Kelce.

WR: Dexter McCluster vs. Devon Wylie “Battle of the little quick guys”

Andy Reid’s offense calls for lots of shifty, run after the catch options but neither McCluster nor Wylie have shown the ability to be consistent contributors. McCluster has the clear edge here as Wylie has only about 80 snaps of experience.

Is there room for two WRs with similar skill sets on the 2013 roster? We’re about to find out.

Interior O-line: Jon Asamoah, Jeff Allen, Rodney Hudson, Geoff Schwartz and Donald Stephenson

The Chiefs did a lot of shifting around here during OTAs so the interior line may not be set. Stephenson saw some time at guard and Schwartz could very well take over one of the starting spots once camp begins. Reid has insisted he will play the best five offensive lineman regardless of position. The shifting in OTAs may have just been an evaluation to see which guys could play where. Keep an eye on how the Chiefs line up on the offensive line at the first practice. That could tell us a lot about how the final line will look come Sptember.

MLB: Akeem Jordan and Nico Johnson

This one could go on for a while. Jordan has never been an an elite player but his experience could make him preferable to the rookie Johnson. If I had to put money on it, I’d be willing to bet Reid will go with the vet in this situation, at least at first. Johnson will have to really impress to start from day one. I think Akeem gets the gig, at least at first.

All right, Addicts. That is your 2013 camp preview. Remember that we are looking for training camp correspondents for this season. AA camp correspondents are fans that are going up to camp to watch practices. They provide AA with pictures and a camp report of what they saw while they were there. The reports are published on the AA main page. We need you to be our eyes and ears out there and we’d like to have a camp correspondent at every open practice.

If you have decent writing ability and are interested, please email e at patrick.arrowheadaddict@gmail.com. Please include which days you plan on attending camp. Please only apply if you are reasonable certain you will be able to attend.

Thanks and GO CHIEFS!