Chiefs Training Camp Report From 8/6
Jul 28, 2013; St. Joseph, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs fans walk to watch practice during training camp at Missouri Western State University. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
The following is a training camp report we received from AA reader Tony Lewis. The report is from last Tuesday’s practice. Special thanks to Tony for taking the time to tell us what he saw. -PA
The following is an overview of my experience at The Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp on Tuesday, August 6, 2013.
I attended Chiefs camp with my brother and nephew (they are here visiting from Michigan) and also my brother-in-law and his step son. My brother-in-law, his step-son and I, are from the Kansas City area and we are all Chiefs fans.
We arrived into the parking lot at approximately 7:45 AM eager to get into the fan areas and watch the players walk down onto the field. This was the first time for us and we also were very fortunate to have passes to the VIP area and the opportunity to go down onto the field.
Upon walking into the Missouri Western stadium gate the excitement level increased as the field was decorated in Chiefs colors and appeared to be a promotional or family fun area.
We strolled down and through the gift shop that included three Chiefs cheerleaders selling calendars and taking pictures. Of course, prior to leaving for the day I added numerous pictures of the cheerleaders to my wife’s camera memory card, ha.
Once we found a place along the fence, we watched the players walk down to the field. It wasn’t long and the players were stretching and making their way to the respective drill areas. We then proceeded to go down onto the field and observe practice in designated areas and I felt like a kid living my childhood dream (with pads on and hitting something would have been the complete dream).
Analysis of team: Bear with me on this part for this was my first ever attended NFL training camp and having the opportunity to go down onto the field was over the top (in a good way) for me.
As many of your followers know, the facility has two practice fields located adjacent to the Missouri Western Stadium field. On one field the offense was running drills and the other the defense was.
Offense:
Quarterbacks, backs and receivers – Different combinations were working together and the quarterbacks rotated back and forth to work with the different depth chart of players. I tried to watch the competition between Chase Daniel and Tyler Bray and it was hard for me to put one in front of the other. On the surface, I am going to give a slight edge to Tyler Bray and am looking forward to Friday night’s game at New Orleans to see if one is out-performing the other. Of course, Jamaal Charles looked good and healthy to go for NFL high rusher of the year (my goal for him). I liked what I saw from Knile Davis, although curious to see some real game time (as much as pre-season can be) speed and his performance when the pads start cracking for real. I did not get a lot of opportunities to analyze the receivers, although not to point out a negative, I did notice Bowe had an easy out route catch and as they say, it hit him in a bad spot-right in the hands and he dropped it.
Defense:
Linebackers – I enjoyed watching the linebackers drill and the energy that the linebackers coach (Gary Gibbs-I think) was exerting to the guys during the drill. Not quite to the intensity of Gun (Gunther) from the past, although seemed very meticulous with his instruction. Of course, Derrick and Tamba stood out and I am looking forward to game time tonight to see how the rookies do.
D-Line – Defensive line performed some swim move (I think it’s referred to as) technique drills right up close to where we were standing on the field. I was very impressed with the concentration of Marcus Dixon and Allen Bailey while working on their technique (in fairness to the others, these two were the closest to where I was standing). Also, I was very impressed with the hands on instruction from the coaches involved. More game time analysis needed to see results.
Kickers:
I watched Succop pop a few through the uprights, he looks like he is picking up where he left off last year (looks good-lets analyze real game time as in everything).
Offense vs. Defense:
After both offense and defense completed drills the team came together and ran some offense on defense plays. Pretty standard plays, not surprising at this stage in the process and open to the public. Nothing jumped out of a concern and will definitely get more of a feel after Friday night, at least as a more of a preliminary analysis opportunity.
They wrapped practice up with a team circle a bit earlier than expected (as we were told), although with the heat coming up off the field as I witnessed (and I was in a short sleeve shirt and shorts and consuming Gatorade) I wasn’t surprised by the early decision.
Overall, I was impressed, although let’s keep in mind the first pre-season game is Friday and much more analysis is needed. I did not notice much yelling from the coaches and no fights broke out. Coaching staff seems to have a handle on things so far. Sorry no mention of O-line and our number one draft pick. I did see the number one overall draft pick Eric Fisher walk down to the field and back up and he did recognize the fans. I think game analysis is going to tell us a lot more about Eric and all of our Chiefs and coaching staff better than a guy (me) that felt like he was living his childhood glory days dream (except I didn’t have the pads on and couldn’t hit anyone-except my family that I was standing next to).
I was very impressed with the time the designated players (and maybe a couple that just decided to join in too) spent with the fans and signing autographs. Heck, even Coach Reid jumped in and signed some.
LET’S ALL SIT BACK AND WATCH OUR KANSAS CITY CHIEFS FRIDAY AND WE CAN ALL ARM-CHAIR QUARTERBACK SOME ANALYSIS. GO CHIEFS!!!