We’ve officially arrived at another dead spot on the offseason calendar. The Kansas City Chiefs have completed their organized team activities and training camp won’t open until late-July. There’s a good chance there won’t be much news until they depart for St. Joseph. What’s a senior writer and the good people of Chiefs Kingdom to do over the next month? It’s too early for roster predictions. Might also be a bit premature to try picking wins and losses from the regular season schedule.
So what can we do with this free time we’ll have over the next four weeks? Your guess is as good as mine, but summer’s always an appropriate time to explore future possibilities. It’s also a good opportunity to reflect upon the fondest days of our pasts. Who doesn’t have memories of high school? Remember when you voted with classmates to decide what the future held for your contemporaries (senior superlatives)? Seems awfully judgmental in retrospect, but it’s perfectly suited for what we’re doing today.
Without further ado, I present player superlatives for the 2014 Kansas City Chiefs!
Best Couple: Alex Smith & Dwayne Bowe
Everyone loves a good couple. One of the biggest keys to Kansas City’s offense taking another step forward is the progression of the relationship between quarterback Alex Smith and No. 1 wide receiver Dwayne Bowe. The two got off to a rocky start in 2013. Smith turned in his best season as a pro while Bowe had one of the worst showings of his career. The two did develop chemistry as the season wore on and had their best tandem performance in the Chiefs’ postseason loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Word has it that they’re in rare form this offseason. They appear to have their timing down and Bowe’s become one of Smith’s primary targets. The trick will be to carry this momentum into camp and the preseason. There’s been no contact to this point, so we have to take the appearance of the pair’s progress with a grain of salt. If the reports continue into August, there may be cause for Reid and company to celebrate. Bowe getting back on track could mean more high-scoring affairs for the team on Sundays to come this fall.
Biggest Over-Achiever: Jamaal Charles
Every school has a student that distinguishes themselves as a consistently stellar performer. Jamaal Charles is that for the Kansas City Chiefs. He made a legitimate case as the league’s most valuable player last year. Charles fell short to eventual-winner Peyton Manning, but he did nab the infinitely less prestigious Fantasy Player of the Year Award at the annual NFL Honors event. His 2013 campaign yielded 1,980 yards from scrimmage and 19 total touchdowns (in just 15 games). He might’ve posted a 2,000/20 season if the team hadn’t locked up it’s postseason berth prior to the Week 17 game with the San Diego Chargers. That would’ve ranked as one of the ten best statistical performances by a runningback in league history (as it stands, it still might).
Andy Reid’s West Coast offense is a godsend for Charles. The scheme maximizes his dynamic skillset and often finds ways to get him into space (where he’s most dangerous). He’ll continue to be a centerpiece of this offense and with more support from second-year man Knile Davis, he could stay fresher and become a more consistent big-play threat opposing defenses will have to account for. Charles is finally garnering attention as one of the NFL’s premier runningbacks.