Kansas City Chiefs: Four Training Camp Takeaways

Takeaway No. 1: The Chiefs’ two biggest additions this offseason both look good.

While fans of every NFL team dream of signing every single big name free agent on the market, that’s just not possible given the NFL’s salary cap. Therefore, most NFL teams are usually only able to add one or two impact players via free agency each offseason and then must rely on the draft to help build their roster.

This offseason the Chiefs’ two biggest additions were signing free agent wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and drafting cornerback Marcus Peters in the first round of the draft. Besides internal development of players already on the roster, those two players represent the greatest hope for improvement and could be major impact players for KC.

While it’s obviously too early to pass final judgement, both players have looked about as good as possible through their first couple weeks of practices. Both players have been mentioned day in and day out in reports on which players made the best impression at camp. Let’s start with the rookie, Marcus Peters.

While the two-year tenure of Andy Reid and John Dorsey has been a success in KC so far, one area that has been lacking has been production right away out of their first-round draft picks. First-overall pick Eric Fisher struggled mightily his rookie year and last year’s first-round pick Dee Ford rarely saw the field playing behind the dynamic duo of Tamba Hali and Justin Houston. This years appears things will be different. A three-game suspension to starting corner Sean Smith has left the door wide open for Peters to start his first three NFL games.

Next: Can Peters actually star immediately?