The Kansas City Chiefs have a deep and talented roster with many quality established starters on both sides of the football. For many spots, training camp will be less about earning a starting job and more about getting into shape and making sure everything is clicking. That having been said, there are a couple of places on the roster where things are wide open. No spot may be as competitive this offseason for the Chiefs than at cornerback. Yes, KC is returning the Defensive Rookie of the Year in Marcus Peters, but basically every other cornerback spot after Peters is up for grabs. In today’s NFL most teams really use three “starting” corners when you look at how often the nickel corner is on the field in the sub package (along with the two starters on the outside). This means that KC really has two starting corner spots there for the taking and five players with a legitimate chance of winning the job.
In the wake of the NFL Draft its easy to focus our attention on the three corners that the Chiefs drafted. Those players are KeiVarae Russell from Notre Dame taken in the third round, Eric Murray from Minnesota taken in the fourth round, and D.J. White from Georgia Tech taken in the sixth round. While its easy to get fixated on these “shiny new toys”, KC fans need to remember that they also have two returning contenders in Phillip Gaines (a third round pick in 2014) and Steven Nelson (a third round pick just last year). When looking to break down the competition for the starting spots along side Marcus Peters you have to take all five of these players into account. I for one, do not view Marcus Cooper as a serious option and am convinced his days in KC are numbered. I also believe that with the losses of Husain Abdullah and Tyvon Branch that the Chiefs do not want to use Ron Parker as a nickel corner at all this season. That’s why I’ve limited my list of contenders to Gaines, Nelson, Russell, Murray, and White.
While the returning players have to have a slight edge based on experience and familiarity with KC’s system, I don’t think either Gaines or Nelson are established enough that the Chiefs would start them over a rookie that clearly outperformed them in training camp and the preseason. I also find it interesting just how close in ability KC’s three rookie corners appear to be. Obviously, the order the Chiefs drafted them gives us an idea of how they view them but their pre-draft evaluations were very even. NFL.com graded Russell and White both as a 5.5 out of 6 and Murray at a 5.4. CBS Sports had all three players ranked within 60 spots of each other (106-166). Matt Miller of Bleacher Report had them all in the 75-139 range (64 picks). So while Russell can enter camp knowing he was KC’s first choice of the three on draft day, don’t be surprised if it is a dog fight between all three rookies for playing time.
Let’s start our look at the cornerback contenders with KC’s returning players.
Next: Contender #1: Phillip Gaines