The Kansas City Chiefs are going to war this year. It’s an all out, all-in, all or nothing proposition for this year’s rendition and more than any other off season, for the past 15 years, the Chiefs are gearing up to do battle. The 2016 Chiefs have diversified their attack with: a machete, a cannonball, a catapult, a Swiss Army knife, a machine gun, a bazooka, a flamethrower… and that doesn’t include their newest foot-ballistics: a missile, a stealth fighter, and a new bunker. In other words, the Chiefs have weapons for war.
Over the past couple of years the Kansas City Chiefs have proven they have a top tier defense that George Patton would be proud of. Defensive coordinator Bob Sutton has taken his attacking style defense to new heights and now the offense joins in.
In 2015, the bad news became the good news. When Jamaal Charles went down, two new weapons, Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware, stepped in and took over without a hitch. However, since we didn’t exactly get time last offseason to inspect these two prospects, we’ll begin with them.
A Machete: Charcandrick West
Charcandrick West made it clear right away that the Chiefs would not be taking a huge step backwards just because Charles was standing on the sidelines. In fact, he brought some new abilities to the battle field.
Charcandrick West went to Abilene Christian, stands 5-foot-9, and goes 210. The way his body is constructed allows him to make quick choppy steps while utilizing his 4.36-40 speed. His torso makes up most of his length and his truncated legs provide him with the ability to make moves in a small amount of space and still come out the other side.
You can witness those types of moves below:
A Cannonball: Spencer Ware
Spencer Ware reminds me a bit of Marshawn Lynch. I suppose that’s why the Seattle Seahawks made him a sixth round pick in 2013. A unique attribute of Marshawn’s game is his wide stepping gate. Ware shares that approach. A good analogy: is it harder to tip over an end table or a coffee table? That’s right, Ware often runs down the field with his feet wider than his shoulders at times and this keeps him from being knocked over easily and gives him leverage when he dips his shoulder to take on a DB.
At 5-foot-10 and 228 pounds, Ware navigates the field more like he’s a cannon-ball that’s really a balloon and some one is letting the air out of that balloon, so bringing him down is a challenge for defenders. Here’s a good example.
Here Ware looks like a bowling ball. He not only knocks a lot of bowling pins over on his way to a 52 yard gain but, almost every San Diego defender, except the defensive ends, had a shot at him along the way. Even Pro Bowl safety Eric Weddle, #32 in blue, who is usually Mr. Dependable, turns up field to take a better angle of pursuit, but ends up eating more grass than Willie Nelson on tour in Colorado.
Spencer Ware will be a weapon as much as any other offensive piece the Chiefs have in their arsenal including Jamaal Charles. It’s easy to see why Spencer Ware will be a cannonball for the Chiefs this year and for good reason.
That good reason is about the approach Andy Reid and John Dorsey have taken respective to their roster and building the depth chart. I don’t recall a roster as diverse as this roster in the history of the organization and I’ve followed the team since the 1960s. Why would that be important to note here? Because you’ll notice a pattern going through the Chiefs weapons: the players on the Chiefs roster give them an advantage against any kind of opponent’s roster.
Think of it this way… in the NBA western semi-finals right now there is talk about whether or not the Golden State Warriors “small-ball” lineup will beat the Oklahoma City Thunders “bigs?” The NBA has teams that employ many different approaches and so does the NFL. Reid and Dorsey have constructed a team with weapons to thwart any kind of opponent.
Isn’t that what any good wartime strategist would do? [Not that we are in a “war time” situation nor do I wish us to be in the least… come on, it’s just a sports article]
Next: Will Jamaal Charles still be a weapon?