Kansas City Chiefs pre-training camp thoughts and predictions

I’ve been waiting to type these words for several long months….the Kansas City Chiefs report for training camp this week. It’s actually happening. The team we all love is going to actually put on pads and take the field in Saint Joseph and we’ll all have some new news to pick apart and analyze. So for my final post before the action begins I thought I’d give you my final thoughts and predictions to officially wrap up the offseason.

Let’s start with the big guys up front….

1. The Offensive Line Still Worries Me

It’s starting to feel like I could just lead my pre-training camp post with this same thought every year. Once again my biggest concern on this team is how well the offensive line will play. I love the addition of Mitchell Schwartz, Mitch Morse looks like a future Pro Bowler (assuming his concussion that ended his rookie season was a one time thing), and Eric Fisher is coming off his best season so far and is playing for a contract. That’s all well and good but the Chiefs have two huge question marks at guard and if the guard play is poor the entire line will struggle.

Prepare to have Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and rookie Parker Ehinger given every chance to earn those starting spots. I would love to see Jah Reid (and to a lesser extent Zach Fulton) get a fair chance to earn the job but I really think KC wants Reid to be the swing tackle and LDT and Ehinger will basically have to lose the jobs more than they’ll have to win them outright. That worries me. Hopefully they prove me wrong and the line gels quickly. If it does the offense should do well. Which leads me to my next thought…..

2. The Rest Of The Offense Looks Ready To Roll

Alex Smith may not be flashy but he’s proven he can win games with a solid supporting cast around him. Smith will have the benefit of one of the deepest running back stables in all the NFL with Jamaal Charles leading the way after returning from injury. The Chiefs can go three deep without a letdown with JC, Charcandrick West, and Spencer Ware. That running game will take a lot of pressure off Smith.

When Smith does look to throw he’ll have his number one wideout Jeremy Maclin as his primary target and a Pro Bowl tight end in Travis Kelce as his number two. You throw in JC coming out of the backfield and multiple young receivers vying for the number two wideout and you have an offense that should be very efficient and keep the Chiefs in ball games. If the offensive line plays well it could even become a great offense that would be very hard to game plan against.

Now let’s talk about the defensive side of the ball.

Next: A Couple of Defensive Thoughts