This week we’re going to take a look at five players that if injured in training camp, could cripple the Kansas City Chiefs’ chances for a championship.
A few of them will be very obvious and pretty much “duh” choices but the others might have you flying to the comments with “anyone could replace that dude” and “the team is bigger than one guy.” While it is true that the Chiefs could overcome these injuries with a surprise step up by a reserve, history isn’t exactly on their side.
If we look at just the past twenty years we see teams with high expectations coming into the season falling just short because of the loss of a key player. In the case of the defending champion Baltimore Ravens in 2001, they lost their star running back in camp and let their primary backup walk right into Kansas City. More recently, the Packers lost Jordy Nelson in camp to an ACL tear during a preseason game which arguably cost the Packers a home playoff game or two.
Camp injuries can rock a team’s confidence and bring financial hardship depending on the guaranteed money they player is owed. Often these injuries lead fans and personnel to wonder what could have been. They are usually so devastating because a high number of them come without contact which usually require surgery.
The Chiefs have closer to 10 or 12 impact players that if sidelined for a significant amount of time could severely damage championship hopes. Guys like Travis Kelce, Marcus Peters and Jamaal Charles don’t make the list because of the ability the Chiefs have to shift game plans away from those positions and have backups that step in and perform well. Here are the five players that the Chiefs would have an extremely difficult time replacing right before the start of the season.
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