Should the Kansas City Chiefs take stock of their preseason efforts?
As one sits and watches may be dueling dumpster fires of the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys, one wonders, just how important and how much should we evaluate preseason games. Last year, the Chiefs won all four preseason games and promptly started off in rather ugly forcing-your-own-fumble fashion before turning their season turned around with a long winning streak that including winning a playoff game. With the Chiefs already bearing a negative, should we care?
Simply, the answer is no. Obviously, you want to see the Chiefs first team and back up youngsters play, and perform well, but whether this team wins or loses at this point really is irrelevant (Caution, hot takes column right here). What we should use the preseason games for as has been known for awhile is evaluation of not only individual abilities, but also roster depth.
With the previous mentions in mind, if there is an area of concern, and this really is picking hairs, the Chiefs third-string quarterback, or future clip board holder is, if you want, a major area of concern. To put it mildly with a mild degree of concern, the Chiefs quarterback of the future is not on the roster.
Bray looked bad before injury, Kevin Hogan appeared lost and showed the numerous flaws that limited and limited his potential. Hogan appears to be exactly what he was at Stanford, in that he looked the part ‘getting off the bus’ but is betrayed by awful footwork and arm mechanics, severely limiting his accuracy and timing. That was on display during the first game.
I believed the Chiefs would not be looking to address the long term future of the quarterback position for another year, but that timetable may bet moved up to the 2017 draft. Not sure anyone but Alex Smith will be back with the Chiefs in 2017.
Another area of concern was corner. Yes, Marcus Peters had a nice interception (Yes, Wilson was late on a play in which Peters had been beat, but the late throw allowed Peters to recover and make the interception), however, there is and should be a lot of concern about the rest of the corners.
Steven Nelson was targeted early and often, and it showed. He, at least in game one, wasn’t ready to be a starter. The rest of the depth on cornerback showed both the potential that has everyone excited for the future and the grave concerns about this season, especially if the pass rush has issues consistently getting to the quarterback.
One position group the Chiefs may not have to look at is defensive line. Perhaps I was most pleasantly surprised by the performance of rookie lineman Chris Jones. I was more curious about the selection of the lineman from Mississippi State, but he’s one big athletic kid, and it’s shown thus far. That’s great to see. With the likely departure of Dontari Poe after this season, just the initial glimpse of Jones holding his own and being solid instills a bit of confidence Jones will be ready to go when his number is called.
If you’re looking at a couple position groups to keep an early draft eye, much of what I said last week stands true. Look at potential prospects at middle linebacker, safety, quarterback and running back.
Lets hope there are no injuries, as the Chiefs should be really solid this year.