The Kansas City Chiefs offseason has been a wild one. Despite very little activity in free agency, the past few months have been a wild ride. I don’t need to recap every single thing that has happened since the NFL draft, but the Chiefs now find themselves facing the 2017 season with no huge free agent additions (with the exception of Bennie Logan), no proven number one wide receiver, no Jamaal Charles, no expected major contributions from either of their top two draft picks, and as I write this, they don’t even have a general manager in place that could sign anyone else to the roster. I don’t point this out to scare or depress anyone but to make the point that if the Chiefs have any hope of improving on (or even just matching) their success in 2016, it is going to require several players to step up and improve upon their production.
Whether you want to call it improving their production, continuing their development, or “breaking out,” the bottom line is the Chiefs will need several players to take that step forward. Who are the most likely guys to do it? Today I’ve got the top 10 guys I think are most likely. The guys at the bottom of the list are more of a longshot and the guys at the top of the list are the ones I think are the safest bets.
Keep in mind that “breaking out” could mean different things for different players. For a bottom of the roster guy, it could be earning significant playing time and becoming a valuable contributor. For another player, it may be that he was already a valuable contributor but now he is taking his game to the next level.
Before I get to the list I will say that perhaps the most impactful player that could out produce his 2016 production for the Chiefs isn’t even on this list. That player is Justin Houston. With only four sacks in an injury-shortened season his return to form would be a game changer for the Chiefs. There was just no way I was going to put Houston on a list of possible “breakout” players in 2017.
Let’s go ahead and start things off with number 10.