2017 Kansas City Chiefs: A Raisin’ of the Sons

The fate of this football team rests upon the shoulders of players like Tyreek Hill, Dee Ford, Chris Conley, Steven Nelson and Terrance Mitchell. In the absence of personnel reinforcements, their progress over the offseason could be key to keeping this team competitive.

Things won’t get any easier for the Chiefs after winning the AFC West in 2016. When the regular season opens next month, the team will be facing the league’s second-toughest schedule. The Chiefs already play in the most contentious division in the NFL. This wasn’t the ideal time to pare back personnel, but the league is a peculiar beast from year to year. Sometimes, the forward progress has to come from within your roster.

The Kansas City coaching staff will earn its collective paycheck in 2017. New receivers coach Greg Lewis may be under the most pressure with a receiving group where every notable member is under the age of 25. The evolution of Conley and Hill are essential to offensive possibilities for the Chiefs this season. The Pittsburgh Steelers bested this group during a mid-January postseason appearance (in which they didn’t post a single offensive touchdown). If the Chiefs are to threaten the conference super-powers, it’ll come on the back of increased offensive production.

The defense is the strength of the team, but is still faced with some interesting challenges based on its young talent. Veteran outside linebacker Tamba Hali was vocal about his defensive opportunities in the early days of camp, but it’s clear he’s in the twilight of his career. The success of Kansas City’s defense is partly contingent upon Ford’s ability to replace the consistent pressure Hali was able to generate opposite of Justin Houston. The Chiefs secondary was arguably the most stable component of the league’s 7th-ranked defense in 2016. If that trend is to continue, they’ll need the consistency that marked the back half of the season for cornerbacks Terrance Mitchell and Steven Nelson.