Tight end competition will take time for Kansas City Chiefs

The crop of current tight ends on the Kansas City Chiefs roster is hard for Andy Reid to separate into favorites at this point of the offseason.

At the top is Travis Kelce. From there, the presumption is Demetrius Harris will once again spend the season as the team’s second tight end. After that is anyone’s guess—and that includes Andy Reid.

The Kansas City Chiefs head coach spoke to reporters on Thursday and made it clear that even he is not quite sure how things are going to shake out at tight end. That might include Harris’s role but it most definitely refers to the third and (presumed) final tight end spot on the active roster once training camp breaks and the preseason winds down.

"“I’m not sure anybody has actually separated themselves from one another but they’re all producing out here. I’ve got to see when we get the pads on just to see that part of it. But they all can catch the ball and run good routes. But there’s that other half of it that you can’t get done in this camp. So that’s going to take a little bit of time.”"

There’s quite a bit couched in these quotes that we’d like to feature here:

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First of all, it might be worrisome that no one has “separated themselves” from the pack here. Now that could mean something very positive—namely, that the options on the roster like Tim Wright, Jace Amaro, Alex Ellis and Blake Mack are all performing admirably to an equal degree—but it most likely means the opposite. It’s more likely that not a single player among the cast of characters has really stepped up to claim the brass ring. That’s not good.

Every one of the aforementioned players has specific strengths but they also have their weaknesses. Hence the reason why the veterans were available as fringe roster additions and the rookies were available after the draft. But the hope this time of year is that one such player will show a coaching staff that they were wrong in their assumptions. That could be what’s happening here.

Complicating the situation is the knowledge that Demetrius Harris will not be on the active roster for Week 1 due to a suspension handed down by the NFL for a felony possession of marijuana arrest from last spring. That means the Chiefs must keep two tight ends on the roster besides Harris and Kelce for an extra week before they can bring Harris back into the fold. That means someone else on another position will be knocked just for tight end depth for a single week.

In a league where the line between developmental talent is paper thin, it’s frustrating that the Chiefs have to waive a nice young player just to keep the extra tight end. Then again maybe Harris himself will be shown the door and all of this extra baggage simply goes away.

The situation at this point, however, makes it clear that’s not going to happen since it looks like no one is even seizing the opportunity to make the roster. Here’s hoping that someone begins to emerge as a true favorite (and asset) in training camp.

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