ESPN’s best under-25 NFL team missing several young Chiefs stars
By Matt Conner
ESPN’s recent endeavor to put together the best NFL starting line-up with players under 25-years-old included two members of the Chiefs roster.
The Kansas City Chiefs have plenty of young talent, which is why it’s surprising that the team only managed to place two players on ESPN’s best NFL starting line-up under-25.
With only 24 players to go with, many teams won’t have a single player, so maybe we should be thankful that the Chiefs managed to get both wide receiver Tyreek Hill and kicker Harrison Butker onto the squad. Both players are excellent choices, but the team is also missing several potential players who could have also made the cut.
Before we focus on the negative, it is important to accentuate the positive as they say. We’ve spilled a lot of ink here about the emerging greatness of Tyreek Hill (since we believe he’s already one of the NFL’s very best wide receivers after just a single year focused primarily on the position). Simply put, the man is the fastest player in the NFL yet he also owns some of the most reliable hands in the league and is learning very quickly atop the depth chart. As he gains experience and his route-running improves, the sky is the limit for Hill who could join Julio Jones and Antonio Brown when it comes to wideout mentions after 2018.
Butker was a true gem of a find as a rookie, breaking franchise records for a kicker’s single season efforts with 38 field goals in only 13 games. The Chiefs end zone woes became opportunities on a silver platter for Butker and he responded beautifully with a season to remember (as a kicker, that’s easier said than done). For a player picked up midseason off of the Carolina Panthers practice squad, that’s a great story.
As for the rest, there are several obvious players missing here: