Kendall Fuller feels confident he could play outside for the Chiefs

Kendall Fuller excels in the slot playing inside against receivers, but he sounds ready to go outside if the Chiefs wanted to move him.

Training camp is all about sorting. From the offense to the defense to special teams, it’s learning just paring down the roster from 90 to 53 players. It’s also about figuring out the exact spaces within which those players will go.

For the Kansas City Chiefs, there are multiple positions at which the coaching staff is trying to actively figure out how best to employ the talent that Brett Veach brought in. There’s work to do at running back, the offensive line, the pass rushers and the secondary, in particular.

Cornerback Kendall Fuller is one such player caught in the middle of a sorting situation. When the Chiefs dealt away their single greatest trade asset this offseason, they made certain to focus on getting Fuller in return from the Washington Redskins. The reason is that getting a young shutdown cornerback is so difficult in the NFL, and Fuller had just enjoyed a breakout season in the nation’s capital. However, he enjoyed it in the middle, as a slot corner playing between Bashaud Breeland and Josh Norman on the outside.

Fast forward to the present and the Chiefs don’t exactly have those sorts of talents surrounding Fuller. In fact, Fuller is the best of the lot after the team traded away Marcus Peters and now face a bit of a question mark about how to best sort out those who play outside. If Fuller has the most raw talent, it makes sense to play him outside, at least until sub packages allow him to slide inside, in order to get him on the field for maximum snaps.

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So far, however, the Chiefs have been keeping him at slot and for good reason: why move a guy who truly excels at a position? Keep a strength a strength. Don’t mess with a good thing. Those are maxims for a reason.

However Fuller sounded quite confident in his potential ability to play outside should the Chiefs need it. He addressed reporters from practice on Thursday and explained his thought process:

"When I got to [Virginia] Tech, it wasn’t about slot, outside, even safety. We had to learn how to be a DB. Once we get to the NFL then they start to talk about slot or outside. I think it’s the same skill set, it’s just a different area of the field. Truth be told I felt more comfortable at corner. That’s what I came in as, a corner. So, I definitely think I can step out there."

Right now David Amerson and Steven Nelson are slated to play outside while Fuller hangs inside—at least that’s how it was earlier this offseason for the Chiefs coaches. If they change their mind, perhaps Nelson and Fuller can play outside until Fuller slides inside on sub packages, which come often, and Amerson comes in ready to take his place on one side.

Even this question for Fuller explains why the Chiefs have shown an interest in free agent cornerback Bashaud Breeland, since it would nullify any need to even mess with Fuller. It’s made even more valuable by the fact that they’ve already played together for years.

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If the Chiefs have questions about their outside corners as they’re listed now, Fuller sounds like a man willing to make a change even if it’s at a position in which he starred last season.

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