Armani Watts’ ankle injury puts him behind in free safety competition

Armani Watts has a clear path to a starting role for the Kansas City Chiefs, but he needs to be healthy if he’s going to claim it.

There’s no good time for an ankle sprain, but for Armani Watts, it’s putting the rookie safety behind the competition for a wide open starting spot in the Kansas City Chiefs’ secondary.

Watts has been out of practice almost since the moment that the Chiefs rookie first arrived at training camp in St. Joseph, Missouri with an ankle injury that required attention from the trainers and ended up with him in the locker room. As we get to the end of the first week of training camp, Watts is still sitting out of practice, a week removed from the competition on the field as Chiefs coaches sift and sort the final positions heading into the regular season.

For the long-term, Watts is just fine. He has plenty of time to heal up even before the first preseason game. He’s in the first few days of his first ever training camp on a four-year rookie deal. So there’s no intention here of making a mountain out of a molehill.

But let’s also be clear that the Chiefs have stayed relatively silent at safety this offseason despite overhauling almost the entire cadre of cornerbacks. Eric Murray returns after an inconsistent year. Dan Sorensen is among the 10 most expensive Chiefs and still has a roster spot. Ron Parker was released, and despite free agent safeties going for pennies on the dollar, Brett Veach hasn’t made a single move—save for a fourth round investment in Watts.

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If the Chiefs were thinking that they would avoid the free agent market entirely by simply picking and inserting a promising rookie, that would be great—as long as that rookie is able to be ready to take over in Week 1. For now, with Watts on the sideline, the Chiefs are rolling with Sorensen in that starting free safety role, once again removing him from being the versatile blitzing back employed in unique situations like he was so well before earning his four-year extension.

It helps that Watts has 45 games of experience in the SEC with Texas A&M, which means he’s about an NFL-ready as a player can be coming out of college. Maybe Watts doesn’t require as much practice as we might expect. But the game at the pro level is an adjustment for anyone, and it will be interesting to see how Watts responds when and if he’s available.

Here’s hoping Watt’s ankle strain is able to heal up over the weekend and that he’s able to get in a full week’s worth of practices before the team’s first preseason game against the Houston Texans.