How does this year’s Kansas City Chiefs roster compare with 2017?

Now that the active roster is settled, let’s compare this year’s Chiefs roster to last year’s edition to see the differences.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ final 53-man roster has now been announced, so let’s take a look at the changes the Chiefs have made. We’ve seen some interesting moves over the offseason, including trading Alex Smith to the Redskins and dealing Marcus Peters to the Rams. The Chiefs also played their hand in free agency, signing Sammy Watkins to three year deal and Anthony Hitchens to a five year contract.

The Chiefs also made some trades prior to Saturday’s deadline to make roster cuts, acquiring Charvarius Ward from the Cowboys and Jordan Lucas from the Dolphins. Then, on Saturday, the Chiefs made their roster cuts, which included several surprising cuts that included fifth round pick in last year’s draft Ukeme Eligwe.

With all of the Chiefs’ moves, is their team better than last year’s team or worse? This year, the Chiefs have an incredible amount of offensive talent. Adding Sammy Watkins to an offense that arleady includes Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and Kareem Hunt is incredibly encouraging for Chiefs fans. However, perhaps the most notable change for the Chiefs’ offense is at quarterback. With Patrick Mahomes leading the Chiefs this year instead of Alex Smith, there’s an amount of uncertainty—will Mahomes be better or worse than Smith?

The Chiefs’ defense is, like last year, less than desirable. However, the Chiefs made some nice additions and went after all defense in this year’s draft. Adding veteran linebacker Anthony Hitchens to the linebacker core will definitely help out with the Chiefs’ front seven, but they still have to fill the hole that Marcus Peters left when he was traded.

Let’s analyze the changes the Chiefs have made and compare the Chiefs’ final 53-man roster this year to last year’s roster and see where the Chiefs improved and where they got worse.

Let’s start by looking at the offensive line.