Kansas City Chiefs: Top ten training camp battles to watch
3. Cornerbacks (second string)
The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t make any big splash additions to their cornerback group this offseason. It appears the team believes that the coaching/scheme change and upgrades they’ve made to other spots on the defense will be enough to get the defense back on track.
Entering camp it appears that the clear top three corners are Kendall Fuller, Charvarius Ward, and free agent addition Bashaud Breeland. While I am optimistic that those three can give the Chiefs solid enough corner play for the defense to hold their own, it doesn’t give them much depth at the position should one of them struggle or get injured at some point.
That is why the competition for the rest of the cornerback spots on the roster is so important for this team. While we hope the guys that win these spots don’t have to play a major role, the odds are that at some point one (or more) of them will find themselves lined up against the opposition with a game on the line. Last year, in those shootout situations, KC didn’t fare very well. They need better results this year if they want to take that next step and make it to the Super Bowl.
The four guys that I believe have the best chance to step up and earn those spots are draft pick Rashad Fenton, undrafted rookie Mark Fields, former AFF standout Keith Reaser, and second year man Tremon Smith. I believe the competition between these young corners is one of the key battles to watch this training camp. None of them have a proven track record that they can point to and yet K.C. needs them to step up this season.
Fenton wasn’t on my list of corners that I was hoping the Chiefs would target in the draft, but clearly Brett Veach saw something he liked. Given the franchise’s commitment of a draft pick to him, you have to believe he has a good chance to make the roster but he needs to prove he is worthy of it.
The same can be said for second year man Tremon Smith. Smith showed that he can be a valuable return man but has yet to prove he is capable of being a good NFL cover corner. With the addition of another return weapon in Mecole Hardman on the roster, if Smith can’t make strides in coverage, he could find his roster spot in danger.
Keith Reaser may be the sleeper pick to watch in this group. Reaser has by far the most NFL experience with 30 NFL games under his belt. While he has yet to be a starting caliber player, he proved in the AFF last spring that he was clearly one of the best players in that league. His 92.7 PFF rating in the AFF was nine points higher than their number two graded corner in the league. This may likely be Reaser’s last chance to prove he belongs in the NFL so I expect him to give it his all.
Finally, Mark Fields was actually a guy higher on my draft list (and many others) than Rashad Fenton was. He looked really good in his limited snaps at Clemson. He could never quite atop the Clemson depth chart, but he always played great when given the chance. It will be interesting to see how he looks in a NFL camp.
The cornerback position is one of the most unproven spots on K.C.’s roster, and the guys that round out the 53 man roster spots need to prove that they can be counted on this season. That’s why this battle is number three on my list.
Now to the No. 2 overall battle and the battle on offense that I’ll be watching closest.