Kansas City Chiefs stock report: Rookies shine against Bengals

Stock Up: Pass Rush Depth

The Kansas City Chiefs were without both of their projected starting defensive ends on Saturday with Frank Clark and Alex Okafor out as a precaution as they recover from minor injuries. Unless I just missed him, I don’t think Emmanuel Ogbah played at all either. Despite that, the Chiefs were still able to apply some pressure thanks to the play of Tanoh Kpassagnon, Breeland Speaks, and Jeremiah Attaochu.

Kpassagnon and Speaks both started at defensive end with Clark and Okafor out and each player recorded a sack. Jeremiah Attaochu was a depth free agent signing this offseason who hadn’t received a lot of buzz during training camp. I was pleasantly surprised by his play against the Bengals. He got pressure on multiple occasions playing with the second and third string units.

New defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is known for using multiple guys in different combinations to generate pressure along the defensive front. Both Speaks and Kpassagnon can also slide inside to rush the passer in addition to playing a traditional defensive end spot. If Saturday’s game was any indication it looks like the Chiefs have plenty of guys on the roster to execute Spagnuolo’s defense.

I don’t know if Speaks and Kpassagnon will ever live up to their draft positions but if they can at least be effective contributors this season that will be a win for the defense.

Stock Down: Clarity at the back up tight end spots

Last week in my Takeaways from Training Camp post, I stated that the battle for the backup tight end spots was all but over, predicting that Blake Bell and Deon Yelder were pretty much a lock to make the roster and John Lovett the former Princeton quarterback would likely end up on the practice squad as he continues to develop as a H-back in Reid’s offense. Both Bell and Yelder had nice looking receptions but also had some Demetrius Harris type drops, too. Lovett looked really good in limited reps but left with a separated shoulder. Plus, Nick Keizer looked good with the third string offense as he tallied three receptions without any drops and recovered a fumble on punt coverage.

I actually found myself less sure about how the tight end position will end up after the first preseason game than I was before it. Will Bell and Yelder continue to struggle with drops? Will Lovett miss key developmental time with his injury? Will Keizer continue to challenge for a spot? Will the Chiefs decide none of them are quite what they want for their second tight end and look to add someone more proven when roster cut downs happen? I think this may be more of a down to the wire decision than I thought after watching them in training camp.