De’Anthony Thomas provides base line of security for Kansas City Chiefs

With the signing of De’Anthony Thomas for another season, the Kansas City Chiefs have given themselves a base line of security for offense, special teams.

It’s familiar face week at 1 Arrowhead Drive in Kansas City, Missouri.

This week, the Kansas City Chiefs have re-signed two players to the offense who stand a very good chance of making the team’s active roster out of preseason despite having signed after the first two games—and the entirety of training camp—have wrapped. Both offensive lineman Jeff Allen and wide receiver De’Anthony Thomas are familiar vets who could easily slide right in and contribute in 2019.

For Thomas, or DAT, the signing provided a base level of security for the Chiefs in two important areas: the team’s pass catchers and special teams units. In short, they’re in good shape with Thomas on the roster but they are in even better shape if he somehow doesn’t make it.

For the Chiefs, Thomas has been a prized special teams asset for the last five years. Assistant head coach Dave Toub once referred to him as, pound for pound, the single toughest player on the team’s roster. He’s quick, agile, versatile, and unafraid to attend to the details. He’s a coach’s dream, which is likely why he keeps earning a return ticket to the Chiefs roster the last few seasons.

Not only is Thomas a solid citizen on special teams units of all kinds, but he’s also an offensive weapon the Chiefs can utilize on offense. Andy Reid‘s schemes create opportunities for his players to do what they do best, and Thomas gives the team another dependable pass catcher with top-tier speed who can be dangerous in open space. If Thomas comes out of the backfield or goes in motion, how can a defense even remotely begin to respond with so much talent already on the field to account for?

The loss of Marcus Kemp to injury created a vacuum of sorts for the Chiefs. The team already waved goodbye to Chris Conley this offseason, and DAT was also a free agent. Kemp made the active roster last year as a special teams player earning his snaps on offense, and then suddenly that was taken away as well. Oh yeah, Gehrig Dieter had done the same (and remains out with back issues). That’s four guys down total from the wideout class, three of which were grouped together in the same basic tier. That’s a considerable loss.

Bringing back Thomas lessens the blow of those losses and provides that base line of security. If other young players like Cody Thompson or Byron Pringle can step up and fill those same roles as young players with a higher assumed ceiling, then that’s all the better. At the very least, the signing of DAT allows the Chiefs to breathe easy knowing that if developmental talent isn’t quite ready, they’re still set on two fronts at which they’ve taken considerable losses.