Kansas City Chiefs add Cody Thompson, Jody Fortson to practice squad
By Matt Conner
The Kansas City Chiefs brought back a couple of offensive favorites to the practice squad on Sunday, including Cody Thompson.
The Kansas City Chiefs were able to retain several of their own offensive players with the initial announcement of their practice squad. On Sunday, the team announced the first six players to the initial squad heading into the regular season.
The Chiefs still have four more spaces to round out which means plenty of player movement is coming before it is all said and done. Still the first six players give the Chiefs plenty of offensive prospects to continue to mold.
Let’s take a closer look at the players we know so far (and watch this space for updated listings as the Chiefs make them):
Alex Brown, defensive back
Alex Brown is already well-traveled in his NFL career despite just beginning it back in May as a rookie free agent with the San Francisco 49ers. The South Carolina State University prospect turned heads at the combine with his speed and vertical leap and he put up ballhawk numbers in the MEAC. Unfortunately, short stints with the Niners and Philadelphia Eagles already have shown he’s more of a project than product, which means he will likely be a long-term play on the P.S.
Jody Fortson, wide receiver
Fortson is the big target the Chiefs simply do not have among their receivers. Marcus Kemp is 6’4 but injured for the year and the rest are 6’1 or less. Even Travis Kelce is 6’5, which means Fortson could be a nice development if he can turn the corner and be a reliable target and special teams ace. He responded this preseason with plenty of growth in a short amount of time. It will be fun to watch him develop even more this year. (Read our interview with Fortson here.)
Nick Keizer, tight end
Keizer joined the Chiefs after being waived by the Baltimore Ravens and established himself in a Tier-2 of sorts after Deon Yelder and Blake Bell among the multiple tight ends in camp looking to make the roster behind Travis Kelce. The Chiefs kept Keizer on the practice squad after a strong preseason showing in the final game. He could upset the apple cart into the season if the aforementioned underperform and give Keizer a chance to climb onto active roster.
Cameron Malveaux, defensive end/linebacker
It’s interesting to read about Malveaux’s time with the Dolphins, since he was such a great success story in 2017 after signing as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Houston. Malveaux was reportedly such a frustrating force in practice against the offense that they finally promoted him to see what he could do in games. He’s played in 13 total games for Miami and Arizona the last two years with 3 sacks total.
Marcus Marshall, running back
Signed after a rookie tryout, Marcus Marshall showed some nice moves against other teams fringe prospects in the team’s fourth preseason game against Green Bay. It will be interesting to see how long Marshall sticks given the ease of replacing RBs compared to other positions. Does Veach view Marshall as a diamond in the rough? Is he just familiar with the offense enough to work with the scout team? We shall see.
Torry McTyer, defensive back
McTyer’s father, Tim, played a couple seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles back in the late ’90s, and now the son is hoping to earn some regular season time with the Chiefs. McTyer initially joined the Miami Dolphins as a priority free agent in 2017 after going undrafted. He’s been in South Florida ever since and even started 4 games last year due to injures in the Fins’ secondary. He played in all 15 games, has return experience, and could be a quick call-up to the active roster.
James Murray, center
Murray has been a chosen project of assistant coach Andy Heck along the offensive front for the last year and change. An undrafted free agent out of Holy Cross, Murray was often stashed among the team’s inactives during the regular season—a move reserved for prospects you want other teams to avoid. He’s no longer protected on the P.S., but at this point, the team might be a bit on the fence about his prospects.
Kyle Shurmur, quarterback
Shurmur’s presence on the practice squad at this point means he was the preferred addition over Chase Litton who occupied this role last year. While Shurmur’s immediate future gives him no chance of actually making the active roster (as illustrated by the signing of Matt Moore), the former Vanderbilt quarterback now has a great team with which to grow and learn.
Emmanuel Smith, linebacker
It’d be interesting to hear Brett Veach discuss why he brought Smith aboard the practice squad, because there’s not much to discover about the former Vanderbilt linebacker. Smith landed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a short season as a futures signing but nothing came to fruition there. Even with Vandy he was a part-time player through his senior year.
Cody Thompson, wide receiver
Thompson is another bigger target out of Toledo who looked like he had an honest chance of making the active roster. Despite the presence of other coaches’ favorites like Marcus Kemp, Gehrig Dieter, Byron Pringle and more, Thompson made his presence felt pretty quickly and injuries to Kemp and Dieter almost opened the door wide enough. With any injuries this year, expect Thompson’s number to be called to the active roster.