Morris Claiborne is scheduled to return to Kansas City Chiefs

Morris Claiborne will be eligible to suit up for his first game for the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend after serving a four game suspension.

Back in August, Kansas City Chiefs fans learned that former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Mo Claiborne had signed with the franchise. Givnen that Claiborne was the 6th overall pick in the 2012 draft and a seven year veteran at a position of need, Chiefs Kingdom was excited. However, expectations were also tempered by the reality that he would be unavailable for the first four games of the season.

Nevertheless, fans were confident that Claiborne would provide a significant upgrade to a concerning secondary group, if only they could survive until Week 5.

Well, Week Five is finally upon us, and not only did the secondary survive, for the most part, it looked much better than anyone could have possibly expected. The Chiefs are 4-0 and have enjoyed better than expected play in the secondary despite the team’s presence in persistent trade rumors for available corners on the trade block.

Now the question is: will Claiborne be a role player or take over a starting spot? In recent years, Claiborne was a backup who received plenty of playing time in sub packages with the Cowboys. It’s uncertain if he’ll take on the same sort of role in K.C. given the problems displayed by some current Chiefs defensive backs.

Charvarius Ward was a problem on Sunday against the Detroit Lions, and it would be easy to justify pushing him to the fourth cornerback role after such a poor performance.  Ward is going to be a good cornerback in the league, but he has to learn to get his head around and search for the ball before he’ll reach starting caliber level in the NFL. The Chiefs simply cannot afford the liability in a season like this, where it’s Super Bowl or bust.

Andy Reid, for his part, indicated this morning that the team would work him in and see how it goes. The Chiefs have the rest of the season to figure out a defense in total transition as it is. Adding the question of where Claiborne plays is just one more chapter in a season-long narrative.