Five preseason stars who fooled Kansas City Chiefs fans

These five players had most of Chiefs Kingdom fooled with their preseason success.

Every year, the Kansas City Chiefs complete training camp and the preseason schedule under the watchful eyes of local media and, most years, their loyal fans. By the time September rolls around, everyone who has paid attention, either to the practices themselves or the media published about them, has fallen in love with one or more players who they believe will be breakout stars when the games actually count.

And seemingly every year, we’re all wrong! Guys we thought were destined to be breakout stars for the Chiefs end up being complete duds when the regular season begins.

Out of all the players we’ve ever been fooled by, either in training camp or the preseason (or both), who have been the biggest of all the flops?

Last year, it seemed like most of us were enamored with how good running back Darwin Thompson looked in the preseason, but it never seemed to translate to live game success for him during his rookie campaign. We’re not ready to call him a bust, for sure, but he was disappointing relative to preseason expectations set a season ago.

Another player who looked to be a turning a corner in the 2019 preseason was defensive end Breeland Speaks. It looked like his emphasis on getting in shape, coupled with the new system implemented by defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, was going to pay off for the second-round pick. A season-ending injury kept him from playing the regular season, so he’s a player worth keeping an eye on over the next month.

Other players who had us needlessly excited include wide receiver Cody Thompson, running back Nate Eachus, and wide receiver Marcus Kemp. Two big time, high draft pick defensive tackles also looked liked the studs they were drafted to be in the preseason. While they were okay players, never live up to their potential. Those were, of course, Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson, both early first-round picks who never made a Pro Bowl.

Now on to the top five.