KC Chiefs: Six training camp matchups we can’t wait to watch

Now that we have the dates locked in for the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2021 training camp in St. Joseph, Chiefs Kingdom can officially begin counting down the days until they can once again see their favorite team in action.

Training camp begins on July 28, and though we are eager to see the veterans and rookies alike, it’s time to start pondering how these offensive and defensive units will look when they finally put the pads on. It won’t be full speed, of course. But here in June, football fans are hungry for anything, even just the thought of watching our favorite players butt heads with our prized rookie class.

Let’s look ahead to a few head-to-head matchups that we’re looking forward to in St. Joe.

1. Chris Jones vs. Orlando Brown, Jr.

I mean, come on. This one should be at the top of everyone’s list. For starters, there is an immense amount of power that will go into every collision between Orlando Brown Jr. and Chris Jones. It promises to be a violent battle every snap. Here we have two young, talented players who have every reason to believe they are among the very best at what they do.

However, there is more to it than that. Jones and Brown have a lot more in common than you think.

The 26-year-old Jones, who will be 27 by the time camp begins, has played his Chiefs career on the defensive interior. He spent several years as an end in former defensive coordinator Bob Sutton’s 3-4 defense, and then to tackle under the tutelage of current DC Steve Spagnuolo. The Chiefs are taking a gamble by moving the conference’s best defensive tackle out to the edge (how frequently is another question for another day, but we know Jones will play defensive end in the 4-3 at least some of the time).

Make no mistake about it, Jones will play on the interior for a large fraction of the snaps this season—hopefully on passing downs—but we do expect to see the All-Pro lineman on the edge for much of camp. Jones has longed for this opportunity, and has finally received his shot, so we do not expect him to take things lightly in St. Joseph.

Brown is also moving to the position he has always longed to play. Kansas City’s prized offseason acquisition, the 6’8″ 345-lb. Brown, will enter 2021 as the team’s starting left tackle, the position his father played in the NFL. The 25-year-old Brown played right tackle in Baltimore, but played well in spot duty on the blind side. The Chiefs’ offensive line was the top talking point this offseason, and Brown is GM Brett Veach’s solution on the blindside. Brown enters camp with much to prove at his new position, and he’ll have his hands full with one of the league’s top pass rushers on the other side of the line.

Our next matchup should tell us a lot about some questions we have in the passing game. How will Demarcus Robinson fare in his quest to win the WR2 job? Will L’Jarius Sneed pick up where he left off?