Kansas City Chiefs will find trade deadline needs clarified after Titans game

The next 24 hours are going to clarify a lot of things for the Kansas City Chiefs.

With the NFL’s trade deadline looming in early November, every team is running out of time when it comes to making a determination whether to buy or sell. For some teams lingering on the edge of contention, another couple wins could convince them to make a run. Yet other teams might see themselves slide further away by midseason, leading them to at least get something for assets that will not be back again in 2021.

For a team that’s already going to buy—or at least go window shopping—like the Chiefs, the question isn’t about contending or pretending. Despite their current middling record, the Chiefs are going to go the entire regular season with the goal of making the postseason and a deep run at that. Instead, the Chiefs need to make some decisions about their needs—what is really pressing and what might work itself out given enough time.

Remember this, the Chiefs came into the season with one of the youngest overall batch of starters on both sides of the ball, and through the first month of the season, only three other teams had given more snaps to first-year players. That means that it’s reasonable to expect young players to develop, for inexperienced players to get better, for emerging players to grow week after week.

It’s also important to remember that injuries are going to play a major part in the way a season will unfold. For the Chiefs, can they count on some injured guys to return and make a difference? Are they deep enough in case of issues at other positions?

With only a couple games left to play before the trade deadline, the truth is that the Chiefs are going to find their needs clarified as much as possible after Week 7 against the Tennessee Titans. That’s because the following game, the one right before the deadline, will come on Monday Night Football against the New York Giants—a team that should not pose any real problem at all.

In short, the Chiefs really won’t learn too much unless they are tested and the Titans present just that. Is the defense really turning things around? Are different positions settling in? Can other positions weather some injury news at present? Or does Brett Veach really need to figure out a lot of problems.

Let’s take a look at a few positions about which we’ll know a lot more in 24 hours.