KC Chiefs begin rookie mini-camp this weekend

The Kansas City Chiefs are inviting a host of newly drafted rookies to minicamp along with undrafted free agents and tryout candidates.

On the calendar for most of us this weekend is some celebration or remembrance of Mother’s Day. For several members of the Kansas City Chiefs—their 10 draftees and several more undrafted free agents and invited tryouts—this weekend is this offseason’s rookie minicamp for the Chiefs—an important portal into the world of professional football for many players who have dreamed of this sort of moment coming to them.

It’s easy to picture rookies being broken up into different sides and pitted against each other in a showcase of skills, offensive and defensive, on the practice field. Instead, rookie minicamp is mostly about watching brand new players for how much they can absorb, how they conduct themselves, how they respond to mistakes, and take to coaching.  Can you see a marked improvement in a prospect after a coaching session? Can the rookie shake off a miscue and move on to the next play?

Elsewhere at Arrowhead, players will likely get fitted for equipment, get physicals or go through conditioning tests. Coaches will break players up into positional groups and lay out what they want to see from them on the field. Those players will then go into practice sessions hoping to show coaches they’re taking things in and applying them as hoped.

For the Chiefs, it will be a chance to see their new draft class in red and gold for the first time. For the sake of review, here’s a list of the 2022 draftees:

1. Trent McDuffie, cornerback
2. George Karlaftis, defensive end
3. Skyy Moore, wide receiver
4. Bryan Cook, safety
5. Leo Chenal, linebacker
6. Joshua Williams, cornerback
7. Darian Kinnard, offensive line
8. Jaylen Watson, cornerback
9. Isiah Pacheco, running back
10. Nazeeh Johnson, safety