Early roster takeaways from Kansas City Chiefs training camp

Offensive Roster Takeaways

Last week I had my Pre-Training Camp 53-man Roster Prediction. I predicted the Chiefs would only keep two quarterbacks again this season and after two days at camp, I feel 100% confident that will be the case.

While it’s hard to judge the offensive line until they are in full pads and hitting, I was surprised that Roderick Johnson appears to be the clear “next man up” at tackle with Orlando Brown still not in camp. Johnson doesn’t have much of a résumé to speak of while Geron Christian started multiple games at left tackle for the Houston Texans last season and did an adequate job. I also thought there was a chance that maybe they would juggle some guys around and give rookie Darian Kinnard a shot with the starters. However, on both Friday and Saturday, it was Johnson that got the first-team reps. On Friday he was at left tackle with Andrew Wylie at right tackle and then on Saturday they swapped sides. I still think Brown will be back for the regular season, but my roster projection had Christian making the team as the backup left tackle over Johnson, but that doesn’t look like the case right now.

One of my biggest surprises from my two days at camp was the running back reps. I’m someone that has thought Ronald Jones has a good chance to lead the Chiefs in rushing this season. I thought he might get a lot of the 1st/2nd down work as well as the short yardage carries, with Clyde Edwards-Helaire becoming more of a passing down back this season. If you had made me put the running backs in tiers before camp it would have looked like this.

Tier 1: Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Ronald Jones
Tier 2: Jerick McKinnon
Tier 3: Isiah Pacheco and Derrick Gore

However, based on the first team reps that I saw on Friday and Saturday it went:

Tier 1: CEH
Tier 2: McKinnon and Pacheco
Tier 3: Jones and Gore

Could Jones be headed towards a Carlos Hyde-type trade before the season starts if this continues? I’m not ready to predict that just yet. A friend that I was with at camp made the smart observation that maybe this rotation is because they were without full pads and were mainly working on passing the ball. We all know that the passing game is where Jones is weakest, so perhaps once pads come on and they start really running the ball Jones will start getting a lot more 1st team reps. This will definitely be something fans want to add to their biggest questions heading into week two of camp.

I spent a lot of time watching the wide receivers during my time there and came away with several strong feelings about the group. First, after two days at camp, I feel even more confident that Juju Smith Schuster will lead the receivers in catches this season. The Chiefs are moving him all over the field, Patrick Mahomes seems to be looking for him regularly, and he made several nice grabs while I was there.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Mecole Hardman also received a ton of first-string reps and I feel similarly about both men. I think we’re going to see inconsistent production from both of them this season. I think both will have some games where they make huge plays and rack up some impressive stats and others where they drop some balls and don’t do much of anything. They are good weapons to have on the roster, but I think reliability is still a question. I did like that they seem to be letting MVS line up all over and run different kinds of routes than he did in Green Bay. This should allow him to get more involved (if he can keep Pat’s trust) and he definitely has the height to be a nice red zone target.

Skyy Moore was fun to watch. While he didn’t get as many first-team reps as the first three guys I mentioned, he did get his share and looked good doing it. Let me be VERY CLEAR, Moore is nowhere near the freak talent Tyreek Hill is and he doesn’t have the straight-line speed to run away from NFL defenders as Hill does. However, I was really impressed with how quick his cuts and feet were. That short area quickness could allow the Chiefs to use Moore in the short passing game similar to how they used Hill. Again, he isn’t the same player as Hill once he gets the ball, but the play designs they had to get Hill the ball quickly after the snap could work for Moore too. The bottom line is Moore looks like the real deal to me and I think he’ll make an impact as a rookie and only grow from there.

I think we all already knew that those first four guys are a lock to make the roster. However, after two days at camp, I’m ready to break out the sharpie and add a fifth receiver to the “locks” list. That receiver is Justin Watson. I don’t know if the Chiefs will end up keeping five or six receivers, but either way, Watson is making this team. Why do I think this you ask? Simple, on both days I was there Watson looked like the 5th best wide receiver on this roster. He split time between the 1st and 2nd team, Mahomes targeted him a few times and he looked good both running routes and catching the ball. Maybe even more importantly, Watson was one of the first wideouts out there with every special teams unit. If Watson is both one of the top backup pass catchers AND a guy that Dave Toub wants out there on special teams……stop the fight, it’s over ladies and gentlemen. The battle for the fifth wideout spot may be over before we even hit the preseason.

In fact, if Watson does continue to be a solid pass-catching option and a standout on special teams it could open the door to the Chiefs only having to keep five receivers on the active roster since he could fill both the role of a backup pass catcher and special teams contributor. That might allow them to keep both four running backs (CEH, Jones, McKinnon, Pacheco) and four tight ends (Kelce, Bell, Fortson, Gray). Not only did Josh Gordon not get first-team reps while I was there, but he also didn’t even stand out on the second-team and he didn’t do much of anything on special teams either. In fact, Daurice Fountain got more first-team reps than Gordon did and was also one of the top guys out there on special teams. So even if the Chiefs do keep six wideouts, those spots may go to Watson and Fountain.

Finally, let’s talk about the tight ends for a second. During both days I was there the Chiefs used a ton of different personnel groupings, including multiple different sets with 2-3 tight ends. With Tyreek Hill gone it feels like we may see a lot more different sets from down to down to keep the defense guessing and if these practices were any indication it will involve lots of multi-tight end sets. As has been reported in many different places, Jody Fortson looked fantastic. He did leave the end of practice early on Saturday with some kind of quad injury. Here’s to hoping it’s nothing serious because not only did he get first-team reps, but it seems like Mahomes really trusts him and is looking his way a lot. Before camp started if you had asked me to make a list of who will be KC’s top five leaders in receptions this season it wouldn’t have even crossed my mind to put Fortson on the list, but if he can stay healthy it sure seems like we could see a lot of him this season.

While on the subject of tight ends, it’s time for my annual reminder that Andy Reid uses a true blocking tight end position on lots of plays that’s different than his use of a route running tight end. That’s why Blake Bell is a lock to make this roster. Saying “Blake Bell may get cut this year because Noah Gray looks good catching passes out there” is the equivalent of saying “Michael Burton may get cut this year because Isiah Pacheco looks really good running the ball out there”. They fill different roles and that’s okay people.

I feel bad for Matt Bushman that K.C. is so loaded with tight end talent because he looked great out there on both Friday and Saturday. He caught everything thrown his way. I think there were a lot of years recently where Bushman could have been the second-best pass-catching tight end on the roster, but if Fortson is healthy and with K.C. having used a draft pick on Gray, I just don’t see a path to the 53-man roster for him.

So there you have it Chiefs fans, those are my roster takeaways from my two days at Chiefs training camp. Any surprises that you hadn’t heard before? Anything you think I may be off base on? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below.