Biggest roster questions facing KC Chiefs at regular season’s end

Will Blake make an appearance?

For a while, it looked as if last season’s four tight ends carried on the active roster was an outdated model. Travis Kelce, of course, carries the weight of responsibility atop the pecking order on the Chiefs depth chart at the position, but Noah Gray and Jody Fortson have both looked like better all-around players in ’22, which means that Blake Bell’s blocking-first value might not be such an obvious need.

That’s all good news considering Bell hasn’t even been physically available for much of the year. Bell has been missing all season with a hip injury that landed him on injured reserve. Bell has been technically eligible to come back well before now, but the Chiefs have played well without him with Kelce, Gray, and Fortson forming a nice tight end room this season.

This past Sunday, Fortson was forced to sit out with an elbow injury and there’s no guarantee that will be minimal time missed. Gray is also on the team’s injury report with a shoulder. A domino effect could take this position from deep to needy very quickly and that’s what makes Bell such a potential asset here.

Bell knows the team inside and out at this point and could slip right in as the best blocker outside of the team’s front line, and his help could remedy the postseason concerns of tackle questions as well (with Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wylie). Is his hip injury okay? And how will he look back on the field?