Chiefs claim top spot in ESPN post-free agency power rankings

The Chiefs are going to be a popular pick for No. 1 in NFL power rankings, and ESPN lives up to that billing after this year’s free-agent frenzy.

This probably isn’t going to come as a surprise to many, but the Kansas City Chiefs aren’t letting up on their No. 1 spot in NFL power rankings in most places.

At least not in ESPN’s latest power rankings.

The Super Bowl victors retain the top spot, according to ESPN, which listed out all 32 teams in the wake of NFL free agency’s opening wave at the start of the league’s new year earlier in March. Sure, KC lost a good deal of talent to the open market, including wide receivers Mecole Hardman and JuJu Smith-Schuster to the New York Jets and New England Patriots, respectively, and offensive tackle Orlando Brown is gone, too.

Bringing aboard former Jacksonville Jaguars tackle Jawaan Taylor helps mitigate the loss of Brown, though.

While looking at Kansas City’s wide receiver room might be a bit worrisome, the departures of Hardman and Smith-Schuster don’t downgrade head coach Andy Reid’s squad much at all.

In light of all the Chiefs’ losses and offseason moves, ESPN’s NFL power rankings actually cite the reunion with an assistant as the top underrated move for KC this offseason.

ESPN says Chiefs promoting Matt Nagy to offensive coordinator was top under-the-radar move of 2023

When former Kansas City offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy finally left for the same job with the Washington Commanders during the offseason, the natural move for Reid and Co. was to bump up Matt Nagy into Bienemy’s stead.

Nagy, who rejoined Reid as KC’s quarterbacks coach in 2022 after an unsuccessful tenure with the Chicago Bears as their head coach, was Kansas City’s offensive coordinator back in 2016 and 2017, for those who forgot.

This shouldn’t be overlooked, as Nagy’s promotion will ensure quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the offense maintain that continuity, which is something ESPN pointed out in their power rankings:

"The obvious move was to promote Nagy, the Chiefs’ quarterback coach last season, when longtime coordinator Eric Bieniemy left for a similar position with the Commanders. But it provides Patrick Mahomes and the other returning offensive players with continuity heading into next season. Nagy was Chiefs offensive coordinator in 2017 before he left for the head-coaching job with the Bears."

The Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills round out the remaining top five.