4 quick takeaways from the Chiefs' sloppy but promising preseason debut

It's preseason football but it's still football.

Kansas City Chiefs fans finally got to experience the joys of seeing their favorite team take the field at Arrowhead Stadium for an actual game on Saturday, a preseason exhibition against the visiting Los Angeles Rams. Sure, several stars were missing. Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson didn't even make the trip back to Kansas City. Most of it was sloppy and featured players who won't be around in 3 weeks. That doesn't matter. It's still football.

What should fans make of the Chiefs' first preseason game? How much should we read into things? We're trying not to get too carried away with anything, knowing that so many players were out and that the playcalling was vanilla. But here are a few important takeaways all the same.

1. Preseason football is preseason football

There was more than one penalty-killing drive for the Chiefs on Saturday, and some drives even featured numerous flags. But it's important to take much of it with a grain of salt. Preseason football is always going to be sloppy football, especially for younger players who are getting their first taste of life in the NFL. From the pressures of fighting for their job to mentally keeping things straight, the experience can be overwhelming—not to mention the need to knock off the competitive rust in a live game situation. If you find yourself downtrodden at the miscues and mental errors, just know that preseason football is never pretty.

2. Kahlil Benson's vote of confidence

If there's any big roster takeaway from the Chiefs' first game, it's the status of rookie tackle Kahlil Benson. The former Indiana Hoosier earned a contract after trying out for the team at rookie minicamp and then became an unlikely favorite of the coaching staff throughout OTAs and mandatory minicamp. By the time the Chiefs arrived at training camp, Benson was suddenly a part of the rotation of competitors to replace Jawaan Taylor at right tackle. As we said: unlikely.

On Saturday, Benson was at right guard to start the game, which is where he's been in practice as Trey Smith continues to recover from a hip injury. But what's important to note is how quickly his day was done. As a rookie, Benson could benefit from as much playing time as possible to acclimate to things, but the Chiefs apparently believe in him enough to have shut him down with the rest of the starters.

Nothing is official on Benson's status as a starter or not, but the Chiefs are already treating him like one. That in itself is notable in a story that's already the surprise of the summer in K.C.

3. Chiefs rookies looked good overall

The Chiefs aren't a deep team. There are possible issues on both sides of the ball, and some positions look like things could fall apart quickly with a single injury. Because of that, the Chiefs are going to need a lot of their young players to step up quickly. Fortunately, the rookie class looked up to the task in their first exhibition at the pro level.

From Emmett Johnson's impressive work to Garrett Nussmeier's savvy, it was nice to see Brett Veach's latest draft class look the part from the jump. R Mason Thomas was putting serious pressure from the edge. Peter Woods will be a force inside, even as he was on the injury report to start the game. And then, of course, was the play of the game: Cyrus Allen with an incredible catch on a too-high toss from Nussmeier.

Fans didn't even get a look at Mansoor Delane, who was held out with a shoulder injury that's still healing, but they have to be impressed with the way the class of '26 looked against the Rams.

4. Holdovers in the secondary look good

This one is more important than some fans might realize. For a secondary that's experienced so much change, where even the veterans are mostly newer faces, the few holdovers on the roster are essential pieces that can help accelerate the unit's overall effectiveness and learning curve by stepping up in the void and keeping the weight of responsibility from falling so heavily on the imported rookies and vets.

The good news is that the team's first preseason game saw both cornerback Nohl Williams and safety Jaden HIcks look very good in the early going with impactful tackles that robbed the Rams of considerable gains. If Williams can get over the mental hurdles of last season, he has the potential to be the next great physical corner for the franchise. Meanwhile, Hicks was universally called a draft steal in 2024, so if he's ready to turn the corner, it would be huge for the back end of the defense.

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