The final score will not matter. The stars will not play. That means we're mostly watching the Kansas City Chiefs' visit to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers in their second preseason game for under-the-radar reasons.
What's at stake for the Chiefs? The team itself isn't all that concerned with a win on Saturday night. Instead, it's about the 37 players who are going to be released in one week and the others who are on the roster bubble, wondering if they'll get the pink slip. Positional battles are intense on both sides of the ball, and this game is key for so many.
Some things are obvious. We'll be watching formerly injured players to see how they look. Everyone also wants to know how the team's first-round picks (Peter Woods, Mansoor Delane) fare in another exhibition. Here are some overlooked points that we're watching for in Week 2 of the preseason.
1. How does Jared Wiley / Jake Briningstool look?
Travis Kelce hopes to keep Father Time at bay for one more year. Noah Gray is trying to bounce back from a disappointing season. But what would really help the Chiefs is for one of the young tight ends to seize the brass ring and claim the TE3 role outright. Not only would it help to have an ascending talent at the position for the long term, but it would be a boost to bigger personnel packages to have someone trustworthy in either Jared Wiley or Jake Briningstool (or maybe even Tre Watson). Wiley is the obvious candidate after the Chiefs drafted him in the fourth round in 2024. He's a year further removed from a season-ending injury that he admits he was still affected by in 2025. In his third year, Wiley is either going to reward that investment or not.
2. Can Pete Nygra settle in?
The Athletic's Jesse Newell believes K.C. could go shopping for interior line help before the regular season. But what if someone could step up and surprise? Pete Nygra joined the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent out of Louisville earlier this spring, and if K.C. isn't all that enthused about holdovers like C.J. Hanson or Hunter Nourzad, perhaps Nygra could be a name to watch. A jittery first game allowed him to work out his nerves. Will he be able to settle in and prove something more to the Chiefs on Saturday?
3. Just how much will Felix Anudike-Uzomah bring to the table?
Most Chiefs fans have largely forgotten about Felix Anudike-Uzomah or have written him off after a full season missed due to injury in 2025. It didn't help that his contributions were minimal in two years before that. But the Chiefs used a first-round pick on the K-State product in '23, and the contract year is the league's best motivational tool. The Chiefs have a clear need for FAU to step up into a meaningful role, even after signing Emmanuel Ogbah (more on that below), and that's before Ashton Gillotte suffered a ruptured plantar fascia.
4. What does Ogbah look like at this point?
Emmanuel Ogbah was very effective off the edge in Steve Spagnuolo's defense the first time around. The problem is that was before anyone knew what COVID even meant. It feels like a dynasty ago since Ogbah was in K.C. before, but the Chiefs wanted to reunite even two years ago, which means they've kept tabs for a reason. While Ogbah is now the senior statesman who is going to provide slight rotational reps, it will still be interesting to watch how he looks after joining the team.
5. Can Jaden Hicks build on his first preseason performance?
It's no secret that Jaden Hicks is under Steve Spagnuolo's microscope. The third-year safety was in the doghouse for most of his sophomore year in the NFL due to mental mistakes, despite having eye-popping athleticism on a slower defensive unit. Spags has to trust you before he will play you, which is the giant hurdle before Hicks as he comes into an important season. The Chiefs have a real need at safety that Hicks should fill, and another strong performance against the Bucs would go a long way toward building that trust.
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