3 Chiefs winning their positional battles so far in training camp

Kahlef Hailassie

The Chiefs went with more obvious players in the secondary to start the game, and none of those names would come as a surprise. But as the Chiefs begin to sort through the official competitors in place for the final spots on the depth chart at cornerback and safefty, Kahlef Hailassie should be a name to watch as a player who is standing out from the pack.

Hailassie came into the game with the second wave of defenders, which already is a good sign for him. That gave him the chance to play against a bit more talented competition on the Saints side, and he definitely passed the eye test with a strong effort in limited reps in the first preseason game.

While no one wants to see anyone injured, Hailassie's solid showing against the Saints is further helped by the fact that Nazeeh Johnson has already been declared out for the year with a season-ending injury suffered earlier this preseason. Nic Jones, the Chiefs' seventh-round pick out of Ball State, also left the game on Sunday with fractured fingers which takes him out of the mix for a bit as well.

Hailassie is another tough, experienced product out of Western Kentucky who has taken a bit of a circuitous route to get here (transfer from Oregon, a lost year to COVID at Weber State, a JuCo season, and then WKU). But now that he's got a real opportunity, his natural skill set, length (6'1"), and instincts are getting the job done.