4 season-altering takeaways from Kansas City Chiefs training camp

The Kansas City Chiefs are in full swing at training camp in St. Joseph, Missouri as they prepare for their first preseason game which is now less than two weeks away. I was able to spend two days at camp this week watching the team. I was there for their long practice in full pads on Sunday and then again for their shorter practice in shells on Monday.

I've been going to Chiefs training camp since the Todd Haley era and have come to learn that there are two ways that you can watch training camp. You can sit back and watch it like a game and enjoy watching your favorite players practice, or you can watch it like game tape and focus on specific players and how they look. I spent most of my time doing the latter. That means sometimes I'll miss a social media-worthy highlight because I was watching another player, but I feel like I learn more that way.

After a couple days of keying in on specific players, I came away with a handful of key takeaways and observations. It's just two days at practice, so it's certainly possible that my feelings on these things could change after the preseason games. However, these are the things I came away from camp feeling the strongest about.

1. Sold on Suamataia

During the padded practice on Sunday I put my full attention on Kingsley Suamataia for about 95% of the reps that he was on the field for. He was my primary focus that day. As has been reported, he took all of the first-team reps that day. I believe based on other reports that I've seen that it was his third consecutive day of doing so. That's significant because typically the Chiefs either rotate days or rotate reps with guys that are in a true open competition.

If you haven't read Price Carter's excellent piece on tempering expectations for Kingsley Suamataia, you should take a few minutes and do so. I agree with his take that typically tackles taken where he was in the draft are not high-level, day-one starters and that he'll need time to develop. However, what I saw on Sunday was a player with the speed out of his stance, lateral agility, and anchor ability to play in the NFL right now. Does that mean that he won't get beat and have growing pains? Of course not, there are going to be bumps in the road. However, a player develops faster when he gets more reps and I saw enough from him that I don't want to delay that development.

Could Kingsley be a liability at times this season? Yes, but so could Wanya Morris (and Donovan Smith) if the Chiefs re-signed him. Even if someone like Smith might offer a little bit more reliability, I don't think it would be enough of an upgrade to sacrifice the potential development a higher-upside player like Suamataia would get from playing week in and week out this season.

The first thing I watch with left tackles is the first step they take in pass protection with their back left foot. If they have slow/heavy feet they are always going to struggle with speed rushers. Orlando Brown was weak in this area but had such freakish length that he could get away with it somewhat. I liked what I saw from Kingsley in this regard on Sunday. He also moves very naturally for a guy his size.

The second thing I look for is how well a guy anchors against NFL caliber defenders. Suamataia was going head-to-head with Mike Danna for much of the day on Sunday, and I don't know that I ever saw him get overpowered by the veteran. The reps where Danna got the better of Suamataia was almost always due to having better technique. That's the main area where Suamataia will need to improve. I also saw one rep where Leo Chenal barreled right into him with a full head of steam. While Suamataia was rocked back initially, he was able to reset his feet and recover.

The only two reps I saw Suamataia lose quickly enough to really blow up a play were against Felix Anudike-Uzomah (more on him in a minute). Both of those reps involved FAU initially showing he was going outside and then cutting back inside (once with a spin move and once just cutting right back across Suamataia's face). It's only two reps, but that is an area to watch for in preseason if he continues to struggle with speed rushers cutting back inside. Despite those couple of reps, I came away very optimistic about Kingsley Suamataia's upside and all-around play level for a rookie. I can't wait to watch him some more in the preseason.

2. FAU could be a real factor

As I just mentioned, Felix Anudike-Uzomah had a couple of really nice pass rush moves against Kingsley Suamataia. Most of the day on Sunday he was going against Wanya Morris with the second string units. He had some nice reps against Morris as well. I'm still not completely sold on FAU when he has to physically engage the tackle, but he did hold up better in run support on Sunday than what I saw from him last year and I felt like he did a little bit better at disengaging from the tackle to move down the line towards a ball carrier.

It certainly seems like a smart plan, at least early in the season until Charles Omenihu is healthy, for Mike Danna to play on the edge on early downs and then for FAU to come in on clear passing downs so that Danna can either catch his breath or kick inside (where he is more effective as a pass rusher).

Did I see enough at camp to make me think Anudike-Uzomah will live up to his first-round draft status this season? I wouldn't go that far, but it did look like he can help this team as a situational pass rusher that could contribute 6-8 sacks if he plays regularly. I could certainly live with that.

3. Jared Wiley looked like a wideout (that's good and bad)

There's been some buzz around rookie tight end Jared Wiley dating back to OTAs, so I was excited to watch him in action at camp. My main takeaway is that he looks like he could make an instant impact as a pass catcher. Wiley moves well for someone listed at 6-foot-6. He showed nice hands and was already getting some reps here and there with the first team.

My only hesitation is that Wiley is almost built more like a Drake London/Michael Pittman-type wide receiver than even a pass catching tight end like Travis Kelce. He doesn't look like a guy you're going to line up in-line as the number two tight end as they have with Blake Bell and Noah Gray the past few seasons.

To be fair, I had some serious doubts about Gray's ability to block coming out of college and he's really developed that part of his game since he was drafted. Wiley could do that as well, but I don't know that I'm ready to predict that Wiley will take a ton of snaps away from Gray this season. I've written about Reid's usage of the 2nd tight end in his offense before and I think that applies again here.

Gray showed last year that he's willing to do the dirty work that comes with that number two TE job in Reid's offense. I think Gray may keep that role this season and what we may see from Wiley is more of a combination of a Jody Fortson-esque red zone role and allowing Travis Kelce to rest more on plays where the tight end is acting more like a wide receiver.

Here's a clip I got of Wiley catching a pass from Mahomes on Monday. You can see him lined up on the left. Having number 12 doesn't help, but he just looks more like a tall wide receiver to me.

4. RB depth is still a concern

While the first three takeaways were all mostly positive, this one is not. While I was at camp Clyde Edwards-Helaire was out with an illness. With the Chiefs not wanting to put all the wear and tear on Isiah Pacheco that meant a lot of first team reps for Deneric Prince. When you look at Prince, he looks like he should be a good running back. He's got an impressive big athletic build. When he is running in the open field he looks good too. I just still need to see him find openings and break tackles at a high enough rate that I trust him. Hopefully we'll see that in the preseason. I do like his pass protection better than anyone else fighting for the #3 running back job.

Speaking of pass protection, both Louis Rees-Zammit and Emani Bailey really struggled with it on Sunday. Unfortunately, I didn't see enough good from them with the ball in their hands to make that lack of reliability in pass pro worth a roster spot. I'm not giving up entirely on these two, but based on what I saw at camp the two days I was there, they feel like they're fighting for the practice squad, not the roster. LRZ was getting early kick return reps, but he didn't do much with them either. Carson Steele looked better than either of those two. He at least looked like a guy who could be an H-back type and play on special teams coverage units.

If you made me pick one position that I feel the worst about after two days at training camp, it would easily be running back. I still think the Chiefs may need to sign a veteran passing down back before the season starts.

Quick Hitters:

1. With Nazeeh Johnson and Jaylen Watson both out while I was there, Kelvin Joseph was easily the second best coverage corner while I was at camp. He outplayed Joshua Williams both days I was there.

2. Matt Araiza's leg is as strong as advertised. I'm looking forward to seeing how accurate he can be when the actual games start.

3. I don't know if he has a chance to make the active roster, but wide receiver Montrell Washington made a couple of splash plays both of the days I was there and I want to see him some more in the preseason.

4. Justyn Ross continues to make me believe in him. His size at receiver stood out, especially with Justin Watson out while I was there. I just can't quit him yet.

5. On Monday, the Chiefs put an emphasis on getting their playmaking wideouts the ball out of the backfield. I saw Rashee Rice and Kadarius Toney lined up in the backfield and Mecole Hardman and Xavier Worthy getting some work on reverses. Rice especially looked promising to me, almost like the Chiefs' own version of Deebo Samuel.

6. Xavier Worthy was as advertised. His speed/acceleration is really special, but he does look a little bit frail. I'm anxious about how he'll hold up to NFL-caliber hits if the Chiefs make him a major part of their offense. Here's a clip I got of him breaking free and catching a pass from Mahomes on Monday.

8. I also have some thoughts about the new kickoff rules and why I think we may be focusing on the wrong thing there, but I'm going to do a separate piece on that. Check back soon here at Arrowhead Addict for that one.

So there you have it Chiefs fans. Those were my main takeaways from two days at training camp. I couldn't watch everyone all the time, but if you have other questions about what I saw at camp you can hit me up on X (formerly Twitter) @LyleGraversen. I'll also try to keep an eye on the comment section and answer any questions I see.