Five Chiefs players who helped their stock against the Cardinals
By Matt Conner
The Kansas City Chiefs will be feeling pretty good on their flight back home following their preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals. Not only did they win by 28 points on the road, but they saw some very impressive performances on both sides of the ball that show just how talented and deep this Chiefs roster can be.
That said, some players really helped themselves more than others and we thought we'd highlight some of those players here, especially those dealing with significant roster competition for the Chiefs.
Shane Buechele
It's hard to argue that any single player helped himself more on Saturday night in Glendale than Shane Buechele, the QB3 vying for QB2 with Blaine Gabbert (more on him in a second). And while there's a lot more to consider than just a single half of football in a single preseason game, Buechele certainly stated his case loudly against Arizona.
On Saturday night, Buechele came in as the primary backup for Patrick Mahomes on the night in a bit of role reversal from the team's first preseason game and went right to work on the team's second touchdown drive of the night. Picking up where he left off as an offensive spark from the first week of the preseason, Buechele showed solid accuracy and awareness in the pocket and some playmaking ability outside of it as he scrambled 15 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Buechele completed 10 of 10 passes in the first half for 105 yards and that 15-yard scramble for just about as perfect of an outing as he could have wanted.
The Chiefs might have been a bit more nervous coming into the preseason about Buechele's lack of experience—hence the reason they added Gabbert as a free agent in mid-April—but the way he's playing so far this preseason is his best way of showing he can be trusted when it counts.