Preseason is always an interesting time for me as I love to speculate on who is going to make our Kansas City Chiefs team. It is amazing how different we all can feel about where in their NFL journey a certain player is. Is he an up-and-comer? Or has his chance to make the team passed him by? For most of us, we can only guess how Hayley and Pioli evaluate the players, but there seems to be certain attributes that these guys must bring to the field. I believe these to be a team first attitude, size, speed, football IQ, ability to play multiple positions, leadership, heart, toughness, talent, and lastly, potential. Can the player get better? Or is it time to move on?

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via media.kansascity.com

Ask any Chiefs fan, or especially any Chiefs fan who reads Arrowhead Pride, and they can list at least a couple of areas of concern this season. They might point to the apparent lack of a receiving target opposite Bowe since Tony G went bye bye. Or some might be concerned about the play of the O line, while others are deeply contemplating the up and down transition of Hali, McBride, Dorsey, and others. No doubt we have some things to iron out before we face the Ravens, but there is one area of the team that is quietly excelling, the Secondary.

                                                                

Everyday I read Training Camp reports that have one common thread, stellar play from the DBs. Interceptions, pass deflections, blanket coverage, big hits. If I can point to a strength of this team, it has to be our secondary. In my mind, this is the deepest we have been at Cornerback and Safety since the Marty days.This may be the one position on the whole team that our 6th and 7th players get looks from other teams when we wittle down to 53. I believe we could see a few of the new additions such as Travis Daniels, last year's pick up Ricardo Colclough, super athlete Donald Washington, or solid Vet Mike Brown making good contributions to this team. Heck, we even have Irving Fryar's boy covering downfield. But the ones leading the charge are definitely Page, Pollard, Flowers, Carr, and Leggett. These five young players have far exceeded my expectations. They all have stepped up very early in their careers in the NFL, and look to be a great nucleus for the Chiefs for many years to come.

Jared Page, AKA Raider Killer, has got to be one of the most underrated Free Safeties in the NFL. He has struggled somewhat with injuries the last few years, but his absence from the lineup last year only accenuated his value to this group. He is huge for a Free Safety, but covers the field well and should be even more deadly in this year's defense.

Bernard Pollard impressed me last year with his rededication to his personal fitness and overall hard work. Although he sometimes looked lost out there, he was still learning on the job, and Pollard''s mistakes are generally of the aggressive nature, which I like. Bonecrusher can definitely be a playmaker, and the fact that Mike Brown has not already wrestled the starting gig away from Bernard says something about  his early play in camp. I am rooting for Pollard as much as anyone.

Brandon Flowers could very well be a Pro Bowler this season. Dude can play. Don't let his somewhat diminutive frame fool you. I was always impressed with his willingness to come up and hit people and his impressive field awareness. He really understands how to play Corner. A++

Brandon Carr has the size to take on some of the bigger wide receivers in the league, and the game has never seemed too big for him. I sometimes question if he has the speed to be a shutdown kind of corner, but if speed were desire, he would run a 4.1 forty.

Mr. Pick 6 himself, Maurice Leggett, appears to have the Nickelback position locked up. One of the faster players on the squad, #31 has come a long way since last preseason, which says a lot to me about his IQ. I expect him to just keep getting better. I know a lot of guys are rooting for him.

Considering that most of us haven't been too worried about how our Secondary has been playing, I definitely think they deserve an early season shout out. While some will definitely argue that these guys are overrated because our run defense was so bad last season that they didn't get tested. Teams didn't have to pass much to beat the Chiefs. But I disagree, they did what was asked of them, kept us in a lot of games, and backed up a very porous run defense for most of the season. With the added competition and depth along the secondary this year, how could you not feel good about them? The NFL is increasingly becoming a pass friendly league.  If these guys are our last line of defense, I think we have a pretty good one. 

 

				R. Price		D. Morgan
				M. Brown		J. McGraw
				J. Page		B. Pollard
				Free Safety		Strong Safety
		T. McBride		C. Smith				P. Walters
		A. Studebaker		D. Williams		J. Belcher		V. Redd
		T. Hali		M. Beisel		C. Mays		M. Vrabel
		OLB		D. Johnson		Z. Thomas		OLB
				ILB		ILB
	J. Bates						D. Gales		L. Fryar
	R. Colclough		B. Greenwood		D. Lokey		W. Gilberry		D. Washington
	T. Daniels		G. Dorsey		R. Edwards		A. Boone		M. Leggett
	B. Carr		A. Magee		TANK Tyler		T. Jackson		B. Flowers
	Cornerback		Def. End		Nose Tackle		Def. End		Cornerback
	Wide Receiver		Tackle	Guard	Center	Guard	Tackle	Tight End	Wide Receiver
	A. Toomer		B. Albert	B. Waters	R. Niswanger	M. Goff	H. Taylor	S. Ryan	D. Bowe
	D. Darling		B. Richardson	W. Smith	E. Ghiaciuc	B. De La Puente	D. McIntosh	B. Cottam	M. Bradley
	T. Johnson		C. Goldberg	D. Harris		T. Washington	C. Brown	J. O'Connell	T. Copper
								T. Crabtree	J. Webb
		Slot Receiver
		B. Engram			Quarterback
		R. Wright		Fullback	M. Cassel	Tailback
		Q. Lawrence		M. Cox	T. Thigpen	L. Johnson
				J. Collins	B. Croyle	J. Charles
					M. Gutierrez	J. Battle		KR/PR	Punter
	Long Snapper	Kicker				J. Williams		R. Wright	D. Colquitt
	T. Purdum	R. Succop				K. Smith		Q. Lawrence
						D. Savage		D. Savage

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From the FanPosts   -Joel

It's Go Time and I thought it might be nice to get the depth chart back up for us to take a look at. Making the final roster of "53" is not going to be easy for some of these guys, but it is a lot of fun to watch! There is also a ton of great coverage this year that will help us shake out the roster, and slot these guys where they should go.

With a few potential starters not playing yet, and some depth guys on the PUP, will this open the door for some others to shine? As you guys devour all the training camp info that is floating around, please reply in the comments if you feel someone is higher or lower in the depth chart. Do you have any dark horse candidates, or guys who might surprise us all?

I am starting to wonder if we might see someone NOT make the roster that we all thought would. Whatever happens, football season is finally here and I couldn't be more pumped!

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From the FanPosts. -Chris

Updated 6/24/2009

Updated Depth Chart

After updating the Stock Reports, I have to tell you that I have newfound respect for what coaches go through as they try to whittle down the roster to get to 53 players. Is it the "Right 53"? Well, it is still way too early to accurately predict who will line up as a Chief next season. Training camp is still lurking, and that is where the team will truly be built. The really interesting part to me was how this highlighted the best positional battles. The picture is starting to get a little clearer. Here is my best guess as to who makes the Roster.

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↓

D. Savage

↓

J. O'Connell

↑

J. Williams

↑

J. Williams

↔

J.Battle

↑

M. Cox

↔

K. Smith

Fullback

↑

J. Charles

↔

R. Wright

↓

Roc Johnson

↓

I. Martin

↑

Q. Lawrence

Tailback

↓

B. Croyle †

↔

C.J. Jones

↑

T. Thigpen

↔

B. Engram

↓

T. Crabtree

↑

M. Cassel

Slot Receiver

↔

J. O'Connell

Quarterback

↔

R. Wright

↑

T. Johnson

↓

J. Collins

↓

D. Harris

↔

Q. Lawrence

↔

T. Copper

↔

S. Ryan

↑

C. Brown

↔

T. Washington

↔

W. Smith

↔

B. De La Puenta

↓

C. Goldberg

↔

C.J. Jones

↓

D. Darling

↑

T. Curtis

↑

B. Richardson

↑

E. Harrison

↔

E. Ghiaciuc

↔

W. Smith

↔

H. Taylor

↓

J. Webb

↑

D. Bowe

↑

B. Cottam

↔

D. McIntosh

↔

M. Goff

↔

R. Niswanger

↑

B. Waters

↑

B. Albert

↑

M. Bradley

Wide Receiver

Tight End

Right Tackle

Right Guard

Center

Left Guard

Left Tackle

Wide Receiver

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From the FanPosts   -Primetime

Who's hot and who's not?

With our first mandatory Mini-Camp in the books, it is time to re-shuffle the deck and see where we are at with our new 3-4 defense. Let me first apologize to all the 4-3 Under advocates out there. It is obvious that we will run a lot of different looks with Pendergast in charge, but it is also true that we are learning and setting up in the base 3-4 in the Offseason Training Activities. I have updated an earlier version of our guesstimated depth chart using the 3-4, and moved some people who I thought would originally play another position, such as Turk McBride and Derrick Lokey. I also removed one of last season's 7th round draft picks because he was cut (new rule in Kansas City, come to camp in shape. Period.) I have no idea how close I got to the real thing, or if a depth chart even exists at so early a stage, but I find it interesting to speculate on it nonetheless. I have noted if someone's stock is on the rise, could go either way, or is on the decline. Feel free to Shout Out if you see it another way...

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From the FanPosts. -PT

Long, Cruel indeed! I absolutely cannot wait for Football season to begin! Know this, you will forget this post, but you will not be able to get that song out of your head! :)

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                                                                                              Who Wants it?

Poll

Who do you think will be our starting Right Defensive End this season?

51%

Alex Magee

91 votes

20%

Turk McBride

36 votes

14%

Brian Johnston

26 votes

1%

Bobby Greenwood

2 votes

1%

Dion Gales

3 votes

11%

Other

20 votes

178 votes | Poll has closed

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I was sitting here bored on a rainy Saturday, and I was trying to make sense of all the players we currently have on the roster. I love this time of year because of a the new faces and new possibilities! I am not sure where some of these guys will project or where they will compete for a roster spot, but this is my best guess.

I would love some feedback on projected starters, or if you see I misplaced a player in the wrong position. A lot of players, such as the DEs and LBs will be looked at for different positions along the front 7. The interesting thing to me, is that Pioli seems to love players that can play multiple positions, so do you see any potential Troy Brown players on there? (Hint: Mike Vrabel!) Do you see any diamonds in the rough? Or who do you think will definitely be cut come September?  Here we go, the search for the "Right 53" begins!

 

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From the FanPosts. -Chris

"Everyone will get a chance"   Todd Haley

There are many, many storylines emanating from the offensive line group this offseason. Some being far-fetched ( Waters gets traded for a boat load of picks and a signed Guppy jersey) to the not so far-fetched (Monroe is drafted at #3). If Monroe is drafted, which position does Albert play? Can ANYONE currently on the roster surprise us and earn a starting job? And where does Goff fit in, and do we really make SacIntosh a Nose Tackle? With the Draft still pending, and many roster scenarios still undecided, I thought I might try to make sense of a critical building block for our '09 success.

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For all of you March Madness folks- giddy up! For all of you forlorn Football fans who are just passing time until Draft Day, I think I found the perfect compromise. As everyone sits and debates the merits of drafting X or Y player, I have found a way to settle, in my mind’s eye, who our beloved Chiefs should draft with the # 3 pick. Please note that this has about the same percentage of success as any of my NCAA Tournament brackets do, and probably more than the heartbreaking loss that West Virginia caused to me. Darn Bob Huggins anyway.

There have been some great arguments put forth here on AP for the top players in the draft. The general consensus lately seems to be that it is in our best interests to trade down and acquire more picks. I agree completely with that, but I don’t think it is feasible, unless Pioli can put another Belichick-Mind-Trick on some poor unsuspecting team. For the purpose of this post, I will assume that the “Wildcard Trade-Down Scenario” is out of play. Let’s look at the match-ups:

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From the FanPosts.  I tweaked the title just a touch.   -Primetime

via static.nfl.com

As the '08 version of the Kansas City Chiefs come limping to the finish line this Sunday in Cincinnati, the most interesting story lines are off the field. Who will be the teams new GM? And will the coaching staff be revamped or will Herm and the usual suspects be allowed to continue on? Lots of good drama to look forward to as we approach free agency and the draft.

But there is no substitute for real live football being played, and this is our last chance to rate, review, dissect, and break down our team. Here are some of the things I am going to be watching for:

 

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