KANSAS CITY CHIEFS vs BALTIMORE RAVENS DEPTH CHART ANALYSIS: Kansas City Chiefs News Today

the Kansas City Chiefs are gearing up to take on the Baltimore Ravens in week one of the 2024 NFL season and we have a depth chart as of August 31st which I believe means this will be the players on the field this coming Thursday now there are a couple of things which are noteworthy in the starting lineup but a lot of the fun to be had in this video is to be had talking about the difference the different backups here now on the offense Hollywood Brown and Rashi rice are listed as the starting wide receivers I think this is a bit of a misnomer there are likely to be three wide receivers on the field at most times for the Kansas City Chiefs uh and one less fullback than is listed on the starting lineup here but the left tackle Kings Le Su mataya the left guard Joe Toney Center Creed Humphrey Right Guard Trey Smith right tackle T Jo Juan Taylor tight end Travis Kelce quarterback Patrick Mahomes running back Isaiah Pacho nothing is really out of sorts there other than of course to note that Hollywood Brown will not be playing this Thursday there is one other player not going to be playing this Thursday as of about 30 minutes ago while I am making this video that is Clyde Edwards elair on the nonf footall injury list uh with his PTSD issues so he is going to be out I believe at least the first four weeks of the season I imagine the Chiefs probably saw this coming and that is why they opted to bring in a veteran like San J perine rather than have the three running backs on the roster that they had plus a guy who is Young on the defense there are a couple of surprises well one surprise and one I was on board for this the whole preseason at defensive end George kofus and Mike Dana will start defensive tackle Chris Jones and tersa Wharton is the other starting defensive tackle I think that most people myself included expected Derek nauy to be the second what is going on with my glasses here the second starting defensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs so tersa Wharton getting the nod I think what this might be strategically is the fact that we are going up against the Baltimore Ravens their quarterback is particularly fast mobile and active so I think that this is a move to have more speed on the field at defense of tackle then is represented by Derek nauy and Mike panel the linebacker crew Nick Bolton going to be on the field Drew tranquil and Leo Chanel the cornerbacks are Trent McDuffy and Jaylen Watson the other starting cornerback uh just like I I think most of us probably expected what is going on here I can't see oh there it is sorry about that the safeties starting are Justin Reed and Brian Cook not a whole lot of surprise there but I think we are going to see a great deal of of Jaden Hicks on the field as well the special teams themselves provide one surprise for Me Maybe I simply was not paying attention at some point but Harrison buter kicker holder mataza punter mataza Long Snapper James Winchester punt returner Xavier worthy the starting punt returner for the Kansas City Chiefs that I was not prepared for I thought it was going to be mcole Hardman the kick returner is micole Hardman there will be on the field micole Hardman and Sky Moore to return kicks for the Kansas City Chiefs now the backups is where things get a little bit more interesting here the wide receivers we have Justin Watson and Xavier worthy listed at the number two spots I think at this point in the season you were likely to see Justin Watson on the field very often as the third wide receiver but you're going to see a lot of Xavier worthy one thing worth noting with the Baltimore Ravens they have a lot of very large cornerbacks um guys that are going to be a if they can get their hands on an Xavier worthy he's not going to get off the line now Andy Reid is going to be very good at not letting players get their hands on Xavier worthy so if Xavier worthy does not get hands L on him having large Corners like the Ravens do I haven't looked at the 40s I'm going to be very honest with you I haven't looked at the 40s and the uh agility numbers on these guys since we played them last year so I'm a little shady on those numbers but if you can get Xavier worthy in a one-on-one situation with a cornerback that has a one of these bigger cornerbacks it could spell disaster for the Baltimore Ravens defense the next guys on the field for the Kansas City Chiefs will be Sky Moore and ju guu Smith Schuster Sky Moore now I think a lot of us were probably a little bit upset that skymore ended up on this roster probably I count myself among them I thought that Sky Moore added very little upside compared to some of the other options Justin Ross and Niko Rio even perhaps montol Washington I think that montol Washington shows a little bit more spark than does skymore but here's the thing with skymore at this point in the roster when you're looking this many men back many men back what the Chiefs seem to be doing and prioritizing on this roster is known quantities you know Sky Moore you know Juju Smith Shuster you know micole Hardman you have done so many things with all of these players so I think what is being prioritized here with Sky Moore being so low on the roster is that you know he can produce to the tune of 250 yards at least during the course of a season that brings up the floor on the receiving Corp while maybe losing some of the edge while maybe losing some of the upside but when you look at those top three Hollywood Brown Rashi rice and Xavier worthy there is plenty of potential and upside in those three names I'm just going to leave that argument there because I'm not sure I 100% agree now the backup offensive line W Morris listed as the backup left tackle Ethan Driscoll as the third left tackle this is flipped on the right side Ethan Driscoll listed number two w Morris listed number three this is perhaps interesting this may be just a quirk and Quarry of putting together a depth chart for the Kansas City Chiefs it might be that W Morris is your true swing tackle it might not be it might be that W Morris is the backup left tackle and Ethan Driscoll is the backup right tackle that would be bad things for w Morris and great things for Ethan Driscoll bad for w Morris because what it suggests is that he is not able to estab establish himself as a dominant Talent over even the likes of an undrafted rookie free agent who probably shouldn't have been undrafted I will grant that but still W Morris has a year in the league and was a third round pick I think Wan Morris has done some pretty good stuff on the football field he seemed to get lost and overmatched and exposed at the end of his starting experience last year but I don't think that is all that uncommon hopefully it is something that King lisu matya is able to bypass and I think he might be able to now another interesting Quirk with the backups here the left guard backup is Mike calendo the center backup is Hunter NORAD I think going into this season the plan was probably that Mike cendo would be good enough to Stave off Hunter nurad for the backup center position I don't think he was good enough I do think he was good enough to be essentially the swing guard so I don't know that I buy necessarily CJ Hansen being the backup at Right Guard I think that if Trey Smith were to have to miss time it would be Mike cendo that steps on the field the the same way that we saw with Nick Alig gry in the past now I do think that with this stable of offensive linemen we are going to see probably not week one probably not week two but I think we are probably going to see a little bit more rotation than we have in the past we are are there are two tackles that the Chiefs can count on they think in those backup roles there are three guards and if you listened to the way that Brett V was talking about CJ Hansen and Hunter nurad three centers as well Mike cendo Hunter nurad and CJ Hansen can all play guard and center for the Kansas City Chiefs I'm not sold that CJ Hansen doesn't have upside at tackle a little bit of short arms but I'm not sure he doesn't now tight end Noah gray is still listed at number two Jared Wy still listed at number three pton Hendershot finds his way onto the depth chart at number four where we all kind of assumed he would be slotted I think this is true for now I'm not saying they're lying to us I think this is true for now I think that Noah gray will be the second tight end on the field I think that Jared Wy didn't quite show all of the things that you need to show in the preseason he looks to me to be a bit hesitant but not scared I don't know if that makes any sense simply by the power of the English language but what I mean by that is he looks to be he he does doesn't look like he's outmatched on the field he doesn't look like he feels outmatched on the field he looks like he is unsure of assignments yet which would make sense and that is keeping him from executing the way that an athlete like Jared Wy can Noah gray is Noah gray Noah gray is the player that he's been the past two seasons and that is a competent backup tight end so until you can until you can show basically starter level skill and assertion on the field the Chiefs have no reason to put him over Noah gray I think that day will come and I do not think it will be in the second half of the Season pton Hendershot is apparently a guy that I guess was acquired mainly for special teams needs I I guess I don't know it seemed to be the way that BR V talked about him I think that he has upside as a receiver he is a tough guy I think that he has upside as a blocker so I I think that he is the Blake Bell the new Blake Bell for the Kansas City Chiefs and I think that his acquisition will be more interesting than simply special teams at the running back position Isaiah Pacho is the starter of course but Clyde Edwards elair as as I stated earlier will miss at least four weeks of football meaning that s right now samama perine is that second guy now I don't know I believe the NFI list means that the Chiefs can sign another player without having to promote from the practice squad um I think because it's like the like the injured reserve you get to sign another player and I think that's how that works right am I am I wrong about that anyway samama perine is the backup going into Baltimore week not knowing the Playbook so the backup running back position is going to be a little bit rough this week are we going to see more Carson steel who has been here the whole time but is a rookie an undrafted rookie or are we going to see samama JP Ryan who certainly has some semblance of what the Kansas City Chiefs Playbook means because he's been a professional for so long as long as Patrick Mahomes but does not know the plays in particular I don't know but I'm I'm excited to see exactly how Andy Reid handles this backup on the defensive line Malik Herring finds himself the backup at one defensive end spot and Felix andk uzoma the other probably you're looking at a swing position here as well and Cameron Thomas is the third string defensive end I don't know if that lasts Cameron Thomas has shown serious potential during his time in the NFL even if he is not able to necessarily capitalize on that potential all that often Malik Herring I think is a strong play player but he's not a guy you want on the field an awful lot this is also just the the first of two positions on this defense where there is a third string player it becomes apparent when looking at this at this depth chart represented this way how thin the Chiefs have kept their defense compared to their offense now when you look at the offense Ethan Driscoll CJ Hansen Mikel yendo Hunter n zad and Wan Morris these are all these guys so the second and third string are the same players just listed at a different position so you can Hollow that line of the depth chart out but still not a lot of depth on defense Felix andu DK uzoma we knew was going to be a backup this season because George kofus he's not taking his spot and Mike Dana was resigned because Mike Dana is a good football player this position becomes infinitely more interesting the moment Charles am Min who is reintroduced to the lineup who are you cutting who are you demoting who who makes who who appears on the field I have a feeling that right now based on what we've seen Cameron Thomas is going to be listed over Felix andk uzoma come the time Charles am minu returns from injury meaning the odd man out in that situation becomes FAU and I have just based on what we've seen just BAS based on what I've seen looking into Cameron Thomas at the defensive tackle position uh I believe that these are basically rotational because look Chris Jones is going to be on the field I hope as I have said all off season that Derek nauy is the third man up I hope Mike panel gets very few reps on a week to week basis be not because he's not good but because he needs to be saved for the playoff he is advanced in age and I hope that he is fresh for the playoffs at the linebacker position Jack Cochran is listed as the back now it's not listed this way there are just three linebackers listed right linebacker linebacker linebacker not lolb MLB rolb it's just three linebackers that said he's listed behind Nick Bolton and Drew tranquil and not Leo Chanel if he were the backup linebacker in general you would see him listed between all behind all three and cam Jones over there on that third row cam Jones is backing up Leo Chanel Jack Cochran is going to be the fourth linebacker on the field Jack Cochran is the backup middle linebacker evidenced by the fact that his name is behind Nick Bolton and he's a backup outside linebacker because he's listed behind Drew tranquil there I don't know exactly if there's anything to be made of that um the the Drew tranquil role in the defense is a role that is much more fitted toward Jack Cochran than the Leo Chanel role I believe is going to be especially week one versus the Ravens I think we're going to see Leo Chanel all over the field I think we're going to see Leo Chanel all around the defensive line and I think he is going to be tasked with making Lamar Jackson's evening very disagreeable the backup cornerbacks Naas Johnson and Joshua Williams or na Johnson yeah Joshua Williams I would love for there to be surprise here but guys there's no one else there's no one else these are the only four cornerbacks the Chiefs have listed on the roster now chamari Connor has been playing a lot of nickel but when you take a step back and you look at those Corners those four names there something should stand out to you they are all from the 2022 NFL draft three of them are from the back half of the 2022 NFL draft two of them are from the seventh round of the 2022 NFL draft what a master class that 2022 draft was now safety position backups Jaden Hicks chamari Connor Chris Roland Wallace Chris Roland Wallace listed as a cornerback on the chief's official website listed as a safety on their depth chart interesting but I don't know how much it really means from memory we have seen him play a lot of safety I don't know that I've even seen him in the slot much it I may have missed it don't take my word for that chamari Connor has played a lot of slot Jaden Hicks has been very aggressive I think and this is this is a true Testament to Jaden Hicks there were all sorts of Whispers last pre-season how much the coaching staff liked chamari Connor didn't get a terrible amount of playing time but he did play in the playoffs and looked pretty good if they're willing to trust him then you would imagine they'd be willing to trust him period he has been overshadowed this preseason as have all of the safeties by Jaden Hicks oh I forgot another thing mentionable here Justin Reed is listed now Hollywood Brown is listed he won't be playing so the fact that we do have Nick Bolton and Justin Reed on this depth chart doesn't necessarily mean anything but Justin Reed and Nick Bolton are on this depth chart and I'm holding out hope so the safeties are interesting because Jaden Hicks has been the most impressive not just of this group Jaden Hicks has had the most impressive preseason I have seen from a Kansas City Safety in a very long time and it might not be long until Jaden Hicks is one of those top two safeties listed chamari Connor did well last year this it it is not in my opinion humble opinion I like Justin Reed just Reed was very good for the Kansas City Chiefs last season Justin Reed played a whole lot of snaps for the Kansas City Chiefs Justin Reed is very expensive Justin Reed might not last long in Kansas City so if you took Justin Reed out of this equation looking into next year's roster and you had Brian Cook another member by the way of that 2022 draft class you had Brian Cook and Jaden Hicks as your starters you had chamari Connor as your first guy off the bench which often happens for the Kansas City Chiefs at the safety position three safeties on the field a whole lot of the time then you have Chris Roland Wallace he might be being groomed right now in order to be on the roster as the fourth guy next season it is interesting to see Chris Roland Wallace on the roster it might be like Brett V said with Ethan Driscoll you hate to invest all of that work in a player in the preseason syn all of that coaching into a guy just to end up cutting him and you know he's not going to pass through waivers so you put all of that coaching into a player that is now someone else's that might be the case with Chris Roland Wallace I I mentioned explicitly he's going to be on someone's 53 this season I wasn't sure it was going to be the Chiefs but I said I think he's definitely going to be on someone's 53 it ended up being the Chiefs is that as a placeholder for a larger role next season that is all I have for this video talking about the depth chart release for the Kansas City 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