onejayhawk Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 (edited) Here is the full schedule. Dates are 28 July - 18 August. It will be in St Joseph and fans can attend. several promotional days are planned.https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/lists/kansas-city-chiefs-complete-2021-training-camp-schedule-dates-times/https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2021/6/23/22547421/its-official-training-camp-will-be-in-st-joseph-with-fans-in-attendance 2021 Chiefs Training Camp Date Notes Wed Jul 28 9:15 a.m. Season Ticket Member Day presented by GEHA (Not Open to Public) Thu Jul 29 9:15 a.m. - Fri Jul 30 9:15 a.m. $5 Admission Sat Jul 31 9:15 a.m. $5 Admission Mon Aug 2 9:15 a.m. - Tue Aug 3 9:15 a.m. - Wed Aug 4 9:15 a.m. - Thu Aug 5 9:15 a.m. - Fri Aug 6 9:15 a.m. Chiefs Alumni Day, Gatorade Junior Training Camp Sun Aug 8 9:15 a.m. Family Fun Day ($5 Admission) Mon Aug 9 9:15 a.m. - Tue Aug 10 9:15 a.m. Season Ticket Member Day presented by GEHA (Not Open to Public) Thu Aug 12 9:15 a.m. - Mon Aug 16 9:15 a.m. - Tue Aug 17 9:15 a.m. - Wed Aug 18 8:15 a.m. Military Appreciation Day presented by GEHA J Edited June 24, 2021 by onejayhawk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 (edited) This isn't offense or defense, but it's not worth its own thread, so I'll stick it here. Pride has a list of the team's top 20 players, with 16-20 listed below. At least a dozen are obvious. Toward the bottom it gets sketchy. Of this five, who do you think should be out and who should replace them?https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2021/7/6/22560764/top-20-chiefs-players-for-the-2021-season-20-16 20. Center Creed Humphrey 19. Linebacker Willie Gay Jr. 18. Right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif 17. Defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi 16. Cornerback Charvarius Ward I agree with Ward and Humphrey. Gay will make the list with a significant improvement, but not yet IMO. Nnadi is not the DT4 unless Chris Jones is DE2. Even DT3 is iffy. Much as I love LDT and what he has brought to the team through the years, no. I suspect he will start the season at RG, but it will be for veteran leadership and continuity more than ability. Not knowing #1-#15, I am guessing a bit here. I would add Lucas Niang, whom I expect to get Pro-Bowl attention, Turk Wharton, who has passed Nnadi at DT, and Mike Hughes. J Edited July 6, 2021 by onejayhawk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedGold Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 I agree with Nnadi, he's pretty underrated around here. He's been our most consistent DT the past few years, that changes a bit with Jarran (who is excellent against the run and pass). but Nnadi is the 1T we need with Jones and Reed moving around. Wharton is nice, but I'd rather keep Reed at 3T and have a better run stuffer beside him. Starting wise at least. I'm not sure where to rank Deandre Baker, Mike Hughes, and Rashad Fenton. The first 2, there's not much solid data to go on, it's really just a guessing game to see what they contribute. Obviously the skills are there, but I'm not ruling out Fenton who has solid production whenever called upon. He's been available, and produced when needed. The other 2, availability has been the question. Not sure where Sorensen is ranked, his position is pretty critical into how we utilize Mathieu though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 (edited) Nnadi definitely has a place in the rotation, but it will mostly be in the short yardage packages. The issue is inside push. jones, Reed, and Wharton supply it and Nnadi does not. Baker is probably not going to be 100% by training camp. Fenton is you basic dime CB. However, Hughes is apparently healthy and drawing praise from Mathieu, who says Hughes looks like a 1st round pick. We will see how he looks when the pads go on, but MH seems to be one of the big six in the secondary, maybe enough to give Sorensen a breather. I am guessing Sorensen did not make the top 20, even though the ST are built around him. I would not call him critical as to how we utilize Mathieu. That player is either Thornhill or Sneed. Thornhill can play the single deep safety and Sneed can cover the slot or blitz effectively. I think Sneed is a given in the top 15, but Thornhill deserves consideration in the top 20. How many single deep FS are there in the league? J Edited July 6, 2021 by onejayhawk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedGold Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 Nah, push has never been an issue inside. Gap containment has, that’s why our LB’s looked so much better with Pennel and Nnadi inside. It’s how much you want to give up inside, as Jones and Wharton will make the splash plays, but they sacrifice gaps to make them. Nnadi will start and get rotated out in sub packages where others can shoot gaps. Wharton, not unless he packed on 15-20 lbs does not anchor well enough to play 1T. Even if he is an excellent sub package player He’s very critical to how we use Mathieu, or at least his position is. Without Thornhill and Sorensen, Mathieu is delegated to a strict position. With them, it allows him to roam. I was just assuming Thornhill was higher up on the list, he’s vital to the defense. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 13 hours ago, samsel23 said: Nah, push has never been an issue inside. Gap containment has, that’s why our LB’s looked so much better with Pennel and Nnadi inside. It’s how much you want to give up inside, as Jones and Wharton will make the splash plays, but they sacrifice gaps to make them. Nnadi will start and get rotated out in sub packages where others can shoot gaps. Wharton, not unless he packed on 15-20 lbs does not anchor well enough to play 1T. Even if he is an excellent sub package player He’s very critical to how we use Mathieu, or at least his position is. Without Thornhill and Sorensen, Mathieu is delegated to a strict position. With them, it allows him to roam. I was just assuming Thornhill was higher up on the list, he’s vital to the defense. We should probably move this discussion to the defense thread, but I can't figure out how to carry the quote. Push has always been an issue, to the point we sacrificed gap containment to get it. One of the things that is nice about Reed is that he can play either DT position. Hence, in a typical down and yardage situation, we could play Reed at 1T with Wharton as 3T. From what we are hearing, that will probably be the base configuration. Another thing that makes Wharton nice is that he can swing outside to DE, so stunting with Jones or Danna is a natural scheme. Sorensen is a box safety. One of the interesting things about OTA was that we have a possible second box safety onboard, UDFA Devon Key. Regardless, the thing that freed Mathieu up was having Sneed available to cover the slot. Both Ward and Breeland were strictly outside CB. It's worth noting that Sneed played safety in college, so he and Mathieu are able to switch roles. One of the trademarks of the Spagnuolo defenses in NY is a versatile DB. Sneed fits that bill even more than Mathieu. Getting Thornhill up to speed gives the additional possibility of playing Mathieu all the way forward. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 Tickets are now available.https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/2021/07/07/kansas-city-chiefs-training-camp-ticket-reservations-begin-today/ J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 (edited) Players 11-15 are up. I flatly disagree with one of these.https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2021/7/7/22566258/top-20-chiefs-for-the-2021-season-15-11 15. Dan Sorensen 14. Mecole Hardman 13. Frank Clark 12. Juan Thornhill 11. Jarran Reed Sorensen does not belong in the top 20, while Frank Clark is top 10, if he's on the team at all. The author drops Clark to the second tier to balance things and bumps Sorensen for his work on ST. Reed, Thornhill, and Hardman are solid choices. The remaining ten ought to have Mahomes, Kelce, Hill, Clyde, Thuney, OBJr, Jones, Sneed, and Mathieu in some order. The tenth is most likely Hitchins, which is bizarre. A LB belongs in the top 20, about #18. Gay or Bolton might change that, but for now the Chiefs have a no-middle defense. Adding on 6-10https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2021/7/8/22567738/top-20-chiefs-for-the-2021-season-10-6 10. Anthony Hitchens 9. Clyde Edwards-Helaire 8. L’Jarius Sneed 7. Joe Thuney 6. Orlando Brown Jr. All of these were expected. Hitchens is about eight spots too high. Moving him back bumps Reed into the top 10. That would make three of the second five are newcomers. The top five are Mahomes, Kelce, Hill, Mathieu, and Chris Jones in some order. Which is how it turned out. You could argue the order, but this is the goto list.https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2021/7/9/22569852/top-20-chiefs-for-the-2021-season-5-1 5. Tyrann Mathieu 4. Chris Jones 3. Tyreek Hill 2. Travis Kelce 1. Patrick Mahomes J Edited July 9, 2021 by onejayhawk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted July 9, 2021 Author Share Posted July 9, 2021 Two Chiefs, Travis Kelce and Tyrann Matthieu, were selected as part of Gil Brandt's list of most versatile players. #1 was the Panther's LB/S/CB Jeremy Chinn.https://www.nfl.com/news/2021-nfl-season-ranking-the-most-versatile-players-in-the-league Rank 6 Travis Kelce Kansas City Chiefs · OFF Let's not kid ourselves: Kelce is functionally a wide receiver who happens to have "TE" next to his name. Consider that, according to Pro Football Focus, Kelce actually logged more snaps in the slot or out wide last season (455) then he did at tight end (376); to put this in perspective, the similarly versatile Darren Waller played 618 snaps at tight end for the Raiders in 2020, compared to 322 in the slot or out wide. The effect of the mismatches Kelce forces was on full display in the second half of last season; from Week 8 on, he caught at least seven passes per game and topped 100 yards five times. He also became the first tight end in NFL history to post 1,400-plus receiving yards in a single season despite resting during the Week 17 finale. Rank 9 Tyrann Mathieu Kansas City Chiefs · DEF We've talked a lot about versatility here, but Mathieu simply personifies the word. Here is a breakdown of his 929 snaps, per Pro Football Focus, in 2020: 345 at slot corner, 301 in the box, 224 at free safety, 44 on the defensive line and 15 at outside cornerback. Brought in to power up the Chiefs' pass defense, that is exactly what he did, pushing Kansas City to rank eighth in passing yards allowed in 2019 and 14th last season. In that span, Mathieu picked off 10 passes combined and earned consecutive first-team All-Pro honors. Even at age 29 and carrying a notable injury history, Mathieu is worthy of a significant contract extension heading into the final year of his current deal. It's interesting how both Kelce and Mathieu play the slot. What makes it interesting is that the team added significant slot assistance in the form of Noah Gray and L'Jarius Sneed. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 They may be late to the party, but CBS named the new offensive linemen as the most important New Faces in New Places. They missed Trey Smith and Kyle long is already on the shelf, but it's CBS. You get what you get.https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfls-top-10-new-faces-in-new-places-chiefs-offensive-line-matthew-stafford-among-most-important-newcomers/ 1. Chiefs offensive linemen Orlando Brown, Joe Thuney, Kyle Long, Austin Blythe, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, and Creed Humphrey You watched the Super Bowl, right? Remember how Patrick Mahomes was running for his life? These guys are in charge of making sure that doesn't happen again. It's tough to imagine any players on new teams being responsible for something more important than that. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 (edited) Ho, hum. Mahomes picked as best QB again. What else is new?https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2021/7/12/22573522/nfl-insiders-vote-patrick-mahomes-as-the-leagues-top-quarterback Meanwhile the City got some props. KC was rated the 11th best destination, with best in the NFL tailgating the big reason. New Orleans and Green Bay were the top two. Las Vegas was tops in division at #4.https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/2021/07/12/kansas-city-chiefs-arrowhead-stadium-nfl-travel-destination-11th-best/ 11. Kansas City: A similar vibe to Buffalo, but replace wings with burnt ends. Arrowhead Stadium traffic is a nightmare, but the tailgating is the best in the NFL. And you get to scream your face off at one of the NFL’s loudest and oldest stadiums. J Edited July 12, 2021 by onejayhawk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted July 14, 2021 Author Share Posted July 14, 2021 With camp two weeks away, things are starting to loosen a bit. Here is an article about how the team is building the roster. Realistically, this is a leaguewide thing. We're just better at it than most.https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/versatility_will_be_a_common_theme_this_season_for_the_chiefs/s1_16631_35370671 Versatility. The value of players who can fill a variety of roles when called upon cannot be understated. Gone are the days in which the 11 men on each side of the ball line up in the same spot for each and every snap. Smart teams get the most out of do-it-all weapons. Ahead of the 2021 season, NFL.com's Gil Brandt recently ranked his most versatile players in the league. Of those who were ranked (11 players), the Chiefs had a pair of stars make the cut. Travis Kelce and Tyrann Mathieu checked in at sixth and ninth, respectively. The article goes on to mention Tyreek Hill--best in NFL slot, 3rd as outside WR--and L'Jarius Sneed--outside, slot, blitz. I would add Sorensen--box safety and full time ST ace. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted July 15, 2021 Author Share Posted July 15, 2021 (edited) Six Chiefs are in TouchdownWire's annual top 101 NFL players. Last season we also had six. For 2021 it's Mahomes, Kelce, Hill, Jones, Mathieu, and Thuney. They ranked Mahomes #1.https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/2021/07/14/101-best-nfl-players-patrick-mahomes-aaron-rodgers-aaron-donald/ ChiefsWire did some cameos.https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/lists/kansas-city-chiefs-patrick-mahomes-travis-kelce-chris-jones-joe-thuney-tyrann-mathieu-tyreek-hill-top-101-players/ J Edited July 15, 2021 by onejayhawk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted July 15, 2021 Author Share Posted July 15, 2021 Going into camp, here is an article on the risers and the fallers. Up are Clyde, Gay and Sneed. Down are Clark, Watts, and Blythe. https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2021/7/15/22560733/market-movers-the-chiefs-offseason-continues-into-camp It's not a very imaginative group. Three second year players gaining playing time. They only omitted Danna and Niang, who would have been a much better pick than Sneed who is already pulling starter snaps. On the other end, Watts and Blythe will be hard pressed to make the 53 and Clark has major legal issues. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onejayhawk Posted July 17, 2021 Author Share Posted July 17, 2021 Five players who may make the 53 because of their ST prowess. The article lists Marcus Kemp, Chris Lammons, Dorian O'Day, Armani Watts, and Darrius Shepherd. Do'D has been a ST ace since he arrived. I am betting he plays out his rookie contract, but rarely sees the field on regular snaps. Darrius Shepherd is potentially the PR/WR7. The others are going to be fighting an uphill battle. https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2021/7/16/22578626/5-chiefs-players-who-could-ride-special-teams-roles-to-the-final-roster J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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