2023 Roster - some thoughts

[EMAW_KSU]

7 hours ago, KC_Guy said:

Interesting situation at WR: are they to carry SIX into the season? Or who is going to be out?

 

I think James was the security blanket signing because we didn’t know if we’d get Watson, and how the WRs would fall in the draft.  Maybe we try to flip him for a future pick but I’m with you the cut seems most likely.

[EMAW_KSU]

I’m very interested in where we’re at with the Jones extension.  I feel like we’re safe in terms of a hold out in just the way he’s talked and how he feels about KC.  That being said it only benefits both team and player to get this done.

[KC_Guy]

I'm somewhat baffled they didn't draft a LB or RB .. pretty thin there. May have some vets in the back pocket to sign after the draft??

[kingseanjohn]

12 hours ago, KC_Guy said:

I'm somewhat baffled they didn't draft a LB or RB .. pretty thin there. May have some vets in the back pocket to sign after the draft??

I think we're set at LB. You have Cochrane listed at DB, but he's a LB on the Chiefs official roster. You also have Harris on there, who is currently a free agent. I do agree on RB though. It was a deep class and we neglected it. You're missing Perine and debatablely Ealy there. I'm guessing they'll wait and see what they have in the UDFA before bringing back McKinnon.

[kingseanjohn]

My current thoughts on the 53 as of today (not a depth chart):

QB: Mahomes, Gabbert, Buechele - 3

RB: Pacheco, CEH, Perine - 3

WR: MVS, Toney, Rice, Moore, Watson, James, Ross - 7

TE: Kelce, Gray, Bell, Fortson - 4

OL: Taylor, Thuney, Humphrey, Smith, Niang, Morris, Allegretti, Kinnard, Tega Wanogho - 9

Offense: 26

 

DL: Karlaftis, Danna, Nnadi, Jones, Wharton, Omenihu, FAU, Thompson, Coburn - 9

LB: Gay, Bolton, Chenal, Tranquill, Cochrane - 5

DB: McDuffie, Williams, Sneed, Watson, Reid, Bush, Cook, Edwards, Conner, Jones - 10

Defense: 24

 

ST: Butker, Townsend, Winchester - 3

 

I don't think we go with a true FB this year. I think we could see TEs fill that role since we rarely use one anyways; Bell or Gray depending on the play design. I kept an extra WR over a DL just because I went with a BPA approach. I could see a vet DT being brought in at some point though and bumping someone to the practice squad.

[EMAW_KSU]

4 hours ago, kingseanjohn said:

I think we're set at LB. You have Cochrane listed at DB, but he's a LB on the Chiefs official roster. You also have Harris on there, who is currently a free agent. I do agree on RB though. It was a deep class and we neglected it. You're missing Perine and debatablely Ealy there. I'm guessing they'll wait and see what they have in the UDFA before bringing back McKinnon.

I’m all about bringing back Jet, and perhaps that’s where they were at in evaluating the draft.  Was whomever available better than #1.  CEH is still the wildcard.

[RedGold]

I'll play;

QB(3):   Mahomes / Gabbert / Buechele
RB(4):   Pacheco / CEH / xxx / xxx
WR(6):  MVS/Toney/Moore/Watson/James/Rice
TE(4): Kelce/Gray/Fortson/Bell
OL(9):  Taylor/Thuney/Humphrey/Smith/Niang/Morris/PTW/Allegretti/Kinnard

Edge(6):  Karlaftis/Danna/Omenihu/FAU/Thompson/Herring
DT(4): Jones/Nnadi/Wharton/Coburn
LB(4): Bolton/Gay/Chenal/Tranquil
CB(6): Snead/McDuffie/Williams/Watson/Connor/N.Jones
Saf(4):  Reid/Cook/Edwards/Bush

ST(3):  Butker/Townsend/Winchester

[Jakuvious]

On 4/30/2023 at 4:14 AM, KC_Guy said:

I'm somewhat baffled they didn't draft a LB or RB .. pretty thin there. May have some vets in the back pocket to sign after the draft??

Pretty sure McKinnon has always been the main plan for RB depth. I'm guessing they tried to trade CEH and didn't get any worthwhile takers, might have taken someone if they did move him, but now may as well have Pacheco/McKinnon/CEH there. If they don't get McKinnon, there's a TON of vet RBs still out in free agency in the same mold that are eventually going to have to accept a cheaper deal than they want. McKinnon, Fournette, McKissic, Hunt, Drake. Could even bring back Darrell Williams if we get that desperate. And then UDFA options as well.

LB is pretty thin, but that was the case last year as well. We only carried 5 on roster basically all last year, and one was Cochrane who literally never saw a defensive snap anyway. Was basically Bolton, Gay, Chenal, and Harris, and that was really it. Had Lee up from the PS when Gay was out, but he saw 8 snaps on defense all year. So always had 5 guys on the actual roster, but only 4 ever saw any snaps. And we're set up for that already this year as well, with Tranquill subbing in for Harris. I'd imagine Cochrane plays a bunch of special teams again, and then we keep a UDFA or two on the PS just in case. We're, if anything, actually a little deeper here than last year, since I think Tranquill is better than Harris, and Chenal has a bit more experience.

I am mildly surprised they didn't add a FB. I don't mind it, I thought last year they probably could've distributed Burton's responsibilities between all the TEs we kept. But Reid seems to like having a true FB there, even if the snap count is low.

[EMAW_KSU]

With Jet announced as likely to re-sign all I can say is, “I love it when a plan comes together!”

[EMAW_KSU]

Cardinals have released Hopkins.  Meaning his inflated contact is no more.  Makes you wonder if we pursue.

[Chiefs_5627]

6 hours ago, EMAW_KSU said:

Cardinals have released Hopkins.  Meaning his inflated contact is no more.  Makes you wonder if we pursue.

I'd be interested, moreso, to keep him away from the Bill/Chargers/etc lol

Sounds like Chiefs were talking to him prior to the draft so the interest is there.

[onejayhawk]

A little different.

QB(3):   Mahomes/Gabbert/Buechele
RB(3):   Pacheco/CEH/McKinnon 
WR(7):  MVS/Toney/Moore/Watson/James/Rice/XXX
TE(5): Kelce/Gray/Fortson/Bell/XXX
OL(8):  Taylor/Thuney/Humphrey/Smith/Niang/Morris/Allegretti/Kinnard
26

Edge(5):  Karlaftis/Danna/FAU/Thompson/XXX
DT(4): Jones/Wharton/Omenihu/Coburn
LB(5): Bolton/Gay/Chenal/Tranquil/XXX
CB(6): Snead/McDuffie/Williams/Watson/N.Jones
Saf(4):  Reid/Cook/Edwards/Conner
24

ST(3):  Butker/Townsend/Winchester

53

[onejayhawk]

This is interesting. He goes through a rough cut of the 53-man roster. The interesting note is that, despite the header, Justyn Ross is not on it. This is significant because of the developing buzz around both. 

It begs the question, can we afford to leave Ross off the 53? From what we have seen so far, it's clear he would be claimed if we tried to put him on PS.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by onejayhawk

[onejayhawk]

Here is an interesting take--who on the Chiefs are really good and who are just very good? The author's titles are Roster Cornerstones and Quality Starters. 
https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2023/5/25/23735719/kansas-city-chiefs-roster-cornerstones-2023
https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/article/kansas-city-chiefs-2023-win-total-futures-over-under-and-odds/

Four of the cornerstones are obvious--Mahomes, Kelce, jones, and Humphrey--each arguably the NFL's best at his position. He goes with Thuney as the fifth. The next level has McDuffie, Trey Smith, Justin Reid, Bolton, Sneed, Butker, Townsend, and FA singings Omenihu and Taylor. 

I could argue that Trey Smith and Thuney should rank together, that Bolton belongs in the top tier, that Karlaftis belongs on the list, and so on. Still, it's not a bad way to start a discussion. 

How would you tier the lineup compared to the whole league?

 

[onejayhawk]

There is a lot here, so I'll leave most of the digging to you. To the surprise of no one, the Chiefs have three players ranked #1 at their positions by PFF. What is surprising is that Chris Jones is not one of them (#2). The three are Mahomes, Kelce, and Creed Humphrey.
https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-ranking-the-best-players-at-every-position-ahead-of-the-2023-nfl-season

Some other players of note:

Isiah Pacheco #21
Orlando Brown Jr #14
Thuney #5 and Trey Smith #13
Charvarius Ward #11
Bolton #11