Five questions we have about this year’s Kansas City Chiefs team entering training camp
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What to know for Chiefs training camp
Kansas City Chiefs’ training camp is here to signal the start of the 2022-23 season. Get up to speed.
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Nearly half a year after their 2021 season came to an abrupt and stunning end — 173 days to be exact — the Chiefs are gathering in St. Joseph to embark on another shot.
But with a much different group than the one that endured the sting of that AFC Championship Game defeat.
The constant is No. 15 at quarterback, but Patrick Mahomes’ presence has a way of masking just how significantly the Chiefs altered their roster this offseason. He has three new wide receivers, replacing the most productive one he’s known in his four-year career.
And that pales in comparison to the number of changes on defense, a unit that will replace six of its top-11 players in terms of playing time.
It’s been a busy offseason, if not a telling one — but one that, like all others, leaves questions about what awaits.
Some more pressing than others.
1. Have the Chiefs done enough to improve the pass rush?
At the onset of free agency, the Chiefs circulated their plans to bolster a pass rush that ranked 29th in the NFL with just 31 sacks.
That prompted anticipation of a makeover similar to the one the offensive line encountered one year earlier.
Not exactly.
Instead, the Chiefs let go as much as they brought in, losing Melvin Ingram and Jarran Reed. The addition? George Karlaftis, the second of two first-round picks. That’s, um, a lot of weight on the shoulders of a player who has never played an NFL snap, and was the fifth edge rusher of the board in May.
It certainly feels as though the Chiefs didn’t want to stretch their budget to fit a need, which is sound long-term strategy. But in the short-term, the pass rush remains just that — a need.
The Chiefs are banking that their hurry percentage — which actually ranked third in the NFL last season, believe it or not — will be a truer indicator of repeatable success, and that they can convert more of those hurries into negative plays.
We’ll see. Outside of Chris Jones, the Chiefs’ pass rush isn’t going to instill much fear into an offensive line, which means Jones is likely to continue to see a wealth of double-teams. The Chiefs need to find ways to win one-on-one on the edge, but do they have the guys to do it?
If you answer in the affirmative, you’re either banking on a bounce-back year from Frank Clark, in which case I applaud your optimism, or you’re really high on Karlaftis, who, again, has never played in the league.
Don’t be surprised if this is still a topic midseason and we’re linking Chiefs interest to any edge rusher who hits the market — as was the case with Ingram a year ago.
2. How will the new wide receiver depth chart shake out?
It’s the question that most obviously must be on this list. The Chiefs lost their No. 1 wide receiver this offseason with Tyreek Hill’s trade to Miami — the player who led all wideouts in yards each of Mahomes’ four years as a starter.
It’s a new world, and I’ve noted before that the absence of a No. 1 receiver is probably a good thing for the Chiefs. If nothing else, it forces them to become less predictable by becoming less reliant on a singular go-to guy.
But for that to work, the replacements have to be reliable. Make no mistake: Hill is a massive loss for this group, and it’s not yet clear how the Chiefs will fill that void. JuJu Smith-Schuster offers a different skill-set, a much-needed bigger body who can make catches in traffic on underneath routes. Marquez Valdes-Scantling offers top-line speed. Skyy Moore is an intriguing rookie. Mecole Hardman might take a step forward in a contract year.
There are compelling pieces that lend themselves to more of a committee approach, but who rises to the top of that committee in the end? Who becomes a trusted option when it’s third down and you need a completion to keep a drive alive? The foundation for those answers will be constructed during the next few weeks in St. Joseph.
3. Can Clyde Edwards-Helaire keep his job?
Two years ago at this time, Clyde Edwards-Helaire consumed the talk of training camp heading into his rookie season. He seemed to fit so neatly into an offense looking for an upgrade at running back, given not only his talent as a rusher but also his pass-catching background at LSU.
It just hasn’t panned out that way. Injuries haven’t helped.
Edwards-Helaire has rushed for more than 79 yards just four times across two seasons. He has 1,320 yards and eight touchdowns for his career. He’s a contributor — don’t get it wrong — but he’s not been a player an opposition needs to game-plan around.
The Chiefs evidently agree. They signed Ronald Jones this spring, and at minimum, Jones figures to eat into Edwards-Helaire’s playing time. Jerick McKinnon is back as well, and the Chiefs drafted Isiah Pacheco.
In other words, the job won’t be handed to Edwards-Helaire in training camp. He’ll have to earn it, and that might require taking a step forward from what we’ve seen these past two years.
4. Who will get the snaps at cornerback?
Charvarius Ward was long an underrated player in the Chiefs’ secondary — the San Francisco 49ers apparently thought so, too — and the plan to backfill the vacancy created by his departure in Kansas City is dependent on rookies being ready to go from the jump.
L’Jarius Sneed is now only known commodity in the group — and I do expect a step forward for him — but the Chiefs seem insistent on continuing to play him inside against three-receiver sets. I’d prefer my best guy playing on the outside, where the top receivers tend to reside.
If Sneed is the nickel corner, it will leave inexperience outside the numbers. First-round pick Trent McDuffie will almost certainly occupy one of those two spots. After Rashad Fenton underwent shoulder surgery this summer, there’s the possibility McDuffie would be joined by yet another rookie, perhaps fourth-round selection Joshua Williams.
Much of building a productive defensive backfield is about preventing a weakness, because if you have one, the good quarterbacks will certainly find it.
Whether the Chiefs have a weakness is still to be determined.
5. How will special teams affect roster decisions at the end of camp?
It’s the piece that never can be discounted when making initial 53-man roster projections. The Chiefs often keep a couple of players mostly for their ability to help special teams coordinator Dave Toub’s four phases.
This year?
He’ll need them.
The Chiefs lost their top three special teams contributors from 2021 — Dorian O’Daniel, Marcus Kemp and Armani Watts. In fact, special teams could be playing catch-up more than any other unit at camp.
If you’re a fringe roster player as camp progresses, particularly at positions like safety, cornerback, wide receiver and linebacker — where the Chiefs have thrown numbers — you’d be wise to embrace a special teams role or two.
This story was originally published July 22, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Five questions we have about this year’s Kansas City Chiefs team entering training camp."