Given the meaninglessness of pre-season games and the limited playing time that regular players get in them, it seems silly to talk about what we want to see from a friendly that has no bearing on final placings (and that nobody will remember unless something tragic or comical happens).
Still, these games aren’t meaningless to the coaches and players involved, and they’re not meaningless to fans who pay attention to roster decisions and player development. That means we don’t have to just say things like “oh, I don’t care what happens” or “the only thing that matters is that no one gets hurt” about Saturday’s game at Arrowhead.
The Kansas City Chiefs host the Detroit Lions in the second week of the preseason. It’s a good opportunity for the Chiefs to stay home while the weather is still nice, as they’ll be in Kansas City until September 22nd – or until the third week of the regular season when they travel to the Atlanta Falcons. It’s also a game full of meaning if you want to look for it.
The result? Pointless. The action on the field? There’s plenty to see. Here’s our comprehensive wish list for the Chiefs heading into the second week of the preseason.
Everyone is shaking off the rust, that much is clear, as they prepare for the regular season. Passes will be wrong. Catches will be dropped. Routes will be wrong from time to time. Tackles will be missed. Punts will be botched. Assignments will be wrong.
But let’s remember the lasting images Leo Chenal left us with from last postseason, a period of dominance in the Chiefs’ secondary that left everyone in awe with several key plays and big hits. It was also a sign that he was ready for more – or at least that was the thought as he headed into his third NFL season.
The Chiefs let Willie Gay go to New Orleans as a free agent on a fairly reasonable one-year contract, perhaps in part because Chenal seemed ready for more. So when Chenal looked pretty bad in a very limited coverage role in the team’s first preseason game against the Jaguars, it was a bit of a shock — and a reminder of the limitations of his scouting reports when he first came into the league.
Should we just let Chenal flourish while other linebackers pick up his slack? Is he ready for more? With the starters getting more playing time, our first wish is that Chenal is ready for more responsibility as the season approaches.
This is selfish because no one should be pressured into playing when they are not ready. And as we said, this game is meaningless for the standings.
However, Andy Reid said the Chiefs would wait to see how Thuney feels before that game as he slowly but surely recovers from a pectoral injury. Week 1 seems like a safe target, but we’d like to see Thuney play a bit this week as well for a few reasons.
First, it would at least give Kingsley Suamataia some experience alongside his running mate at forward defense. Thuney should be a key anchor for the first-year left tackle, and if some of that connection goes back to the preseason, the BYU product will be all the better when the games count. Second, it can’t hurt Thuney himself to try things out in a test game to really see how far he’s come.
Nobody wants to get ripped off by a training camp star, but it would be nice to see Carson Steele prove he’s capable of more with more on-field heroics in Week 2.
Steele was the talk of the town after the Chiefs’ first preseason game against the Jaguars. He made some tough runs that earned him some attention as training camp closed out, and he should have a good streak — maybe even a one-game streak — on Saturday.
No matter who it is, the Chiefs need someone to take over the running back position, because the position is currently very thin – perhaps even dangerously thin. Behind Isiah Pacheco, there is only the oft-injured Clyde Edwards-Helaire, the uninspired Deneric Prince, and fringe players from Deaontay Ingram to Hassan Hall to Emani Bailey.
The Chiefs feel like they need to change their roster to import someone, but Steele could at least provide more confidence (and competence) here.
The NFL’s rule changes have left everyone confused about kickoffs and how they work. Fans may have expected this, but no one wants players to do the same.
In the first preseason game, the Chiefs had to endure the most confusing kickoff call of all, involving a safety that few people really understood. It was also clear that the Chiefs weren’t quite ready for some of the things on special teams. With the specialists themselves looking good – Matt Araiza as a punter and Harrison Butker as a kicker – these units could really be something special if they can avoid the mental errors.
Despite all of their receiver options in what seems like a crowded part of the standings for the last few receiver spots, the truth is that the Chiefs only have one wide receiver like Justyn Ross from the top to the bottom of the roster, so it would be nice to see him prove worthy of one of the last active spots.
Ross has been so successful at times being the big, physical receiver who can make the contested catch with his combination of body control, soft hands and length. It wasn’t long ago that Chiefs Kingdom was raving about his potential, and while he’s been slow to make an impact, the Chiefs still have him around for a reason.
We’ve already seen some catches this preseason – in practice and in a game – that warrant inclusion in the final roster, and a few more wouldn’t hurt.
Earlier this preseason, the Chiefs reportedly expressed interest in bringing back Emmanuel Ogbah before he re-signed with the Miami Dolphins, a positive sign for some personal speculation that the Chiefs desperately need help – from the outside – at the defensive end position.
These moves will likely still happen when teams make their active roster cuts (or shortly before if they make a trade), but of course it would be nice to have someone who could step in and provide some power in the pass rush as a rotation player behind the obvious candidates.
Mike Danna and George Karlaftis are the expected starters and should be fine there. Felix Anudike-Uzomah seems to have improved and will also help. However, another player is needed and the Chiefs are thin on the ground – Charles Omenihu is still rehabbing and BJ Thompson’s health is a major concern.
Malik Herring lacks the potential to go beyond what we’ve already seen, and we’re not sure what Owen Carney will contribute at this point. That leaves us with Truman Jones, a Harvard product with 13 TFL and 6 sacks in his final season in the Ivy League. He’s been on the Chiefs’ practice squad for the past couple of seasons and could be ready to make a push.
If Jones emerges at this point, it probably won’t stop the Chiefs from adding the experienced reinforcements they need before the season begins. However, it would be a great sign for a position that something.
The Chiefs have no shortage of impressive young players at the cornerback position, and everyone is hoping to fill the void left by L’Jarius Sneed’s absence after four seasons with the team. However, it’s still a very uncertain situation as to who will play how much when the dust settles.
We like it that way.
It would be nice if the contenders – Joshua Williams, Jaylen Watson, Nazeeh Johnson – continued to make things difficult for the Chiefs coaching staff as they try to piece together the positions in the secondary and select their boundary cornerbacks (since Trent McDuffie is, of course, in the mix).
A strong game from Watson, who is recovering from injury, alongside Williams would be a very welcome sight, knowing that the Chiefs still have enough reserves. And especially for Johnson, a player who has been robbed of well-deserved opportunities due to unfortunate injuries, it would be nice to see him enjoy the fruits of success for once.
That’s what everyone says about what they expect from a pre-season game, but it’s true. We hope we don’t hear of any new injuries after the game.
