The Chiefs fell just shy of the first 3-peat in NFL history, yet still made it further than any other team in its' attempt at it, getting back to the big game. Unfortunately, the Super Bowl was a complete dud, and the blowout loss put a cloud over the insane accomplishments that were achieved.
The 15-2 regular season record, the best in franchise history, was a wild ride. There were a bunch of games that were won very late, with walk-off FG's, walk-off blocked FG's, walk-off doinks with back-up kickers, OT wins, fumble recoveries preventing walk-off FG's.... just a truly insane year... and while the playoffs were fun (see ya, Bills!), sadly the magic ran out at the worst time.
Mahomes had arguably his worst season, which likely stemmed from a handful of things that rattled him: 1- The LT situation fell apart, and really never got solved despite some desperate efforts. 2- The WR room was shredded, leaving him with a talented, yet-developing rookie, where chemistry needed time to develop.
It will be interesting to see what sort of mentality he approaches the offseason and training camp with. If he's the GOAT we believe he is, he will have a the rage of a thousand suns burning within him and the league will be sorry.
The run game was salvaged after Pacheco's injury by a reunion with Kareem Hunt. This position seemed to stall as year went on, as it was clear the group lacked acceleration and dynamism.
The defense had a mostly great year, but took a dip when their #2 CB went down with a broken ankle. The pass rush picked up late when Omenihu returned and Karlaftis shined, but seemed to fizzle against a large Philly O-Line.
There are again some big decisions looming this offseason: Who returns - Kelce? Bolton? Smith? Reid? Brown? How does Veach fix the LT/OL problem? How does Veach reconstruct the WR room with Rice's injury + probable suspension? What support do we give Chris Jones on the line?
Thread Overview
This is the 14th year in a row that we will be tracking the college players the Chiefs have publicly or privately expressed interest in leading up to the NFL Draft.
Last year, we had 2 early hits: Xavier Worthy & Kingsley Suamataia. Let's see if we can get more this year.
For those who are new: the way this operates is that we collectively monitor various social media sources, blogs, articles and reports for news of the Chiefs' interest in a certain player. When posted in this thread, I will update the OP to include the player. *Please provide the link to the article, the players name, position and team.
I am going to try to link to player profiles when they exist, courtesy of The Draft Network, NFL.com, or their team's website.
Originally Posted by :
Royals is going to make some offensive coordinator very happy as a field-stretcher who can house it from anywhere on the field. After watching every snap from his last two seasons, what jumps out is how he's developed into more than just a straight-line burner. His basketball background shows up constantly - the way he sets up breaks, maintains speed through cuts, and creates after the catch reminds me of a point guard working in space. In the right system, he's going to be a nightmare on deep overs and slot fades where he can build speed and work away from leverage.
The fit that keeps jumping off my notes is San Francisco - imagine him running those deep cross concepts off of Shanahan's play-action game, or Detroit where Ben Johnson could deploy him as a moveable chess piece who can stretch the field vertically while working those catch-and-run concepts underneath. He'd eat up those voids created by their run game. The Ravens are another scheme fit - their vertical passing game needs exactly what Royals brings to the table.
The tape shows a player who's just scratching the surface. Sure, he needs work defeating press and his route breaks could be sharper, but you can't teach that explosive gear he hits or the natural feel he shows for manipulating space. Some evaluators will get hung up on the level of competition, but that 211-yard game against Boise State's NFL-caliber secondary told me everything I needed to know. Trust your eyes on this one - he's going to outplay his draft position.
This is interesting he is a big guy that reshaped his body and showed really good movement skills this last year. I feel he was a combine snub and should have been there. But he was also trying to get a year back from his Juco year and I think it left him in limbo some. [Reply]