After a day off on Tuesday, the Kansas City Chiefs return to the practice field. With their first exhibition game just nine days away, the focus shifts to the players striving to turn heads in camp and ultimately make the final 53-man roster. So, who has stood out thus far?
Once Kansas City Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach finished off the 2024 roster post-draft, on paper, it felt as if the Chiefs had the best team on paper in the Andy Reid era. Though depth usually depends on young players stepping up when a more seasoned veteran gets injured, Reid has been a master at getting guys ready.
The Chiefs have relied heavily over the last three years, and likely again this season, on rookies to play a big part in the team’s overall success. In winning back-to-back Super Bowls, young stars have emerged as high-octane fuel that has blended this roster between age and youth.
For Reid, playing the young guys isn’t always the best decision. This is mainly because you never know how they’ll respond when called upon. However, with an emphasis on a specific athlete code that Veach has implemented, Reid and his staff have been able to catch up on shortcomings and show extreme patience in their learning curve.
In the AFC West, the three combatants—the Las Vegas Raiders, Denver Broncos, and Los Angeles Chargers—have been chasing the Chiefs for eight consecutive seasons. Kansas City is attempting to win its ninth straight AFC West crown in 2024.
While they have figured out the secret roster sauce, the rest of the division keeps waddling in their indecision and ineffective play on the field. However, in Los Angeles, new Head Coach Jim Harbaugh will turn the Chargers around, and they will become serious competition for the Chiefs in 2025 and beyond.
The Raiders and Broncos are rudderless ships passing in the night of bad coaching and egos that will keep themselves in the shadow of success this season. This is mainly because neither team has a quarterback worthy of being a full-time NFL starter.
As critical as the quarterback position is for those teams, it’s not in Los Angeles and Kansas City.
Still, regardless of the talent under center, the cast you surround yourself with separates the professionals from the amateurs.
The Chiefs are a masterclass in roster building. That’s why there is little doubt that after an off-year, they understood the need to upgrade the offense with Hollywood Brown, Xavier Worthy, and Jared Wiley and solidify the defense by resigning Chris Jones and Drue Tranquill.
Great teams understand there are some players you keep at all costs, and championship teams understand you must draft players that can make plays from day one.
Draft picks must excel as starters to create a balanced roster so the team can pay its high-end players’ top dollars. What Veach and Reid have done is nothing short of amazing in the ultra-competitive nature of the NFL today.
As we get closer to game action for the Chiefs, it should be noted that expectations in Kansas City center on one thing and one thing only: winning Super Bowls. Though I never expected this to be the mantra in Kansas City, it’s become a staple theme since Mahomes arrived.
Yet, he can’t do it all himself, and it’s clear the master class that Reid and Veach have been teaching and assembled has the Chiefs on a path to becoming the most incredible team in NFL history.
