We have to reach an understanding about the upcoming Chiefs season. Things will be very different on the field and in this column.</p><p>We&#8217;ve never covered a rebuilding football team. I&#8217;m not sure I know how. I just know things will be very different, and we&#8217;ll all have to bring fresh perspective and expectations into this new season.</p><p>When I arrived here in September 1994, the Chiefs were fresh off an appearance in the AFC championship game, and Joe Montana had this entire region dreaming about a return to the Super Bowl.</p><p>Every year since then, we&#8217;ve analyzed and scrutinized the Chiefs from that point of view: Can they reach the Super Bowl?</p><p>That foundation made column writing easy. There were heroes to celebrate and villains to demonize on a year-round basis. We ran Paul Hackett, Lin Elliott and Elvis Grbac out of town. We campaigned for Chester McGlockton, Ty Law and Jeff George, believing they were the missing ingredient to a Super Bowl team.</p><p>We wondered why Marty didn&#8217;t like Rich Gannon, why Vermeil hated Larry Johnson, why Gunther said goofy things and whether Herm could spell o-f-f-e-n-s-e.</p><p>We admired Marcus Allen&#8217;s leadership, Derrick Thomas&#8217; ability to chase quarterbacks, Will Shields&#8217; consistency, Willie Roaf&#8217;s tenacity, James Hasty&#8217;s physicality and Priest Holmes&#8217; willingness to speak gibberish, eat nachos and run the football.</p><p>Best of all, we gave The Artist Formerly Known as King Carl a nickname, exposed him for wearing a kilt, blasted his drafting of Trezelle Jenkins, contract-negotiating technique, choice of black leather on hot days and his decisions to make it rain on Carlton Gray, Eric Warfield and Kendrell Bell.</p><p>This year we will be working with table scraps. The stakes aren&#8217;t very high, the story lines aren&#8217;t all that compelling, and the Chiefs don&#8217;t have an in-his-prime superstar to carry the team.</p><p>Jared Allen closed the bar when he took his wild-man act to Minneapolis. He was our Reggie Jackson, the straw that stirs the drink, a beast on and off the field.</p><p>Let&#8217;s take a look at what&#8217;s left:</p><p>&#8226;Larry Johnson: He&#8217;s coming off an injury. He might be past his prime. He&#8217;s moody. And Kansas City&#8217;s offensive line is likely to struggle, which could cause L.J. to mope all season.</p><p>&#8226;Tony Gonzalez: He&#8217;s still a great player, but he creates much less local buzz now that he&#8217;s &#8220;married&#8221; and no longer a fixture in the basement of Mi Cocina. There&#8217;s a study being done on what caused more damage to Plaza nightlife, Gonzalez&#8217;s commitment ceremony or the opening of the Power &amp; Light District.</p><p>&#8226;Derrick Johnson: Has yet to put it all together and become a consistent force on the field. The poor man&#8217;s Shawne Merriman might be a rich man&#8217;s Kendrell Bell.</p><p>&#8226;Brian Waters: Big Weazie is always quotable win or lose, but he&#8217;s a freaking offensive lineman. Unless you&#8217;re Warren Sapp, football players over 300 pounds aren&#8217;t all that compelling (unless they take up column writing).</p><p>&#8226;Donnie Edwards: Don Juan is approaching 40 and is much too level-headed and conservative to provide any real locker-room spark.</p><p>&#8226;Tamba Hali: Former first-round pick needs to take over as team&#8217;s No. 1 pass rusher now that Allen has moved. I just don&#8217;t see Tamba as a 15-sack guy.</p><p>So here are our options for dramatic story lines:</p><p>&#8226;1. Brodie Croyle needs to shock the world and show flashes of being a legitimate starting NFL quarterback.