Chiefs’ brain trust running out of time for evaluations, roster decisions
For Chiefs coach Andy Reid and his staff, as well as general manager Brett Veach and the front office, a lot of decisions must be made in a condensed period of time with the preseason finale against the Green Bay Packers looming Thursday night at Arrowhead Stadium.
While the fourth preseason game likely won’t alter the Chiefs’ starting lineups or rotations used when the regular season starts, it will be the final chance for players on the bubble to make their case for a roster spot. Starters for both teams are expected to sit out Thursday, paving the way for extended playing time for inexperienced players and backups hoping to latch on with an NFL team.
The Chiefs must reduce their roster from its current 89 players to 53 by Saturday at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. They’ll also need to designate players as reserve/physically unable to perform, reserve/non-football injury or illness at that time.
“Really, we want to get a good look at those young guys and make sure that we analyze them,” Reid said during a conference call on Sunday. “They didn’t play much — the thirds — they didn’t get a ton of work there (on Saturday). You want to make sure you come out of this and you don’t miss somebody and then give them to another team.”
The Chiefs must make tough calls at several positions, including wide receiver, where the top four spots appear solidified by Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Chris Conley and Demarcus Robinson. A group of players that includes DeAnthony Thomas, Jehu Chesson, Gehrig Dieter, Marcus Kemp, Byron Pringle and Jordan Smallwood are vying for what’s likely two roster spots.
The third quarterback spot behind Patrick Mahomes and veteran backup Chad Henne will either go to Matt McGloin or Chase Litton. McGloin is a fifth-year pro who has seven starts on his resume, while Litton is a physically gifted undrafted rookie out of Marshall.
The inside linebacker group, after starters Reggie Ragland and Anthony Hitchens, also faces some tough choices. Assuming the Chiefs keep five outside and five inside backers, that leaves a four-man group of Ukeme Eligwe, Terrance Smith, rookie draft pick Dorian O’Daniel and undrafted rookie Ben Niemann likely battling for one spot.
Veteran outside linebackers Justin Houston and Dee Ford, the team’s top two pass rushers who’ve each had a recent history of injury issues, have played sparingly during the preseason. Top draft pick Breeland Speaks and second-year man Tanoh Kpassagnon have garnered most of the time with the first-team defense at the outside linebacker spots.
“Inevitably you’d like to have four guys there that you can rotate,” Reid said. “That’s what you’d like so you can keep guys fresh and fast. I just think it’s important, especially if one of them is a rookie, that they get playing time. I don’t want to slight them at all. I know what the other two can do. They other two are in pretty good shape right now, so they’re coming out of this thing healthy, which is important.”
Backup Chiefs tight end Demetrius Harris will miss the regular-season opener as he serves a suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. Reid would not say whether Harris would play this week but acknowledged there could be special circumstances where players who figure to play a lot during the regular season appear in the final preseason game.
The starters, meanwhile, will begin looking ahead to the Sept. 9 season opener against the Chargers, though this will be a short week of practice with a Thursday game.
“They’ll have a chance to look at some of the Chargers stuff, the guys that don’t play in the game,” Reid said. “We kind of split it up, split practice up where you work part Chargers and part Packers.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2018 at 4:28 PM.