Chiefs Twitter Q&A: lineup projections, draft questions and wedding bells
We’re back with another round of answers to your Chiefs Twitter questions — likely the last one we’ll do before the Chiefs being their offseason programs on April 15.
It’s been a crazy hectic “offseason” already, between the NFL’s scouting combine, owners’ meetings, free agency, the departure of veteran players and the investigations involving Tyreek Hill.
Things seem to have slowed down in the last week, giving me a couple minutes to answer your questions, and for that, I’m thankful.
I’ll be out next week for my wedding, so I can almost guarantee there will be some kind of major Chiefs news then. Chris Jones’ extension? A new free-agent signing? A Patrick Mahomes lifetime contract? Mark it all down.
But until that chaos unfolds, here are some answers to a couple of your most pressing questions. Thanks to everyone who tweeted a query.
Agreed. It was nice that it worked for him to be available in my simulated draft. The Chiefs like him (he’s reportedly taken a visit to KC), and it doesn’t hurt that he’s coming from Andy Reid’s alma mater of BYU.
Reid likes giving players second chances, particularly to good humans who’ve made mistakes. Takitaki fits this mold, sitting out the 2016 season following a 2015 suspension for a violation of team rules (he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft). Police said Takitaki stole a “one-of-a-kind” track jacket and soccer gear while working the night shift at his job as a campus janitor.
But that incident is long in his past. He’s married and by all accounts has matured. On the field, Takitaki is a solid linebacker, who had an impressive combine with 24 bench reps and a 125-inch leap in the broad jump. If he’s still around in a late round this month, the Chiefs should absolutely scoop him up to be a weakside linebacker.
You make a good point, and if I’m the Chiefs, this is an option that I’m definitely evaluating.
He makes sense in a lot of ways. Not only is he a talented player, but he’s also from Kansas City and has been open about his love of KCMO (have you seen the tattoo?).
The Mizzou product was plagued with injuries throughout his career in Denver and never quite lived up to his first-round status. Because of this, he should be a much cheaper option than many pass rushers on the market, commanding significantly less than Dee Ford’s $15.4 million franchise tag. If I’m the Chiefs, I take a chance with a one-year prove-it deal in the $5 million to $7 million range, especially given their $23.4 million in cap space.
It could mean anything, and it could mean nothing. I’m not going to speculate because it doesn’t do anyone any good to make guesses about this. The investigations are working their way through the legal processes — that’s what we know. Once we know more, we’ll report more.
Look, the Chiefs addressed some of the issues in their secondary by signing Tyrann Mathieu and Bashaud Breeland, but both the safety and the corner positions need more upgrades — especially with the departure of safety Eric Murray in this week’s acquisition of Emmanuel Ogbah.
Mathieu is a versatile enough player, but I think the Chiefs could take either a free or a strong safety in the first round and find a good fit for him in the defense. From the sounds of it, Mathieu is going to be a strong safety in Steve Spagnuolo’s 4-3 scheme. Adding a first-round free safety like Taylor Rapp is a justifiable move, especially with the departures of Ron Parker and Murray.
That’s a great question. I’m going AAF elite top 5-10, UDFA, then day 3 picks. The AAF had some really promising players that I’d like to see the Chiefs consider.
And in fact, as I type this, they’ve signed Keith Reaser. Good timing, Brett Veach!
After that, the Chiefs have shown a knack for mining some gems in the UDFA classes — Ben Neimann and Darrel Williams are good examples. Those guys seems to have bigger impacts than the day 3 picks, so that’s why I’m ranking them above the drafted players for roster improvement.
Here goes nothing:
Offense
QB: Patrick Mahomes (whew that was easy)
RB: Damien Williams
WR: Tyreek Hill
WR: Sammy Watkins
TE: Travis Kelce
FB: Anthony Sherman
LT: Eric Fisher
LG: Cam Erving
C: Austin Reiter
RG: Andrew Wylie
RT: Mitchell Schwartz
4-3 defense
WDE: Alex Okafor
DT: Chris Jones
DT: Derrick Nnadi
SDE: Breeland Speaks
WILL: Anthony Hitchens
MIKE: Reggie Ragland
SAM: Damien Wilson
FS: Daniel Sorensen
SS: Tyrann Mathieu
CB: Charvarius Ward
CB: Kendall Fuller
After looking at this, I think their biggest needs are at corner, safety, sam linebacker, edge and interior offensive linemen.
I think that’s a very fair analysis. But the Chiefs’ management is very into drafting or acquiring young talent to build the team. They come on cheaper contracts and with more gas in the tank. I agree the Chiefs’ window to win is open now, but this team isn’t going to stray from its methods, for better or worse.
No doubt Rapp’s 40 time at Washington’s pro day (reportedly between 4.74 and 4.77, third slowest among safeties if he ran it at the combine) was underwhelming and disappointing. But I think he’s faster than he showed. The slow time makes him a little risky to take, but he’s also the most well-rounded safety in the draft, and that makes him worth the pick.
That’s definitely an area the Chiefs need to address in the draft. Dorian O’Daniel will be a top-flight backup at the will linebacker spot and could even force some shuffling in the group. I could see him taking over at will, pushing Anthony Hitchens to mike and bumping Reggie Ragland to a reserve role.
Beyond that, second-year UDFA Neimann could see increased usage if he stays healthy. He was primarily a special teams contributor last year, but he worked his way into some defensive snaps toward the end of the season.
Hard no. While I stayed up Monday night to watch Patrick Mahomes on Jimmy Fallon, I was simultaneously emailing a bakery, booking a spray tan, looking for wedding shoes and writing about Mahomes’ new charitable foundation.
What can I say, it’s a glamorous life.
And with that, I’m out. Next time I talk with you guys, I’ll be a married woman. Expect nothing to change.