Kansas City Chiefs’ 2020 rookies were thrown into battle. Now they look plenty legit
Under the circumstances, the Chiefs probably got more production from their 2020 draft class last season than could have been expected.
Now, the group is poised to be one of the team’s most productive draft classes in recent years.
You remember the 2020 rookies, although few saw them in person because of COVID-19 restrictions on practice, the preseason and games.
But just in case, here’s a re-introduction:
Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, the team’s lone first round selection in the past four years, ranked fourth among NFL rookie rushers with 803 yards.
Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed was named to the Pro Football Writers all-rookie team despite missing seven regular-season games, six due to injury. The fourth-round selection still come up with three interceptions and two sacks.
Likebacker Willie Gay made eight starts, and defensive end Mike Danna and defensive back BoPete Keyes made their lone starts in the regular-season finale when several regulars rested.
A sixth draft selection, offensive lineman Lucas Niang, opted out of the season, an option available to all players during the pandemic.
This group and the 31 others across the NFL are different than any draft class before, or after. All members of the NFL’s 2020 draft class and rookie free agents had no in-person offseason, a reduced training camp and no preseason games, and had to deal with daily COVID-19 protocols.
So as the Chiefs assembled in Kansas City to begin the 2020 season, head coach Andy Reid had to, well, meet his newcomers and remind himself these guys weren’t necessarily going to be up to speed compared to incoming players in other years.
“I’m going, ‘Wait a minute, those guys should know what we do,’” Reid said. “Well, not necessarily.
“It was unique.”
How unique? Five Chiefs rookies played in a Super Bowl before they took the field for a preseason game, which happened this year.
Learning on the fly was the only option for those players, who are now entering their second year in the NFL. And with adaptation came varying results.
“This year, going into it was so much more comfortable,” said Danna, the Chiefs’ 2020 fifth-round pick. “It’s confidence-boosting. You have a better understanding of the playbook, the organization and the people around you.”
The 2020 rookie class had been measured and evaluated like previous groups. The NFL Combine was the last NFL event not directly impacted by the pandemic. The festival of players, coaches and general managers ended in the first week of March 2020. A week later, the world shut down for COVID-19.
That’s when the adjustments had to be made. Minicamp didn’t happen. Workouts and meetings went virtual. The NFL allowed teams to send players up to $1,500 worth of equipment — resistance bands, medicine balls, kettle bells and Fitbits — or they could send players a check for the same amount to cover similar purchases.
Players were on their own to get up to speed about what the Chiefs wanted from them.
“Not having OTAs, just Zooms, and them coming out to training camp, you could see how difficult that could be,” general manager Brett Veach said.
Gay might have been most affected by the lost instructional time. Every interview he conducted during training camp centered on how much more prepared he felt ahead of this, the 2021 season, and his second as a pro.
A second-round selection from Mississippi State, Gay said after the draft that he was eager to get to Kansas City. That trip was delayed, and so was his development as a pro.
“You have confidence as a player because you’ve been doing it your whole life,” Gay said. “But when you get a new playbook and can’t prepare like you normally do, the confidence level goes down a lot.’
Still, Gay started half of the Chiefs’ games and was used primarily in base 4-3 packages. Injuries forced him out of postseason play, but he figures prominently in the Chiefs’ plans this season.
Edwards-Helaire turned in solid rushing numbers last year, but with 36 receptions, he wasn’t as much of a factor in the receiving game as some had expected him to be. At LSU the previous season, Edwards-Helaire finished with 450 receiving yards.
The missed classroom and practice field time put everyone behind. Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said in a summer interview that Edwards-Helaire will benefit from from the additional instructional time.
“Everything is starting to make more sense to him, and with the wisdom he’s obtained in our system it’s going to help him know exactly what we expect him to do when place in those certain situations,” Bieniemy said.
Now, here’s the encouraging thing. The Chiefs’ 2020 draft class, for all the hassles and disadvantages, is poised to be one of the most productive in several years.
The Chiefs’ top four selections — Edwards-Helaire, Gay, Niang and Sneed — are likely to start the season opener against the Cleveland Browns. Danna is solidly part of his position group’s rotation.
That’s more front-line talent from 2020 than earlier drafts produced. The regulars remaining on the team from 2019 are wide receiver Mecole Hardman and safety Juan Thornhill.
Only defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi starts from the 2018 class. Patrick Mahomes is the only player remaining from 2017, and even the nine-player 2016 class has three Chiefs regulars: wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Demarcus Robinson and defensive lineman Chris Jones.
Undrafted rookies also pitched in last season. Punter Tommy Townsend took the job held by Dustin Colquitt for 15 years. Defensive tackle Turk Wharton may have been the most pleasant surprise of the rookie class. Wharton, from Division II Missouri S&T, appeared in all 19 games and played more than 20% of the Chiefs’ defensive snaps.
There are promising players from the 2021 class, too, like starting offensive linemen Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith, and Bolton. And young players from that class faced their own set of challenges, starting with playing through a pandemic that affected their final college seasons.
At least they had OTAs and a preseason to learn the NFL ropes. Their immediate predecessors did not. It was put up or shut up for the Chiefs’ 2020 rookie class, and perhaps partly because of that, their second year is looking promising.
This story was originally published September 6, 2021 at 5:00 AM.