How Jody Fortson put himself in position to make the Kansas City Chiefs’ 53-man roster
At the onset of spring, after another season surrounded by teammates living out his NFL dream, Chiefs receiver Jody Fortson made something of a tour through the complex. Days separated his visits to various coaching offices.
He began with the offensive coaches, who advised a reversion back to a tight end — his third position change. And in order to make it, they added, he would need to bulk up.
Next, he stopped by the office of special teams coordinator Dave Toub, a meeting Fortson requested — if he wanted to make the 53-man active roster for the first time, he figured he needed to prioritize special teams.
The last visit came outside the walls of the team facility. Fortson set up a workout with former NFL tight end Delanie Walker, a Central Missouri product. If he was going to play tight end, he wanted to become an improved run blocker, and few had done it better than Walker.
Coupled together, the visits comprised a plan to reach an objective that evaded him in 2020. And in 2019, too.
A spot on the Chiefs’ active NFL roster.
“It’s easy to quit. It’s not easy to fight on when you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Fortson said. “I’m just grateful that this team hasn’t given up on me, and they allowed me to stay around and develop.”
The aftermath of it all will be revealed by Tuesday, when the Chiefs must set their initial 53-man roster. For the moment, Fortson is squarely on the bubble, though he’s been more frequently rotating with the first-stringers as of late. He caught several throws from quarterback Patrick Mahomes this week as the Chiefs returned from training camp and prolonged their preseason in Kansas City.
With his increased involvement in the passing game as one indicator, he seems to be in a better position to receive different news than the conclusion of each of the previous two training camps, when the Chiefs waived him before stashing him back on the practice squad.
The other signs? They would be the product of his offseason plan. Fortson has played 19 snaps on special teams in two preseason games. Because of the muscle he added in the summer — he estimated it’s between 15-20 pounds after throwing more food and protein shakes into his diet — Toub says Fortson is capable of playing multiple positions on his special teams unit.
That includes guard or tackle on the punt team, for example.
“Jody’s setting himself up well,” Toub said. “With as hard as he worked in the offseason, to be able to show it on the field as a hold-up guy, blocker and cover guy, it’s good to see.”
Toub later added, “That’s why I’m so excited for him — because he’s done it. He got himself in the position to be successful.”
It’s been a long journey. Fortson has never played in an NFL regular season game, more than two years after he signed on with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent out of Valdosta State.
The Chiefs have long valued Fortson’s ability to catch the football — it stood out in training camp back in 2020, yet he still failed to make the roster. They wanted to see him contribute elsewhere. They need more from their final spots than one trick. Fortson heard that message.
A move back to tight end, a spot he’d tried once before, would require the undertaking of some new tasks — blocking chief among them. Fortson added the weight willingly. “(If) I had to bulk up and play left tackle, I was going to do it.”
If he makes the team next week — and, yes, that certainly remains an if — he’ll have a lot to credit. The weight gain. The position switch. The blocking. The special teams.
It came together in a preseason game in Arizona last week. On a third-down play, Fortson caught a pass over the middle of the field, enough yardage to move the marker. On the very next play, he swung across the line of scrimmage, sticking his head into a block to effectively seal the backside for Derrick Gore’s 19-yard run.
Two plays.
Two examples of the results from his offseason blueprint.
“He’s worked his tail off,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “I like what I’ve seen — the improvement that he’s made over the last couple years is quite large. He’s done a real nice job with it. I liked what he did in the blocking area. He did a good job there.
“He’s a harder worker, and he wants to do good. So you can work with that.”