From Mahomes to Self to Sutton, the winners and losers of Kansas City sports in 2018
Nobody had a more extreme and impossible-to-judge year by the old Gladiator thumbs-up-or-down move than Brett Veach.
This was his first full season as Chiefs general manager, and there are some wild highs: His first-year starting quarterback is the betting favorite to be the team’s first ever NFL MVP, his team is one win from its first No. 1 playoff seed in 21 years, and he’s done well adding depth and extending contracts where prudent.
That’s a lot.
Then there are some undeniable lows: The defense that he and the coaching staff set out to remake last offseason is somehow worse than last year, his two major free-agent signings have underwhelmed, and at the moment his team has lost three of its last five.
That’s, um, also a lot.
There was also the turbulence of Kareem Hunt’s release, the season-long drama surrounding the defensive coordinator and the patchwork safety position — close to trading for Earl Thomas before his season-ending injury, and the weekly uncertainty around Eric Berry’s health.
Few people in or around Kansas City sports were busier than Veach and the Chiefs’ front office in 2018.
More good than bad, but they don’t neatly fit into a Winners or Losers category. Not quite yet, anyway.
Here are some who do.
Winners
1. Patrick Mahomes. This one’s pretty easy. He might’ve locked up winner of the decade already. He has livened an organization that had flattened and has made a convincing MVP case in his first season as a starting quarterback in the NFL. He is a revolution, so good he’s made a team with one of the league’s worst defenses the betting favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
2. Chris Jones. It’s not just his 15 1/2 sacks, second only to the Rams’ Aaron Donald in the NFL this year, and behind only Justin Houston and Derrick Thomas in franchise history. It’s that he’s done this in what is essentially a contract season, because the Chiefs will almost certainly work hard to negotiate a long-term extension with him this offseason. It’s likely that nobody in KC earned more immediate money than Jones this year.
3. Barry Odom. Too high? Consider that as recently as Halloween, many calling for him to be fired, and that less than two months later he’d won four straight and signed a new contract with a $600,000 raise. This season was always going to be a crossroads in his career, and he set himself up well for the future by securing the transfers of two Power Five quarterbacks: Clemson’s Kelly Bryant for 2019 and TCU’s Shawn Robinson for 2020.
4. Tyreek Hill. He’s sort of the smaller and (as he would surely point out) faster version of Jones’ case. He ranks in the NFL’s top six in receiving yards, yards per reception and touchdowns, continuing to make his case as the Chiefs’ best receiver since Otis Taylor. He, too, is up for contract-extension talks after this season and will likely be looking for Odell Beckham Jr. money.
5. Whit Merrifield. A year ago, there were many around the majors who saw him as a bit of a one-year wonder. Baseball history simply did not have much precedent for an American-born player who debuted at 27 and became a star. But that’s what this Royals player is now after hitting .304 with 43 doubles and leading the league in both hits and stolen bases while playing above-average defense at five positions. He’s under club control for four more seasons, so his breakout does not come with immediate financial rewards, but he’s made himself an important part of the Royals’ next window of opportunity.
6. Bruce Weber. He’s sort of the smaller-scale version of Odom’s case. He had been unpopular among K-State fans before a Sweet 16 win over Kentucky pushed K-State to the brink of the Final Four even without star Dean Wade. Some remain unconvinced, and another injury for Wade makes the current season more difficult. But last season’s Tournament success did push a contract extension, raise and higher buyout. Weber became a commodity.
7. Dee Ford. This is easy to forget now, but many Chiefs fans were disappointed that the team picked up his $8 million option for 2018. Now he’s 10th in the league with 12 sacks and the NFL’s No. 8 edge rusher, according to Pro Football Focus. He’s likely played his way into the Chiefs’ franchise tag for 2019, which would mean a one-year salary of more than $15 million. Consistency and health were the two biggest knocks on him. But he’s played all 15 games so far this season, and has at least a half-sack in 10.
8. Adalberto Mondesi. He was the Royals’ single most important player in 2018 ... and also their most promising. He went from a guy with great tools to a guy with great production: .276/.306/.498 with 32 stolen bases in half a season. He had the eighth-best season ever for a Royals shortstop (using Baseball Reference’s WAR) while playing 75 games. Plate discipline remains a concern, but he’s 23 years old and capable of winning a Major League Baseball game with a hit, homer, stolen base, diving catch or strong throw.
9. Andy Reid. On the surface, this is a pretty standard year: began with a playoff collapse, finishes with another playoff spot secured. So we’re not pushing Reid, the Chiefs’ head coach, too far up this list. But the Chiefs would never have drafted Mahomes without Reid’s enthusiastic support, and the coach now has the quarterback for which he’s waited his entire career. Even if it doesn’t happen this year, no coach in the AFC is better positioned over the next five years to win a title.
10. Peter Vermes. This was a tough one. You could make the case that Sporting Kansas City’s home playoff loss in an MLS Cup semifinal should put him on the other side of this list. To be sure, that was a disappointment. But he also built the best roster he’s had in Kansas City, was proven right for the surprising sale of Dom Dwyer in 2017, and remains well-positioned for the future.
Others considered: Eric Fisher, Brad Keller, Matt Besler, Steven Nelson, Eric Bienemy and Dustin Colquitt.
Losers
1. Kareem Hunt. He lost a job, reputation, opportunity to star on a Super Bowl run and potentially tens of millions of dollars when a leaked hotel security tape showed him pushing and kicking a woman. The video exposed repeated lies he told coaches and others in the organization, and days after his release he began his apology tour by saying he’s “not the type of person to ever even think about putting my hands on anyone.” Except the video proved that’s not true, and there were two other alleged incidents last offseason. Nobody in Kansas City, and few in any sport, lost as much as he did this year.
2. Bob Sutton. The year began with his defense unable to protect an 18-point lead at home and ends with even more evidence that he should be replaced. The Chiefs’ defensive coordinator is a kind and decent man, always thoughtful when discussing his life’s passion. But there is simply no precedent for a coordinator coming back from two seasons this awful. The Chiefs can’t afford to waste their unicorn quarterback’s rookie contract with a continually underperforming defense.
3. Silvio De Sousa. This isn’t his fault. The sidelined KU Jayhawks player is a victim of circumstance, and of the machinations of a system put in place long before he came along. He was a critical part of Kansas’ Final Four run in the spring but is now benched as his eligibility is investigated in the wake of the Adidas trial. He has become, effectively, KU basketball’s fall guy: the only one paying a tangible price despite few believing he knew any rules were broken.
4. Dayton Moore. The Royals lost 104 games, matching the second-worst season in franchise history, with Moore saying he was “embarrassed” for his part in it and that he expected 2019 to be the really bad year. That timeline has shifted, and the immediate future actually looks cautiously hopeful now. But the Royals have always needed to build through the draft, with Moore, their general manager, openly aiming for consistency. This dip is more or less a direct result of five consecutive top 12 picks from 2009-13 who have so far peaked with Aaron Crow.
5. Bill Self. Too high for a coach who made the Final Four? Perhaps, but Self’s coaching chops and success have never been challenged. He lands this high for two reasons: It was a pretty good year around Kansas City, and the Adidas trial put a stink around his program that he’d previously avoided. History will judge that trial as a colossal overreach and attempt to enforce rules that have long been proven unfair and impossible to enforce. But in the moment, Self is caught texting a “runner” about recruits and his top assistant is on an FBI wire-tap expressing an openness to pay a top prospect.
6. Bill Snyder. The end was not worthy of a legendary career that remade K-State football, helped transform a university and built much of a community in Manhattan. His career was too good, and too important, to be capped with a large chunk of the fan base turning on him as the season faded. That last part will eventually be forgotten, which is good. But it made for an uncomfortable 2018.
7. Jontay Porter. Positioned for a true breakout, finally out of his brother’s shadow, Mizzou’s Porter tore knee ligaments in an October scrimmage and will miss the entire season. He’ll be fine, and assuming he enters the NBA Draft he’ll be a first-round pick. So the real losers here are those of us who won’t get to watch him at Mizzou.
8. Anthony Hitchens. He was the centerpiece acquisition of an offseason transformation aimed at improving the Chiefs’ defense overall, and specifically against the run. He signed for $25 million guaranteed and Pro Football Focus ranks him last among 55 inside linebackers with at least 50 percent of their team’s snaps. The defense around him is even worse than a year ago.
9. Sammy Watkins. This Chiefs receiver signed an offseason free-agent contract worth $1 million per game and has effectively played just eight times. When he has played, he’s made the difference the club hoped to see, both with his own skills and by creating space for others. But injuries were a concern when he signed, and a nagging foot ailment has kept him from playing up to the contract.
10. Eric Berry. The Chiefs’ star safety was labeled “day to day” for about three months, which became a dark joke around Kansas City. His contract made him the league’s highest-paid safety in 2017, and he has not played a full game since. The Chiefs desperately need his body and mind to patch their defense.
Others considered: Reggie Ragland, Kendall Fuller, Daniel Sorensen, Danny Duffy, David Beaty and Dean Wade.