Five Things to Watch in the Chiefs' Second Preseason Game
Following a late win on Saturday against the San Francisco 49ers, the Kansas City Chiefs head to the desert to take on the Kyler Murray-led Arizona Cardinals on Friday for their second preseason game ahead of the 2021 NFL season. Head coach Andy Reid said the Chiefs could play their starters through the first half, so the Chiefs could provide a good look at the players who you will be seeing throughout the next few months. After that, we will get a long look at a group of players who stood out in the last game as they fight for a roster spot.
1. Offensive line reliability
Entering this season, Chiefs fans are expecting a talented, reliable and deep offensive line group to help protect Patrick Mahomes and to bring the run game some success through the 2021 season and beyond. So far, we are seeing promising returns as the offensive line played relatively well against the 49ers.
Now in game two, Chiefs fans will be looking upon these offensive linemen to show that they are consistent and reliable by playing well in consecutive games. This goes from the starting unit, consisting of Orlando Brown Jr., Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith, and Lucas Niang and to the bench options, including Prince Tega Wanogho, Nick Allegretti, Austin Blythe, Yasir Durant, Mike Remmers and Andrew Wylie. If many of these players who are already coming off of solid performances last week can continue this going forward, it will be a welcome sign.
2. The second running back spot
Last week, I discussed the backup running back battle and went over three different players involved: Darrel Williams, Darwin Thompson and Jerick McKinnon. After how the first preseason game went, I am willing to narrow the race down to two with both players making the roster. My two running backs battling for the second spot are Williams and McKinnon with Thompson being the fourth running back of the group. Both Williams and McKinnon have good cases to make, with Williams being the more powerful runner and McKinnon being the better receiver and swifter runner. As it stands now, I would give the edge to McKinnon, but I would not be sad or surprised if Williams took the job, especially with his history as a Chief.
3. Deandre Baker
Another player who had a positive performance in the first game was cornerback Deandre Baker. Baker finished the game with no receptions allowed on six targets with two pass breakups, earning an 83.3 Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade for his efforts. With Baker's reputation and potential, any positive performances in the preseason will be given an extra boost in attention and praise. Chiefs fans should give a keen eye to how Baker performs in this coming game and, if he performs well enough, Baker ought to receive more consideration for starting at cornerback, along with L'Jarius Sneed and one of Charvarius Ward, Rashad Fenton and Mike Hughes in the tight cornerback race in Kansas City.
4. Juan Thornhill
There are a lot of questions and concerns floating around the Chiefs world right now regarding safety Juan Thornhill. It seemed everything was back on the up-and-up for Thornhill when he had a tremendous AFC Championship Game performance against the Buffalo Bills, but he didn't see much time in the Super Bowl. Partway through training camp, Thornhill dealt with a groin injury before having some struggles against 49ers backups in Saturday's game, bringing some to wonder if Thornhill was not in a position to play at his very best.
Following that series of events, Thornhill was reportedly playing in the third-string defense in practice, bringing confusion and panic among Chiefs fans. It may not be worth all the panic, with Thornhill reportedly playing occasionally with the first-string defense on the same day as well, and with head coach Andy Reid saying to not take anything from it, but it still has given many Chiefs fans pause. Thornhill really could use a statement moment to quell the talk about him and use it as a stepping stone heading into the season.
5. The Arizona Cardinals player to watch
The Cardinals will be starting their star quarterback Kyler Murray on Friday night, making it his first preseason start since 2019, but he is not expected to play much, so he will not be the featured player for the Cardinals. Instead, it will be their rookie wide receiver, Rondale Moore. Moore was selected in the second round by the Cardinals after a prolific tenure at Purdue that included a 1,258-yard and 12-touchdown season as a freshman in 2018 in which he was a consensus All-American. Moore began his Cardinals tenure with a bright performance, pulling in three receptions for 23 yards on four targets and just 13 routes run. This was enough for him to receive an 84.0 grade on the game from PFF. Moore is a major speed threat, even earning comparisons to Chiefs star wide receiver Tyreek Hill. It's not surprising that Moore has received the Hill comparisons, as it's only natural with every modern speed-based wide receiver that flashes potential, but that should mean you ought to keep an eye out on No. 85 for Arizona. Who knows, maybe he'll even make Chiefs fans start to buy into the comparison.
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