Six Things to Watch in the Chiefs' First Preseason Game
We've made it, Kansas City Chiefs fans! After six months without football, we finally have a game to prepare for. Saturday's preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers is the first of what Chiefs fans hope to be 23 consecutive games on the path to Super Bowl LVI to avenge their last loss, with the anguish of a blowout that allowed Tom Brady to collect his seventh Super Bowl ring.
With Saturday being the first preseason game, starters and high-rotation backups likely won't get much work, so it's important to keep an eye on other primary storylines to pay attention to beyond just the final score.
Here are six things to watch for when the Chiefs and 49ers take the field.
1. The debuts of the new guys
Several incoming rookies are going to be absolutely fascinating to watch in their first game as a member of the Chiefs. On the offensive side of the ball, there is Creed Humphrey, Cornell Powell, Noah Gray and Trey Smith. Humphrey and Smith both stand currently as starting center and right guard respectively in the recent unofficial depth chart, meaning they might just get the first drive or so, but Powell and Gray currently stand in that same depth chart as the fifth wide receiver and third tight end, which should give each of them plenty of playing time in this game. Lucas Niang will also get his first taste of NFL playing time, likely starting at right tackle or getting second-team work, potentially depending on veteran Mike Remmers's health.
Meanwhile, on defense, there is Nick Bolton and Joshua Kaindoh, neither of whom are on the starting defense for the initial depth chart, meaning they should also see at least a few drives as well. Let's hope we see the flashes from the rookies in this one.
2. The first two drives
Head coach Andy Reid said Thursday that the starters will play the first quarter against the 49ers, but that can be a fluid projection. With no indication that the Chiefs are resting starters, expect to see the full group of players on the first (or first two?) offensive and defensive drives of the game. That includes Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones, Tyrann Mathieu and, yes, Patrick Mahomes. Let's hope to see a beautiful touchdown on the offensive side, a good stop or turnover on the defensive side, and no injuries for both to kick off this season in style.
3. The backup running back battle
It seems pretty clear that second-year running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire is the starting back for 2021, but it's not too clear who his backups will be at the moment, as the Chiefs have three interesting options who I all consider to be very close in ability and will be fighting for two spots: Darrel Williams, Darwin Thompson and Jerick McKinnon.
Williams is entering his fourth season in the league and with the Chiefs, and he has been a solid, reliable backup through and through for the team. Williams had 67 carries and 28 catchable targets last season and finished the season with zero fumbles and was able to gain a respectable 4.5 yards per carry, equaling Edwards-Helaire for the team lead. Williams also had his best game of 2020 in the playoffs, gaining 94 yards on 17 touches (good for a 5.53 yards per touch average) in Edwards-Helaire's absence.
Thompson is someone who I have always been rooting for, with a fun-to-watch style of play and flashing ability to make impressive runs with broken tackles and some good speed. With that being said, even in limited playing time, Thompson's efficiency numbers are not quite up to snuff, with a yards per carry of 3.5 and 3.6 in his two seasons in Kansas City. Add on the fact that he had two fumbles over 27 carries last year after not fumbling in the 190 carries over his rookie season and his breakout season at Utah State and even Chiefs fans seem to be done with Thompson. I would like to see him make a statement in the preseason, but he'll have to jump the veteran newcomer.
McKinnon joined the Chiefs in April after finally getting to play his first games with the 49ers in 2020, despite being signed with them since 2018. McKinnon has had a rough time with injuries since his solid tenure with the Vikings where he compiled over 3,000 total yards over a four-year period, but he did show he might still have something in the tank in 2020, compiling 572 yards over 114 touches to get just over five yards per touch and adding on six touchdowns, with a career-high five rushing touchdowns. I expect McKinnon and Williams to be the main contenders for the second running back spot, as much as it pains me to predict Thompson losing his roster spot, but let's just give all three a real crack at it and see who shows out.
4. Does the offensive line depth stand out?
This is the biggest contrasting factor from last season's group. General manager Brett Veach saw how last season ended with the offensive line completely falling apart from injuries and acted this offseason to prevent Patrick Mahomes from ever being put in that type of situation again. This season, the Chiefs will likely have five new starting offensive linemen with the trade for left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., the splash signing of left guard Joe Thuney, the draft picks of center Creed Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith and the installation of right tackle Lucas Niang after he did not play in 2020.
As good as that may be, what could also be massive is how good the bench for this group looks as well. The Chiefs also brought in former Los Angeles Rams starting center Austin Blythe to be their backup center and Kyle Long, the former Pro Bowler, to likely be right guard depth. They also return Mike Remmers, Andrew Wylie, Nick Allegretti and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif after missing the 2020 season as he joined the fight against COVID-19. Everyone in that group is someone who Chiefs fans shouldn't be ringing the alarm bells too much if they see playing time, even in more important games.
The Chiefs' backup group for the 2021 season might actually be better than the starting offensive line for the Super Bowl, as long as they are placed in their best positions possible. First, they need to show it against the 49ers defensive line, even if they face their second-string group and will be without Long and Duvernay-Tardif due to injuries they should recover from by the time the season begins.
5. The cornerback battle
I, and much of the NFL's analytics community, view the cornerback position extremely highly. Cornerback and safety are the most important position groups on defense and only rivaled by quarterback, wide receiver and receiving-focused tight ends for all positions in the game of football. As a result, this position group receives a bit of a boost when it comes to my care and attention for it.
Heading into 2021, the Chiefs will be without veteran cornerback Bashaud Breeland after he signed with the Minnesota Vikings, but have since added veteran Mike Hughes and undrafted rookie Dicaprio Bootle to spice up the group a little bit. They return Charvarius Ward, L'Jarius Sneed, Deandre Baker, Rashad Fenton and BoPete Keyes, a group that doesn't really have a high ceiling, but does have a solid floor. Sneed is the key member of that group after an outstanding rookie year in 2020. One could even argue that Sneed was the best rookie cornerback in football, considering his three interceptions and 66.6 passer rating allowed when targeted, according to Pro Football Focus. He should be the top guy on the depth chart.
After Sneed, you have a battle between Hughes, Ward, Baker, Fenton and Keyes for spots two through six, with potential for a variety of different orders you could put them into and have it make sense. If a couple of these players could really stand out in this preseason to claim a starting spot and give us something to be excited about, that would be a fun development for a not-particularly-flashy group.
6. How does Trey Lance look?
This might actually be the thing that excites me the most for this game. The 49ers took North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance with the third pick of the 2021 NFL Draft in April and I, for one, am really looking forward to seeing his first professional snaps. Lance is an uber-talented dual-threat quarterback, with one of the most absurd season stat lines you will ever see at any level. It's almost reminiscent of Derrick Henry's high school numbers. That's how dominant it is.
That's right, he played 16 games, had nearly 3,900 total yards, 42 total touchdowns and zero interceptions over 287 passing attempts. Sure, it's FCS and, sure, he was on the FCS version of Alabama, but this should be impossible. Now that Lance is out of that system, will we see him continue to thrive or will we see him falter a bit? I am not sure yet, as he was personally my QB4 of this stacked draft class, trailing Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson and Justin Fields, but I think he shows clear potential to be a star quarterback and the dual-threat aspect of his game could be a sight to behold for everyone, including Chiefs fans.
Especially during a preseason game, enjoy what could be the debut of a special quarterbacking talent, even when he comes from the other team. No matter what, we can say on Saturday that we saw the first rendition of Trey Lance as an NFL quarterback.
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