Chiefs Who Raised Their Stock in the First Preseason Game
The Kansas City Chiefs kicked off their preseason with a 19-16 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday, and for a preseason game, it was a fun and enticing watch. The Chiefs went on a late touchdown run by undrafted rookie quarterback Shane Buechele to retake the lead with just 1:14 to go. It was a relief to have Chiefs football back after more than six months away, and it could be the start of another special season finishing in glory.
Against the 49ers, seven primary non-starters made a clear impact in the game and raised their stock, either making a case for a starting job or for a roster spot heading into the 2021 season.
Winner No. 1: DL Tershawn Wharton
The first player on this list has to be second-year interior defender Tershawn Wharton, who looked like the best player on the field at times. Wharton was creating consistent pressure, recording four pressures and a sack over 15 pass rushes according to Pro Football Focus (PFF) in addition to a 94.0 PFF grade, which was the highest grade of the game and the highest grade for any defensive lineman in the NFL in the preseason so far. If Wharton can keep this up at all in the final two games of the preseason, he should get a strong consideration to start on the defensive line along with Chris Jones, Frank Clark and either Derrick Nnadi or Jarran Reed.
Winner No. 2: CB Deandre Baker
The defensive back who clearly stood out the most when watching the game live had to be cornerback Deandre Baker, the 2019 30th overall pick out of Georgia. Baker seemed to be all over the field, nearly intercepting a pass from 49ers quarterback Trey Lance and having an additional pass breakup against Lance later on as well. Baker was targeted an additional four times and allowed zero completions. Baker played well all-around, too, getting a 70+ overall grade, run defense grade, tackling grade and coverage grade by PFF.
Baker also played on both sides of the field, playing nearly an identical amount of snaps between left outside cornerback and right outside cornerback. This positional flexibility could help Baker's case for a roster spot and even for a starting job tremendously. Personally, I think he certainly deserves to be a top-four cornerback on the team along with L'Jarius Sneed, Charvarius Ward and Rashad Fenton.
Winner No. 3: LT Prince Tega Wanogho
On the offensive line, one player who really showed up outside of the starters was left tackle Prince Tega Wanogho, the second-year player out of Auburn. I've always been intrigued by the prospect of Wanogho having a place on this team since the Chiefs brought him in following his exit from the Philadelphia Eagles, and things went well for him on Saturday.
After the starting offensive line, including two-time Pro Bowler Orlando Brown Jr. at left tackle, exited the game, Wanogho played 36 snaps and received an 85.8 overall grade from PFF, the highest among Chiefs offensive players and the highest among offensive tackles so far in the preseason. Wanogho was on the second team with Mike Remmers not being available, and Remmers is listed as the second-string left tackle with Wanogho as the third-string left tackle on the team's first unofficial depth chart, but I think it'd be a much better idea to have Wanogho as the second-string left tackle and Remmers as the second-string right tackle (as opposed to Andrew Wylie) going forward. Give Wanogho a chance!
Winner No. 4: TE Jody Fortson
It's everyone's favorite: The one and only Jody Fortson! Fortson has been a training camp/preseason darling among Chiefs fans for three seasons now and Saturday could've been the game that showed he has a chance to make it. Fortson played 35 offensive snaps, getting targeted five times and catching three of them for 32 yards, with 19 of them coming on a one-handed catch on the final drive that had Chiefs Twitter raving. The thing that must also be a welcome sight for Chiefs fans who want Fortson on the roster is that he also played 13 special teams snaps, tied for the most on the game among Chiefs. Fortson received an 88.7 grade from PFF there, which was the best on the team by a good margin. Fortson got consistent snaps and made a consistently positive impact on both offense and special teams in this game. Other Chiefs pass-catchers have made previous rosters showing a lot less. I really hope he gets a boost on the next depth chart from this performance.
Winner No. 5: DL Khalen Saunders
This was an important game for Saunders, as the former third-round pick enters his third season with the Chiefs. Saunders dealt with an injury in 2020 and mostly stood back in a loaded interior defender room over the last couple of years with Chris Jones, Derrick Nnadi, Mike Pennel, Tershawn Wharton and now Jarran Reed standing in his way for playing time. However, with Pennel gone and Jones playing a bulk of snaps on the edge, Saunders may have a chance for some playing time this season, and he showed some flashes that he might deserve it as well. Saunders played 24 snaps on Saturday and he ended up with an 87.5 PFF grade with good run defense, tackling and pass rush grades to show he was good all-around. Perhaps this will be the showing that gives Saunders a good enough boost to help him take a leap forward with the Chiefs.
Winner No. 6: WR Daurice Fountain
Even among six other winners, Daurice Fountain is the player who I think raised his stock the most. Fountain is entering his fourth NFL season after being selected in the fifth round of the 2018 Draft by the Indianapolis Colts after a successful career at Northern Iowa and a Shrine Bowl Offensive MVP award. In the recent unofficial depth chart, Fountain was towards the back of the wide receiver room, surrounded by Gehrig Dieter, Chad Williams and Dalton Schoen, but he actually led the Chiefs in targets on the game with six and he caught four of them for 38 yards, making him the Chiefs' leading receiver in the game. Fountain showed he can make difficult catches in there as well. He certainly earned another look from the Chiefs and I think he ought to be given a true chance to grab one of the final roster spots by the end of the preseason.
Winner No. 7: EDGE Tim Ward
This was a huge game for Tim Ward. Ward had three pressures and a game-high two sacks over 22 pass rushes, including the game-finishing sack with 22 seconds remaining. The third-year edge defender out of Old Dominion will mainly be competing with nine-year veteran Alex Okafor and former first-round pick Taco Charlton, in my opinion, with the top three defensive ends in my mind being Chris Jones, Frank Clark and Mike Danna, and fourth-round rookie Joshua Kaindoh maybe getting a spot as well. This edge defender battle ought to be a fun competition heading into this regular season and it will be interesting to see if Ward can come out on top.
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