Biggest Winners and Losers From Chiefs' Preseason Week One Loss to the Los Angeles Rams

The Kansas City Chiefs dropped their preseason opener to the Los Angeles Rams 20-12 on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium. Still, the scoreboard was about the least important thing to come out of the afternoon. Before getting into the biggest winners and losers, a few developments are worth noting.

R Mason Thomas flashed some legitimate speed rush juice on a couple of snaps, which is exactly what you want to see from the second-round edge rusher in his first professional action.

Andrew Armstrong caught a pass early with the starters, created yards after the catch, and showed that he may be the best blocking wide receiver on the roster.

Cyrus Allen caught a couple of passes and lived up to the hype that has been building in St. Joseph all summer.

And the Kahlil Benson storyline is very much real. After the first series, he was on the sideline with the rest of the first team, lining up at right guard in place of the injured Trey Smith. The evaluation of him at right tackle will have to wait, but his presence with the ones speaks for itself.

Those were all positive developments, but the group that stood out most was the running back room, a position that has been a glaring weakness for the Chiefs over the past two seasons.

Here is a full breakdown of the biggest winners and losers from Saturday afternoon.

Chiefs Preseason Winners: Week 1

Emmett Johnson, Running Back

Nobody helped their stock more on Saturday than the fifth-round rookie out of Nebraska, Emmett Johnson. With Kenneth Walker exiting the game very early, Johnson got significant runway alongside 2025 seventh-rounder Brashard Smith, and the two split carries through the third quarter. Johnson was the standout of the pair.

In total, he carried the ball 12 times for 59 yards and caught three passes, with his longest run going 13 yards and his best receiving play being an 11-yard screen pass. What stood out was not just the production, but the style.

Johnson showed a knack for running hard between the tackles while also having the instincts to bounce things outside when the opportunity presented itself. That combination of downhill running and wiggle is exactly what the Chiefs envisioned when they traded up to select him.

Kenneth Walker is at his best with a capable running mate behind him, and Johnson looks the part. Both are locked up for the next three seasons, and it is not unfair to say that, based on Saturday's showing, Johnson would have been the Chiefs' running back one in 2025.

Jaden Hicks, Safety

This one qualifies as a redemption arc of sorts. Hicks flashed in a limited role as a rookie, but 2025 did not go according to plan, and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo gradually phased him out of the rotation. Coming into Saturday, the third-year safety was in a real fight to reclaim relevance in the secondary behind Alohi Gilman and Chamarri Conner.

Against second- and third-team competition, he was a man amongst boys. Hicks collected seven tackles, including a tackle for loss, and broke up a pass in the end zone, playing deep into the game. The pecking order above him has not changed, but if Saturday is any indication that Spagnuolo's trust in him is beginning to rebuild, that is a meaningful development. He has the size and talent. The question has always been whether it would show up consistently, and it did on Saturday.

Harrison Butker, Kicker

Butker provided all 12 of the Chiefs' points on Saturday, converting four field goals, including three chip shots and one that turned heads. With the Chiefs tied in the third quarter, the 10-year veteran drilled a 59-yarder with room to spare to give Kansas City a 9-6 lead. At 31 years old, his leg strength does not appear to be going anywhere.

A failed onside kick late was a blemish on the afternoon, but Butker's performance was otherwise a reminder of what the Chiefs have in him. He was outstanding last season, making 33 of 38 field goals, though he missed four extra points, a departure from his career standard. A clean, strong preseason showing like Saturday is a good sign that the extra point issues may be behind him.

Garrett Nussmeier, Quarterback

This was a highly anticipated individual performance of the afternoon, and Garrett Nussmeier delivered. Justin Fields played first and went 4-for-4 for 41 yards in a clean, efficient outing. Then Nussmeier took over and had the field to himself for an extended stretch through the third quarter, and he made the most of every snap.

He finished 13-for-19 for 98 yards, led three scoring drives, and punted just once. Each of those scoring drives consisted of at least 10 plays, methodically moving down the field alongside Johnson through a grind-it-out approach.

He distributed the ball multiple times to Nikko Remigio, Jake Briningstool, Johnson, and Allen, and showed genuine poise and escapability when plays broke down. The Chiefs have not carried a third quarterback since 2023. Sunday proved that is likely to change.

Chiefs Preseason Losers: Week 1

Emari Demercado, Running Back

One of the Chiefs' first offensive additions this offseason, Demercado was billed as a capable third-down back who can block, catch passes, and generate explosive plays in space. None of that may be inaccurate, but Saturday raised a question about where he actually fits on this depth chart.

Both Smith and Johnson received significant reps before Demercado entered the game, and his first action came as a kick returner before he eventually got a handful of carries with the third-team offensive line. He took three carries for nine yards, which is not a damning stat line on its own.

The concern is the context. Heading into camp, the assumption was that Kansas City would keep four running backs. After Saturday, that feels less certain. If Johnson has made himself the clear running back two behind Walker, and Smith has shown enough to stick as the primary returner and niche back, the math starts to work against Demercado.

Kristian Fulton, Cornerback

Like Demercado, Fulton did not look bad on Saturday. He collected three tackles and did not get torched. But that is almost beside the point. Second-year undrafted free agent Melvin Smith Jr. saw the field before Fulton did, and Fulton is coming off a hip injury that has limited his availability throughout camp.

With Mansoor Delane expected to be full-go in the coming weeks and Nohl Williams firmly entrenched as a starter, Fulton is fighting for the third cornerback role on a roster where Brett Veach can still save $5 million against the cap by releasing him on cutdown day.

He is the team's seventh-highest cap hit this season. Playing behind an undrafted player while managing an injury is not the optics he needed heading into preseason Week 2. The Buccaneers game next Saturday will tell a much more complete story.

Backup offensive line's discipline

The most consistent frustration of the afternoon had nothing to do with production and everything to do with execution. The Chiefs committed 12 penalties for 83 yards, with seven of those coming in the first half alone, totaling 58 yards. Drive after drive was stalled or erased by flags.

The most egregious example came when Johnson bullied his way into the end zone on what appeared to be a touchdown, only to have Hunter Nourzad flagged for holding, resulting in a Harrison Butker field goal instead. The flag was questionable, but that was not an isolated incident.

Johnson had two first-down runs called back, and Smith had a screen pass that set up a promising third-and-one wiped off the board as well. The majority of the penalties came from the second- and third-team offensive line, which offers some context, but twelve penalties are twelve penalties. If that carelessness bleeds into the regular season, it will cost this team drives, and possibly games.

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