The First Few Days of Full-Squad Chiefs Training Camp Brought a Bit of Everything

The Kansas City Chiefs have officially arrived at their first weekend of full-squad training camp, and there's been plenty of action taking place since everyone got onto the practice field on Wednesday.

From young players making names for themselves to veterans looking a bit out of place and everything in between, camp before pads has brought out the best of some and the worst of others. The good news is there's plenty of time left for things to change as general manager Brett Veach, head coach Andy Reid and company later decide on a 53-man roster for the regular season.

What are some of the good, bad and ugly parts of camp that have stood out thus far? Tucker Franklin and Matt Verderame discussed that and more on an end-of-July episode of the That Football Show podcast on KC Sports Network.

The Good: Some Young Players Are Stepping Up

A major bright spot for the Chiefs is they've had several young pieces turn some heads in training camp. Part of that stemmed from getting a head start due to rookies, quarterbacks and injured veterans reporting early, but a good chunk of that momentum has carried over into this week.

On the offensive side of the ball, fifth-round wide receiver Cyrus Allen has made multiple highlight plays already and looks to be on the same page as quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Undrafted rookie tackle Kahlil Benson also drew significant praise from center Creed Humphrey for how he goes about his business.

Defensively, it's been the Nohl Williams show at cornerback. The second-year man looks to be on his way to securing a starting job at his position if he keeps this excellent play up.

The Bad: There's Plenty Left to Clean Up and Sort Out

For every shining star at camp, one or more players have displayed some rust and/or inconsistency. It's nothing to worry about at this juncture, but the closer we get to preseason games, the less margin for error there is.

Kansas City is intentional with the reps it dishes out in St. Joseph, Missouri, so it's paramount that everyone makes the most of those opportunities. If not, Veach may be forced to take a longer look at his roster construction and weigh whether an external addition makes sense with cutdown day at the end of this month.

Earlier this week, team Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt spoke about maintaining or creating salary cap flexibility for potential late-summer additions.

“Well, during this offseason we did a number of things to create cap space so that we could add the players that we've added to the roster," Hunt said. "But invariably as you get close to the season, there are always injuries or perhaps places that you want to get better. Certainly, if we feel like we need to do that, if we need to create some cap space, we'll do that to make sure that we go into the season as strong as we can.”

The Ugly: Major Questions About the Wide Receiver Room Remain

It's amazing for Allen that he's making a name for himself and connecting with his two-time MVP quarterback. At the same time, it's scary that the rest of the receiver room has yet to do much to stand out.

The re-signed Tyquan Thornton has made a nice play or two, yet the returns on the Rashee Rice-Xavier Worthy duo have been underwhelming at best. Again, it's early in camp, but Worthy has shown poor sideline awareness again and Rice looks slower than usual coming off a knee procedure.

If the Rice, Worthy and Thornton trio doesn't work out this season, it's hard to see the offense being an elite unit, even with new running back Kenneth Walker III in the fold. These players are critical to the team's overall success, so it's worth keeping an eye on how they progress in the coming days and weeks.

That's without even considering the non-Allen options near the end of the depth chart.

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