Chiefs Anxiety Meter: Ranking Kansas City’s BIGGEST Concerns
The Chiefs offseason has reached the quiet zone, so it's time for a full anxiety check. Adam Best and Sterling Holmes run through the biggest Kansas City Chiefs concerns heading toward training camp, from offensive uncertainty to defensive trust issues, roster questions, player development, and how much fans should actually worry.
Video Transcript
Welcome.
This is Wacky Wednesday on the Arrowhead Addict Channel.
I'm the blog father Adam Best, and as always, I'm joined by the golden voice of Sterling Holmes.
Sterling, we're kind of in the, I don't wanna say the dog days of summer, but we're in the, the death stretch of the NFL calendar.
I mean, maybe the calendar announcement for the schedule will save us, but we've got nothing from here basically until training camp, right?
So, it's funny, I, uh, was talking, we were talking with, um, Cynthia Freeland, NFL Network today.
And even she doesn't know when the schedule is going to be released.
We were just laughing.
We're like, come on, come on.
What are we doing here in NFL?
Come on, Goodell.
Do you think Goodell knows?
Uh, those nerds who are doing their spreadsheets right now.
Oh, man.
But no, you're right.
Although there is still some fun things to talk about.
I, I, I think this year more than most OTAs, training camp, even rookie minicamp, which we're starting to witness right now.
This team has a lot of spots up for, uh, up for grabs, which makes it at least a little, uh, exciting in some sense.
The offense is very settled, but defensively, I think things are, are still a bit of a mystery in certain places, uh, how everything is gonna shake out, and we'll, we'll get to that.
Uh, yeah, the schedule.
That's kind of like the last big bullet the NFL has.
The NFL has really tried to stretch out the calendar, so it's a yearly league, right?
And they haven't quite accomplished that yet, but they're going to 18 games, it sounds like, which will give us an extra buy, which will probably push the Super Bowl to what?
The , the end of February or something like that.
So, so, uh, and again, this year, we've been talking about the offseason for a long time, but I, I think Mahomes watch is gonna give us, uh, something to dial into, and it sounds like by all accounts, we're ahead of schedule, which, uh, never a doubt really.
If there's one person you wanna bet on recovering like Wolverine.
It is, it's Patrick Mahomes.
You knew he was gonna put the Coors Light aside for six months and, and really go to the lab and focus like he's never focused before.
You can't pull fat though.
You can't pull fat, so keep bringing the Coors Lights.
Well, yeah, I mean, he's 30 now.
You've turned 30, you know how it is.
Wait, wait, wait till you guys turn 40.
That's, that's the real, we gotta get, I wanna be talking about Mahomes like this when he's 40.
Dude, I'm 32.
People who complain about their age, I have to pump the brakes a little bit, OK?
I'm 32.
Outside of my incurable shitty ankle, uh, doing laundry, I feel as good as ever, OK?
My mom is 69.
And she always says she feels as good as ever.
She feels the same way she did when she was 18.
So maybe it's a, it's a Guthrie thing.
It's my, that's my middle name, that's her last name.
Or I think people complain too much.
You're as young as you believe you are.
I feel as sharp as I've ever felt, uh, but I think physically there's some things you just can't do.
Every, every decade, you have to say goodbye to something like, not with that attitude.
Well, you know, sometimes I still push it and sleep 5 hours and go to, you know, and go to bed at 2 in the morning or something .
I just can't recover as quickly, right?
You know, hangovers get worse every decade, probably.
There, there are just things that, that kind of happen to you, but I, I agree, uh .
Age is somewhat a mentality and you really need to, to, uh, to hang on to staying young.
That's why I'm always always making myself like take in new music, take in new movies, kind of just like appreciate new things because I think when you stop evolving, that's when you really start aging.
So, we just need to, uh, I mean, Travis Kelsey is an example for us, for us all .
He's cooler than he's ever been.
You know, he's still got it.
We're gonna talk about Travis Kelsey today.
And what we're gonna talk about today.
It, it's kind of gonna be a little bit of a therapy session, you know, we're gonna do the Kansas City Chiefs anxiety meter.
And if you're someone that doesn't like any negativity in your Chiefs coverage, I don't know if this is gonna be the show for you.
I, and I, I also don't know how Uh, to talk about the Chiefs and process and really analyze them without a little bit of negativity, but I actually think despite the framing, we're gonna come out probably feeling better than we're, we're coming into the show.
So, so just stick with this here, we're gonna sort this out, and I think we will leave feeling better than we came in, but I've got, I think, 15 statements for us.
And uh 0 is no anxiety at all.
5 is about as anxious as you can get.
It's, it's Bob Sutton and Tom Brady is marching down the field in overtime in the AFC championship game.
I mean, that, that, that's a 5 and, and 0, I, I'm trying to think what, what 0 would be.
Uh, it's, it's Mahomes in overtime with the ball to win against the 49ers, all right?
Those, those, those are the two, those are the two spectrums .
So, in, in between, I don't know, 33 is like.
I don't know, Dick, Dick Vermil, the Dick Vermeil teams, all right.
All right.
The first one is what Andy Reid does on 4th and short without Kareem Khan at running back.
How anxious are we about this?
3.
OK. 3.
I've had some concerns about this because that, that wasn't Kenneth Walker's job in Seattle either.
That, that was Zach Charbonnet.
Charbonnet came in for those situations, but I think Emmett Johnson can do some of those things as well.
Um, I think Emmett Johnson is a, is a, without.
Kenneth Walker, I think would be a 3-down back even as a rookie in the NFL.
I do believe that.
That's not me trying to get on the hype train, but, but I do believe that.
Um, DeMarcado is a 3rd-down back, but not a short yardage back.
He, he's been the, the long speed guy, you know, a receiver.
Obviously, not Rashard Smith, who even knows what's gonna happen with him.
That's why I've said I don't, I wouldn't hate if they brought back Kareem Hunt, even on the practice squad breaking case of emergency like Clyde was last year.
I do think you have Kyris Tonga who did play a little fullback as well.
I know it sounds funny.
I'm not being facetious.
He did play some fullback, and with Tonga being a fullback, then maybe you just give the ball to Walker and say, hey, follow Kyris Tonga, follow his ass and make it work.
I don't know.
They don't, they won't run QB sneaks, especially not now.
Um, there's no Blake Bell for the Belldozer.
So, I think it's a 3, but I'm not too worried about it yet.
Uh, I'm a 4, and it's not just because I think they're gonna struggle to pick these up, it's because I think Andy Reid might be.
He might turtle up a little bit.
He might become more conservative and, and go for these 4th and shorts less than before.
And if you look at Kareem Hunt and Kenneth Walker, you could not find more diametrically opposed running backs in the NFL.
I saw a chart yesterday, I forget who shared it, but it was basically like, Uh, yards per carry on one side, success rate on the other, and Kareem Hunt is like the success rate king, but his yards per carry are like one of the lowest in the league, and some of that is because he was a specialist in shortdown situations, and Kareem Hunt knows, like if it's 4th and 2, he's gonna get 1 inch over 2 yards.
He's not trying to get 20 yards, you know, he's just trying to do his job, that's what Kareem Hunt does and he does it well.
Kenneth Walker, on the other, on the other hand, is like, he's getting stuffed in the backfield or he's ripping off 20 yards, you know, he is very boom or bust.
I think that's frankly what the Chiefs need.
I will take him getting stuffed if opposing defenses are scared of him, unlike, you know, the situation in Kansas City these past few years, where there's been just a blatant disregard and disrespect.
For the Kansas City rushing attack.
So, but it, it is a different situation and I don't know that, like you said, Emery Dermacao, that's not his forte.
Emmett Johnson, I don't know that he's really built to be a short yardage back and Andy Reid can get a, I mean, he, he's had some wonderful 4th-down plays in the playoffs.
I, I, and I, I really like booting out with Mahomes, and I think that is Uh, a paralyzing situation for the defense.
And also, I mean, he, he had to roll out with Chad Henney to Tyreek Hill on a 4th and 1 against the Browns in, in the playoffs, but he's also done things like had the bulldozer, Wildcat in motion and, and Had Nicole Hardman in Wildcat and, and he gets a little too obsessed with the shovel pass, and I think the league is kind of the shovel pass has been found out, right?
Yeah.
So, uh, I, I also, I, I really respect Kareem Hunt, and I think he really redeemed himself and came back to Kansas City.
He's turned his life around.
He's a warrior.
He went out on a sled.
I don't want to see him on the roster.
I think sometimes players like this.
And Juju Smith-Schuster and some guys on defense can kind of be a binky for Andy Reid and Steve Spagnolo.
I'm not trying to be mean, but if you give them these types of guys, they feel so comfortable with these types of guys, they are going to play them, whether or not it is in the best interest of the long-term health of the franchise.
I would like to see Emmett Johnson get on the field and develop into that, that change of pace, but, you know, the, the McKinnon, uh, version for this team.
The next one is another, another interesting one, it's kind of the inverse of this.
If Spags will play rookie edge or Mason Thomas when it's 3rd and 9 in crunch time.
Does this mean week 1 or week 14?
Split the difference Most of the season.
Most of the season.
2.
I think he does.
I think, I think he plays our Mason Thomas.
Like I, I'm just, I'm not saying one because there's always that part of me that's like, no, he just, he just won't do it, but that, that's so low down the totem pole.
Um, and the only reason why I even say no too is I think at times you would see Car Loftus, Omar Norman Lott, Peter Woods, and then Chris Jones outside.
Like I could also see that being a, a, a lineup that they run at some point on 3rd and 9.
That wouldn't shock me.
But I think we'll see Chris Jones, hopefully more on 3rd 9, be on the inside with Woods or Omar and Omanlat.
And then you bring in, um, as of now, maybe Cam Jordan comes in, we'll find out.
But even if Cam Jordan comes here on 3rd 9.
If Ashton Gillati is 1st and 2nd down, put in our Mason Thomas on 3rd and 9.
You brought him in for that reason, use him for that reason.
Uh, so I'm, I'm fairly confident that Spaggs will, I, I have to imagine that Veach and him have conversations about this.
I cannot imagine with pick 40, Veach didn't even, uh, inquire with, with Spaggs and if he'd use this guy.
Och, a little different, right?
That's a flyer, late-round guy, little, little, little, little different situation, middle of the season.
Cam Thomas, same thing.
No, I, I, I, I'm pretty confident they'll use him on 3rd and 9.
Maybe Joshua Ohier was a gateway drug.
Maybe this is the Long Game by Brett Veach.
He was like, I'm gonna test this out, uh, get, you know, get Spags used to the idea that I might do this to him, that I might drop this kind of player on him.
Uh, but, but also, yeah, sometimes I joke around and, and use Joshua Ocher as a reason why he might do this.
Uh, and I think the league is pretty much, Said what they think about Joshua O'Shea at this point, uh, and as far as FAU, I think FAU is a little different.
FAU is one of these guys, he, he is a little bit more of a speed rusher than a power rusher, but he's not really explosive.
He's kind of one of these good at everything guys, where I think our Mason Thomas is kind of a specialist.
He is explosive around the edge, and that's what he does, and the, the Chiefs haven't had somebody like that since Dee Ford.
And unfortunately, we never got to see Spagnolo with Dee Ford, but he did have, uh, he did have a guy in Saint Louis.
Was it Robert Quinn?
Is that who I'm thinking about?
Probably Robert Quinn.
Robert Quinn was this kind of player, and he, he played him.
He played him quite a bit as a rookie.
So I don't think he's completely, uh, against the idea if the guy is good.
Uh, I should have probably used 3rd and 6th.
You know, or 3rd and 5, where they're a little bit more worried about a quarterback scrambling like booting out or something like that, uh, or, or maybe even a run and a team going forward on 4th down.
But in 3rd and 9, I'm probably a 2 or 3.
I think he's gonna play this guy and I think on draft day, the, the left hand is talking to the right and Brett Veach and him kind of made this pick together.
He didn't look over the moon with the pick, uh, you know, like when he, when they drafted George Carlosis, he's like, this is my new son, this is my new large adult son.
I didn't get that vibe with Arma and Thomas, but, you know, I think these draft day conversations are a kind of a collaborative effort and Spags got Mansor Delane with a trade-up at 6.
So I think the rest of the team might have been like, Spags, you know, you gotta, you gotta give and take, dude.
This is, this is the way, this is the way it works.
Um, all right.
I think we're pretty united on that one.
Next up, if Rasheed Rice can stay out of trouble.
Only 1 year left on the contract, so that's, I know a lot of people think he's coming back.
I, I personally do not.
But that doesn't really matter right now.
What we're talking about is can he stay out of trouble for essentially one, not even one calendar year.
Uh, 6, I'm concerned.
I mean, why wouldn't we?
Yeah.
The only reason why it's not higher is because I, I hope he understands that if he gets in trouble again.
Well, I don't know who's taking him on.
Like I, I don't, if he got in trouble again, I'm not saying the same situation.
Obviously, with the same situation, I don't think you're ever playing a snap a football ever again.
I think you're done at that point.
I think you're, I think Goodell's just gonna say, no, you're, you're done, man.
Sorry.
Um, But like anything.
Anything He has to stay out of trouble or else he's not making any money.
And I'm not trying to count pocket watch or whatever they, they, they call it, but like we can do math.
We know he's on a rookie contract on a 2nd year or 2nd-round guy rookie contract, and we know how much he has to pay in, in, in legal fees and to the, to the, um, defendants.
The 2nd contract's gonna matter.
Like he, you'd have to imagine, he would need that 2nd contract.
I think any human being would, even if you saved extremely well, we can do math, we know how it breaks down.
So for me, he has to stay out of trouble.
He has to.
But at the same time, will he?
I can't trust it.
I cannot trust it.
And so for that, I'm still at a 6.
I hope so.
I hope he learned his lesson.
I hope everything's, uh, Copa it going forward , but Yeah, I will go 6 with you.
I hate to do it.
I know there are some Chiefs fans who get really mad about this.
They're like, well, he only had the one thing.
Yeah, he, he, you know, there was a lot of worries, the character certain stuff were, were attached to him coming out of SMU.
So, it's not one thing and the one thing is extremely egregious.
I mean it is the kind of thing where he is lucky, he is very lucky things went his way because he would be in jail.
If we were not, if we were not a professional athlete, we would all be in jail.
Probably and he is, he is also lucky, it, it didn't go the way.
Henry Rugg's situation with .
It could have been, it could have been worse.
There, there are other things that have been reported.
There was a, there was a strip club thing, I guess it ended up being nothing.
This thing with his ex, like, uh, innocent until proven guilty, but his name keeps popping up and I don't know.
I just, he just makes me nervous, but I will say very few players in NFL history have had this much, much motivation to keep their shit straight, because he could be penniless two years from now, or he could be on a I mean, I probably think he's headed for a, a, a, a proven deal that's 1 for 15 or 2 for 40 or something, but if he really cleans his act up and continues to compile monster seasons, if he has a 15-yard season and, you know, proves it again, I mean, this is a guy that could make $100 million in his career.
Look at the, look at the contract Alc Pierce just got.
Al Pierce is a very good player, but he's also a bit of a specialist.
He's he's not someone who can do, you know, he, he's not, uh, Malik Neighbors.
He can't do everything, right?
And neither can Rasheed Rice, but that kind of player can still make $30 million a year.
If, if there's no character concerns, right?
And I, I think that's, so we have to hope that Rasheed Rice is, I mean, I, I would like to think he's not so much of a knucklehead that he's just gonna flush that kind of future on the pop, the, the , the toilet, but I, I, I don't know.
I don't know.
I've seen, I've seen people do it before , so we shall see.
Uh, a similar question here, statement.
If Kenneth Walker can stay healthy.
Now, this has not really been.
His calling card either and it's one of the reasons we saw so much Kenneth uh Zach Charbonnet in Seattle along with Zach Charbonnet being a little bit better, not as good of a receiver, but a better, better pass protection, more trusted on the goal line, more trusted in short yardage.
Oh yeah, it, it's a concern for me, but I guess why I'm gonna go a 3 and not higher is because I think they've They've hedged their bets with a couple of pretty exciting backs.
Berard Smith is still around.
You, you'd hope with another year of camps and, and studying that he would be more comfortable at at the running back position.
And also I just think Andy Reid is probably going to use him less than they used him in Seattle.
I mean, maybe not with him being the future back, but they, they run the ball more in Seattle.
That's just a, that's just a fact.
Uh, I'll say 5.
He went 1515, 1117.
There's the game he's played in his four-year career so far.
So last year, you'd probably say he's the outlier.
I think we'll see some games where he gets banged up and plays through it or, you know, he maybe he misses a series or two and comes back.
It's running back, man.
Being healthy as a running back and playing all 17 games and staying healthy for the entire game is, it's rare, it's hard.
They take a beating.
But again, as you mentioned, they hedge their bets.
So like on him staying, playing 15+ games, right out of 5 .
But you're right, I, I do think that there is Emmett Johnson, DeMarcado, you at least have options now.
I will point out DeMarcado, I'm high on, I'm excited about, but it wasn't like he was getting a whole bunch of run in Arizona even with some bad teams, even with James Connor getting injured.
It wasn't like, yeah, let's turn the reins over to, to DeMarcado.
That wasn't the case.
So there is still at least a little bit of, um, Can he be a guy for a game or two, or is it Emmett Johnson and then DeMarcutto still stays in the same role as like a third-down back?
We'll find out, but either way, the running back room is so much, uh, more upside than in previous seasons by a long shot .
So I'll probably say 5 though, just in general of can he stay healthy for a full season.
It's hard.
I don't blame him if he misses a game or two.
As long as he's good for the postseason, that's what matters.
Let's stick with running back, Emery DiMicado being the primary pass protection back for really the first time in his career.
Uh, again, I'm, you know, I'm like a 2.
I saw him.
He got thrust into a lot of action versus Dallas last year.
And I saw like rep after rep of fantastic pass blocking from him.
Uh, and the thing about the Arizona Cardinals is they are contenders for the worst run franchise in the NFL throne.
So, I, I don't know, like, I know he got in the doghouse for that stupid fumbling thing on the long touchdown.
Uh, I also know that last year around this time, it was hard not to get excited about Elijah Mitchell.
Now, part of that was Just, just a hope and a wish and a prayer because we were distraught over the, the other running backs, right, the, the plan at running back, but I, I, I've kind of learned to pump the brakes on this kind of guy.
Uh, I think Derek McKinnon and, and Damian Williams kind of made us think, oh, all these guys are going to hit and that's certainly not , not the case, but he, I mean, he really is an explosive running back.
They tried to match.
Somebody to Kenneth Walker, kind of with the, the boom or bust potential and, you know, he's graded out.
Uh, I know, I think PFF has its, has its uses and, and, and it's not always useful, but I think when it comes to like running backs, pass protecting, where else are you gonna find that information unless you just go back and grind tape.
And he, it's been mixed results, but he had one season in the 70s.
So, I don't really have a doubt he can do it and in fact, I, I haven't seen anybody else on the roster who can do it yet.
I don't think Emmett Johnson is ready.
That is not Kenneth Walker's strong suit.
Breshard Smith, that is not his strong.
That's why he couldn't get on the damn field last year.
So it really has to be DeMarcado.
Yeah, I, I, I'll say 31 more than you just because.
We haven't seen a ton of it.
And so I was high on Elijah Mitchell last year and so I don't wanna.
Fall into the same trap.
This does feel a little different because it wasn't like, Mitchell was kind of, coming off a major inju injuries, you know, he, he had a whole bunch going on.
So, it is a little different.
I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll say 3.
For the most part, I, I believe.
Again, that's me saying 70% believe in DeMarcado being a really solid, useful 3rd-down back.
And again, if not, you still have options, but I, I, I think that he gets first crack and I do think he does a good job with it.
Staying on the offensive side here, let's do whether or not Xavier Worthy will take the big step forward we've been waiting on, uh, the big change here along with presumably health.
is that Chad O'Shea is now his positional coach and if you think Connor Embry was the problem and had no business being elevated to that high of a position in the National Football League, maybe you're warm to this idea.
I'll, I'll let you take it first.
Um, so lower means I think he's going to break out.
Correct.
3 I am convinced that Xavier Worthy, and I was like Xavier, what's funny is, while everyone's jumped off of the Worthy train from early on, I feel like I'm buying stock low, right?
Buy low, sell high.
I sold high when he was drafted.
I'm buying now that the market's crashed unworthy.
I, I think people are too negative on unworthy heading into this year because we've seen glimpses that.
You're like, that's a wide receiver too.
Like that's, that, that's a legit wide receiver too.
And I know he's small.
I know the injury, and I know, I, I get all that stuff.
With Hollywood Brown gone.
They can play him in the Hollywood Brown role.
They can play Tyquan Thornton in the Xavier Worthy last year role.
And oh, don't forget.
They will see so much fewer lightboxes because of Kenneth Walker.
I think Kenneth Walker is gonna make this wide receiver room look the way it was supposed to look last year.
I firmly believe that.
And I think Worthy is gonna be the, the biggest benefactor of that.
Who's gonna.
Way more one on ones, way fewer guys up top being able to shade his way as he, as he's trying to run by him on these deep balls.
And he's good in the intermediate area.
I believe that.
That he didn't use him enough because they kept throwing Hollywood Brown.
Well, now you can't use Carlos Pena.
We traded him.
You can't use him.
You can't use Hollywood Brown.
We traded him.
So, I, I think for me, if I pick one wide receiver who is going to surprise people this year, I am buying stock in Xavier Worthy.
Makes sense.
And let's be honest, I call him Inglewood Brown because he hasn't been Hollywood Brown for a few years now.
I, I, I'm , I'm, I'm sorry, man.
I'm not trying to be mean, but, but like he was a diminished version of himself and I think one of the hopes for Xavier Worthy is he can be the Baltimore version, the peak Baltimore version of Hollywood Brown before the, the feet injury kind of ruined Hollywood and put up maybe 800,000 yards, something like that, maybe, maybe he can get uh the deep ball game going a little bit more, maybe they can, they can have him run more of these like.
Horizontal stretching the field routes and, and just make him more of a receiver.
I, I'm a 3.
I like him still not knowing where the sideline is, that like level of awareness after 2 years is troublesome.
I do think some of that could be coaching, but he didn't have great coaching at Texas either.
It , it seems like he, you know, receivers there at the time were taking routes off when the ball wasn't coming to their side of the field and So, I, I think there are just some concerns about whether Worthy will ever become a real kind of big boy receiver.
So, I don't ever expect him to become DeSean Jackson, but I, I don't think he is Nicole Hardman either.
I know, I know the numbers look similar right now, but I, I just think he, he came out more polished, you know, he, he broke out pretty early at Texas.
I know there were some issues with him being a little ras in places.
But I, I, I think he does have some real receiver attributes.
Uh , but then bringing back Tyquan Thornton, I think it is a little bit telling that as much as we want Worthy to be a deep ball guy, I don't know that that's ever gonna be his true calling card.
You know, and you'd love it to be as the fastest guy in the NFL.
It would make sense, but it just doesn't seem like A natural fit for him, right?
Let's stick with receivers , staying with receivers here.
Uh, the team betting on two longshot receivers from Cincinnati to give the passing game some new blood.
Where are you at on the anxiety meter here?
Uh, I don't know, 8.
I don't, I don't know, I don't, I don't think it matters.
Like I, if you're counting on Cyrus Allen or Jeff Caldwell year one, something's gone wrong.
Like, let's be honest.
Cyrus Allen, fun fifth-rounder, 13 touchdowns last year.
You love the numbers, you love what he did.
It's a great story.
I'm rooting for the guy.
He feels like a slot-only guy, so I already have, and, I already have a hard time seeing where he fits.
Like how, how does he get on the field?
I think Royals is ahead of him in the pecking order.
I think that in 3 wide receiver sets, Rice is still in the slot, right?
Feels like that makes the most sense.
So he's 3rd on the depth chart.
So, I don't, again, maybe a long-term outlook looks a lot better if they don't re-sign Rice and maybe Royals can move outside and then all of a sudden you do have Cyrus Allen in the slot in 2 years.
OK, yeah, I, I can buy that.
But if we're talking strictly for this year, I don't see how he really, outside of special teams, because he probably makes a team.
If I had to say right now over Nika Ramijio, I think that's probably how he, he gets on.
Caldwell, I don't know.
I talked with some people and they're like, when they saw him, and he was 108 guys, they're like, no, you, you see why Cyrus Hallen was drafted and Caldwell was not.
Like if you just look at him, like, oh, yeah, look at the size of Caldwell and the RAS scores and all this stuff.
But then you're like, oh, man, uh, OK.
I, I see now why he was a UDFA.
That's what I heard.
So, we'll find out.
Maybe it changes.
I, I didn't go to the previous regime with maybe, um, you know, Embry and Even Aggie or however you want to break that down.
Development at wide receiver hasn't been great.
Let's hope it changes with Chad O'Shea and with BNMA coming back and the details and all the little things.
So we'll find out, but I, I think if you're counting on them to be big impact players year one, I, I think that, uh, You, you believe something has seriously gone wrong with.
Your top 4.
I don't want to be a cosmic killjoy or rain on people's parade because I know this is annual like Bobby Scipio, Deres Fountain, Justin Ross, you know, wide receiver, fringe wide receiver hype train train time and it's fun, but I'm looking at the history of undrafted free agent wide receivers here.
And I'll, I'll run through this list.
I don't see a lot of athletic marvels.
I don't see a lot of genetic specimens, right?
Rod Smith, Wes Welker, Adam Thielen, Victor Cruz, Doug Baldwin, Wayne Crabett, Jacoby Myers, Miles Austin, and Marcus Colston.
So, uh, oh, and, and Lance Moore and Danny Amendola, right?
A lot of great route runners in there like Jacoby Myers, yeah, yeah, a lot, a lot of technicians, right , like pretty much the entire list.
Intangible guys, guys that kind of are gritty and, and you know, to different, to differing degrees.
I think Victor Cruz had some explosiveness, Miles Austin popped at times, but a lot of these guys are just solid, smart football players who stuck.
I, I mean, you can look at Cyrus Allen and see that kind of player.
Jeff Caldwell is not that kind, is not the kind of guy that makes this list in my opinion.
So, The entire NFL would just have to, I mean, for you to be a 10 RAS at receiver and go undrafted, there's a reason, there's a, there's a reason the league passed.
There has to be.
We're gonna move on and finish this up rapid fire, but first we've got a little bit of business.
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All right.
Let's do a lightning round.
We've got about uh a little bit more than 10 minutes left.
We've got 8 of these on the list.
Rapid-fire style.
I've got 3 AFC West ones for you.
The possibility of Fernando Mendoza becoming a top 10 quarterback.
4.
I think to me, he's a really I don't know if I see the upside of him being a top 10 quarterback.
Like, I think he has the upside of being, I like him a lot, by the way.
I didn't think it was a good quarterback class .
So this is not a shot on Mendoza.
I'm rooting for the guy.
He seems like a great guy to root for.
I loved watching him at Indiana.
It was awesome.
OK.
So, that being said, the Raiders are a disaster of an organization, not a great spot to go to if you're a quarterback.
I think it's gonna be hard to develop there.
I think there's a multitude of reasons why it's gonna be an immense uphill battle for him.
But can he be?
What Geno Smith was for Seattle.
Can he be Maybe even Sam Darnold last year for Seattle, where it's, hey, he might not be a top 10 quarterback, but can he get to that 15 to 10 range-ish, right in that range, but you have a great team surrounding him and he can, he can not make any mistakes and at times even uplift your, your, your, your, your, your, uh, your, your team.
I don't see him ever being the Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes.
I don't see him even being in Justin Herbert, um, different style, but like, I don't know.
I, I, I don't see even the Drake May upside cause the like the athleticism of Drake May is really solid, right?
I'm not trying to be a hater.
I just, I see him being a really good longtime NFL Derek Carr, maybe.
Can he be kind of like Derek Carr, where he's never really a top 10 quarterback, but maybe once, maybe twice, you know, in his career, he looks like a top 5 guy for like a year or two, but he normally hovers around that 10 to 15 range.
That's where I see him.
I'm gonna go at 2.
I think he's a little bit more mobile than the person people compare him to, his new teammate Kirk Cousins.
I think the absolute ceiling for him is Dak Prescott, and I'm a Dak Prescott believer.
I think Dak Prescott is a perennial top 10 receiver.
Of course, the uh The discussion around Dak Prescott can be normal because he is the Dallas Cowboys quarterback, but I think that's the ceiling.
I'm not particularly worried about him getting there.
But I, I will say Clint Kubiak as the head coach and Tom Brady in the front office as one of the owners.
It might be a better situation we think with Brock Bowers, with Ashton Genti.
So it's not a completely barren cupboard there.
Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle being the missing ingredient in Denver.
I'm just gonna say, I'm, again, I'm a 2.
The guy can't stay healthy.
I think he's a good player, but I, I don't think he's one of these guys that But like when AJ Brown came into Philly and totally transformed Jalen Hurts, I just don't foresee Jalen Waddle doing that for Bo Nix, and it's not a knock on him.
I think he will help the Denver Broncos, but he's not going to put them over the top.
5.
I'm pretty nervous about it.
I, I, I think Waddle is a really good receiver.
Uh, again, I don't think he's a wide receiver one necessarily.
I think he's like that really good wide receiver two range, like different style of player completely, but I would put him in the almost like the T. Higgins range of like, yeah, different style of player, but they're both like really, really good wide receiver twos.
Yeah, he has to stay healthy, but I, Bo Nix is not really an elite.
Elevator as a quarterback.
So he needs guys around him.
Well, I think that Waddle fits this Denver offense really, really well.
Um.
Yeah, I, I, I would say 5.
I, I think he's gonna, the defense we know is gonna be good in Denver.
We know that.
I think he helps the offense a lot.
So I'm, I'm, I, I'm at about a 5.
I think it was a great pickup by Denver.
This next one is a 5 for me.
I'm just gonna let that speak for itself.
Maybe a 6.
Justin Herbert, AKA if man, uh, as he's called on the internet, with Mike McDaniel, offensive genius, and healthy star tackles.
I'm worried about it.
I can't lie.
I, but I'm, I'm a big, big Mike McDaniel believer and do not believe he was the problem at all in, in Miami, and I think when he left San Francisco, they were worse off for it in that run game.
And you give that guy a Marion Hampton too, it, it might be a scary season.
Yeah, I think 6.5.
I, I, I, I wanted the Chiefs to get Mike McDaniel bad.
I really wanted, wanted that originally.
I, I, I'm glad he's back, but I, I thought Mike was gonna be a real fun addition.
Um, yeah.
One, I, I get it.
They gotta do it.
I know we sound like the national pundits who pick the Chargers every year to go far, and then when they finally do one year, everyone's gonna say, I told you so.
No, I'm not saying they're better than the Chiefs.
I'm not, it's not what I'm getting into, but am I nervous about them?
Yeah, hell yeah.
I think Herbert's a really good quarterback.
And then you have Joe Alt, Rashaw Slater.
Yeah, he didn't have those guys last year and they were still solid.
I'm, I'm nervous because I think that's, is that the best tackle tandem?
Top 3 tackle tandem in the NFL?
I think so.
It's probably the best on paper, right?
Especially, especially young ones, if they can stay healthy.
Justin Herbert was really good last year.
I mean, he faced a lot of adversity, and I did not like their offensive play caller and Greg Roman, and he He still found a way to get them into the playoffs.
Like he's got to play better in the playoffs, but I thought, uh, he even got an MVP vote that I didn't think was crazy.
People got really mad at Sam Monson about that, but I didn't think it was crazy at all because I think he elevated his team about as much as anybody in the league last year.
So, Uh, I, I am, I, I'm more concerned about him than Bo Nix.
I will tell you that.
It's not, it's not particularly close.
OK, we've got 5 left, all of them focused on the Chiefs.
This is just wham bam.
Linebacker Jeffrey Bassa isn't an opening day starter for some reason.
I don't, I don't think he is.
So, for, for me, that's, that's a, that's a 5 because I think he should be and Spags is just, he doesn't let these guys get on the field very easily.
I don't think he should be because the only spot he plays is for Drew Tranquil.
He's not taking Drew Trankel's spot, so that means Cooper McDonald's taking the Leo role because of what they do.
Leo's a good run defender.
Jeffrey Boss is a coverage linebacker.
There's, it's not the same.
So, for me, I, I'm, if he starts , I'd be shocked.
Well, but you're, you're, you have Jaden Hicks back there and you, you know, you kind of.
Conform to the linebackers you have, you know, I, I, I would like for Spaggs not to be rigid and, and perhaps given the way his linebackers looked in coverage last year, going a little lighter wouldn't be the worst idea in the world, especially if you have a better defensive line.
Uh, I, I'm, I'm a 5 there.
I'm really worried about that.
The Chiefs' official Twitter account listing Peter Woods as a defensive end , I don't know if you guys saw this the other day, it happened.
It caused a minor freak out on social media.
Uh.
I think it's a typo, so I'm gonna go 1, but I've seen them play Chris Jones exclusively at defensive end for a month and a half before, so it's not out of the realm of possibilities.
Yeah, one, I, I think he might get a snap or two at edge.
Like I do think he's gonna get a couple of, of, he might get some running edge, but he's not gonna be a starting edge.
I'd be, I'd be surprised.
I, I, I don't think it's a thing, even, I don't care where he's listed right now.
I think Kennedy's listed as a linebacker.
And he came out as a safety and he's gonna be playing slot corner.
So I don't think it matters.
I'm like, no, thank you.
And by the way, Kennedy was listed as a linebacker on the ESPN site.
And I'm like, OK, what are we doing here?
That, that is wild.
The possibility of Travis Kelsey having a big fall off.
I don't believe this is going to happen, but I'm a 4 just because I don't want to see our beautiful boy who played tight end with a flair, with a panache, with an intellect that we've never seen before.
I just don't want to see him, you know, like Willie Mays stumbling around in the outfield or Magic Johnson playing power forward.
I just don't want to see him.
I want to remember him.
As being the best ever.
So I just really am hoping, praying that there isn't a huge falloff.
Uh, I will go 2.5.
He wouldn't come back unless he was serious.
I, I, I just, I don't believe it.
He wouldn't come back unless he still believes he has some in the tank and he's gonna work hard like offseason, like, like last year's offseason.
I, I think he comes back.
I think he's gonna be, be good.
Again, 1000 yards, probably not, but will he, will he be an 800 to 850 yard tight end still?
Yes, I, I firmly believe that.
Jalen Moore at starting right tackle.
God, I, I'm like a 2.
I think if he's your weakest link and he didn't get enough run to really settle in last year, I think the Chiefs are in good shape at offensive line.
I, I really do.
A lot , a lot of teams, probably 2025 teams would love to trade places with them on the offensive line.
I am just gonna second that because that is exactly what I was gonna say.
Boom.
And let's finish up here with Patrick Mahomes trying to come back too fast from his knee surgery.
I'm a one, I trust Patrick.
I trust Patrick, you know, how can you not trust the keys to the kingdom to this guy.
He's, he's been the best steward through the first, I mean, up to age 30 of any quarterback in league history.
We have to continue to put our faith in him.
And I've just seen him, you know, like the recovery from that sprained ankle, that high, that high ankle sprain in the playoffs that he played through and won a Super Bowl.
I just know he's going to do what he needs to do.
His mind is going to be right.
In fact, I'm, you know, I'm a 0.
I'm a -1.
I'm a negative1.
10, don't matter.
I trust him.
I trust his doctors.
They will not let him put himself in harm's way.
That's all we've got for you guys.
I want to plug one big thing and that's the AA newsletter.
Use the QR code uh that we are going to show to you guys that we are going to have in our descriptions both on YouTube and Spotify and Apple to do that.
That way it just comes directly to you and we will keep you informed about the Chiefs all summer long and end of the season.
That's all we've got, guys.
Join us live next Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Central right here on the Arrowhead Attict Channel.
Until then, go Chiefs.
