Chiefs Draft Class Expectations: Who Needs the Biggest Training Camp?
Christian Ainsworth is joined by Matt Chabot (@Chabotsports) to break down every major member of Kansas City's 2026 draft class and discuss what each player needs to accomplish during training camp to build confidence heading into Week 1.
Video Transcript
Let's talk about um training camp expectations .
So, just give a little bit of an outline here, we'll just go through the, the, the draft prospects, talk about what we feel like they need to do in this training camp to make us feel good about them going into the season and, you know , kind of, I don't wanna say like, um, you know, making us right about our draft evaluations, but where we feel comfortable with them.
So let's just go first man sort of lane, what does he have to do?
Um, during this training camp, for you to feel like this pick was a success.
Play on the first team.
I think you don't know exactly what Mansor Delane's gonna provide until he's on the field, you know, playing in coverage.
Um, but right now Mansoor Delane is a, is a talented cover corner, um, and we want to see that on the first team defense.
Yeah, I would agree 100%.
He, he has to be going with the first team defense.
Um, do we expect like a Trent McDuffie first year season, or are we kind of, you know, reserving our expectations a little bit?
I don't know how you felt about Trent McDuffie going into that draft class, um, but they were comparable prospects for me.
Do you, do you feel like a Trent McDuffie first year season is, is in the cards?
Yeah, I think Mansor Delane actually like as a prospect is slightly better.
I had some concerns about Trent McDuffie, which tells you what I know about the draft apparently, but you know, my, I was worried about Trent McDuffie's arm length and other things, and Mansor Delane is, I think, a more well rounded cover guy.
So I like what I've seen from him, and yeah, I think, I think it's not unrealistic to expect a Trent McDuffie season from him.
Yeah, I, I agree.
Um, I really feel like he has a really, really good upside.
I mean, he was, you know, drafted incredibly highly in the draft, so we kind of expect that as well.
But I think also, you know, kind of the structure underneath him, propping him up as a prospect as well, like, our defensive backs coach, Steve Spagnolo, the defensive coordinator, like it just seems to work with almost every single defensive back we've brought in.
Um, specifically the cornerback position.
So, to me, he's in the catbird seat to be Defensive Player of the Year.
I, I think that's within the realm of possibility.
Um, it's really, really hard for a cornerback to win that award, especially when, you know, there are good, um, edge rushers and , and defensive linemen that are in the draft, but, um, definitely somebody who should make an immediate impact and we need to see that immediate impact, um, throughout training camp .
What about Peter Woods?
Yeah, I, I, I also think Peter Wood's first team, he needs to play with the first team.
I think that's kind of my expectation for the, I, I think you can kind of lump the top three guys together.
It's like seeing them, maybe even Jaden Canada, if you put all, you know, 4 of those guys together, then playing with the first team is a really good sign.
Peter Woods being trusted as a starter is a really good sign over guys like Chris Tonga and Our Mason Thomas, and even if he's just kind of a rotation, you know, rotating in at that role, that, that is, that is a really good sign.
And the same deal with our Mason Thomas.
If he's rotating in with the first team as a pass rusher, that's what we want to see, you know, Mansor Delane probably is more than likely going to play with the first team.
We want him to be every down.
We want him to be the top, you know, the top option.
We want to see Peter Woods, Arbase, and Thomas.
Jaden Kenneday getting reps. We want Ky getting reps in the slot.
Our Mason Thomas getting reps as a pass rusher, going against the top talent on the Chiefs' roster, because at the end of the day it is hard to get past Trey Smith.
It's hard to get past Joshua Simmons.
That's who they're going to be going up against every day and that kind of polishes that skill.
Every player has that kind of, you know, welcome to the NFL type of moment.
That's what they're going to need.
Yeah, I, I agree.
Um, although Peter Woods, to me, I think it's gonna be a little tougher for him to, to be that starter guy, especially because Chris Jones is gonna be pulling the 3 tech, um, and I, I don't necessarily want it, I know Peter Woods could probably play 1 tech, but if we're talking strictly starter first down players, like I, I think Chris Tonga might be the better option there, especially early on.
Um, so my expectations for him through this camp aren't necessarily as high.
I expect him to be playing a lot of reps with the ones and, and kind of moving all over the defensive line as hard as that is for a, a brand new player coming into the league, but, um, yeah, definitely high expectations for him.
Armason Thomas for me, I, I am in a completely different boat.
I, I think our Mason Thomas, if he's seeing 2nd team reps, that's OK with me.
I didn't have a super high eval on him, so the expectations are maybe a little bit lower um than yours are, but to me, I, I just don't know if he's a 3-down player on this team, and I don't think he was brought in to necessarily be a 3-down player on this team.
I, I think that if he comes in on 2nd and long, 3rd and long, 4th and long, like, that is absolutely where he, you know, is utilized the best, and so if he plays that role throughout camp, I think that that's perfect.
Yeah, I, I, I just want to throw out, I just want to throw out there, and I think the reason I kind of have this thinking as a whole is I, I do think Peter Wood's is the 2nd best defensive tackle on the team, and I think that's just kind of like a matter of perspective and something that we'll see as camp goes on.
I think the deal with our Mason Thomas to me.
Is that I want to see him run reps with the ones because the Chiefs drafted him at pick 40, and I think if you draft a top 50 pick, you expect them to be a starter.
And here's the deal, I think that, you know, between you and I, who both had lower grades on our Mason Thomas, if the Chiefs had drafted Zion Young or Gabe Yakis.
I think we're talking about we want to see them get first team reps over FAU and you know, Glati.
I think you and I have probably a similar grade with our Mason Thomas as we had the Gillati when he was in the draft before.
And so our expectation for them is to do the same thing.
And I think my expectation to not really be, you know, disappointed, you know, has levels to it, but to not be disappointed with the pick is that I, I want to see our Mason Thomas meet the expectations that I had for those guys had we drafted them at pick 40.
0, 100, and he's gonna get compared to Zion Young his entire career, unfortunately, especially with Zion Young being a Mizzou guy, where, you know, plenty of Chiefs fans watch Zion Young play down in and down out when he's at Mizzou, so.
With him being really, really close to the, the drafted position to him, it's, it's, you know, we're, we're gonna draw those comparisons his entire career.
Uh, you might have swung me a little bit on that, cause, I mean, a pick 40, you do expect for him to be a starter.
And I mean, guys like Nick Bonito, I know, plays for Denver, um, not necessarily a 3-down guy, but he is one of those premier players on the team that you plan for if you're an offensive coordinator.
Um, I expect our Mason Thomas, maybe not necessarily to have the same impact as Nick Bonito, but to be one of those featured players.
Um, Jaden Kennedy, uh, man, I feel like if he's getting second team reps, that's probably OK, um, especially with Lagerius Snead coming in, um, and his familiarity with the defense and, you know, our, our defense coordinator as a whole.
So it's like, You know, you expect him to maybe take the reins at some point.
I know he's a late-round Chiefs DB so people are expecting him to be, um, you know, the next Jalen Watson, but I'm OK with the rotational guy, especially for his first training camp.
Yeah, it's probably more of a stretch with Jaden Candida 100%.
I just think that, you know, the nickel room for the Chiefs is a unique one.
I think that the starting outside corners are, you know, Mansoor Delane, Noel Williams, and Lagerius Snead.
It's those three guys.
Snead can kick into the slot some, but with the knee issues that he's had, I don't know that he has that juice to consistently play in the slot.
Mansoor Delane could kick into the slot some, but I don't know that, you know, that's the ideal role for him.
So I think that.
You know, in straight nickel sets, there's no reason why Jaden Kenneday couldn't be a week one starter at the nickel.
I mean right now you're looking at him, Kater Kohu, and Chris Rowland Wallace as the best three pure slot corners on the team, you know, again, unless Leerrius Snead kind of has a big recovery with the knee issues and stuff like that and he comes back to that all-pro Leerus Snead.
He should have been at the time.
I, I think that I don't think that it's unrealistic to say that Jaden Kenneday could be there.
I think that that would be a win, more so in training camp than like what I expect.
I, I think I would be like Jaden Kenneday's having a really good camp if he is, doesn't have to be consistent run, just some where he's getting chances to play with the ones in the slot.
There are packages for him.
Well, and you mentioned like the kind of volatility in the room, especially with the injuries.
I mean, Christian Fulton, also an injury, um, even Manor of Lane coming into, into the camp a little banged up.
So, definitely a possibility that he sees the field and, you know, having somebody like that come in and be, you know, at least adequate will be much better than the Jamari Connors of years past.
Um, Emmett Johnson and wide receiver, Cyrus Allen, how do we feel about those guys coming in?
What are our expectations?
Yeah, those are rotation guys, 2nd team, and you know, I think the expectations for them come more outside of training camp.
I want to see if a player gets injured.
I want to see Cyrus Allen step up some, play in the slot.
I want to see Emmett Johnson get some reps.
I love that he's the first guy showing up to camp, and I love that, you know, that effort, that matters.
And running back's a position where you never know exactly what's going to happen.
You have to have a room of guys, so Emmett Johnson's going to get his play.
I want to see.
What he can do, especially out of the passing game, but he was really productive at Nebraska.
There's no reason to expect he can't be productive here.
And Cyrus Allen, I want to see him provide depth.
You don't know what you're going to get out of Rasheed Rice.
I, my favorite, and it'll be a short tangent, but my favorite thing about Rasheed Rice is that by the story I tell everybody, when I went to the University of Maryland, one of the first games I watched for the University of Maryland was an SMUUMD game where Rasheed Rice.
Had the best game I've ever watched of a wide receiver, like over 200 yards and just torched.
Deonte Banks and Jacori and Bennett, two NFL corners, he just killed them the entire night, over 200 yards, several touchdowns.
I know what Rashi Rice can be, so we'll see what Rashi Rice does, whether he's healthy or not, whether he's on the field or not, whether he's suspended or not, all up in the air, but You know, we're gonna see, I want to see Cyrus Allen fill in in a scenario where Rashe Rice isn't available, Worthy isn't available, Thornton isn't available.
I, I just want to see him get some, some snaps, more than Jalen Royals did last year.
Yeah, I think we can both agree on that.
Um, yeah, Jalen Royals, I mean, he got a few.
I, I got a good video of him crossing over the middle of the field and, and getting a drag route and going against the third team.
Defense, but, um, uh, uh, the more interesting thing here for me is the Kenneth Walker, Emmett Johnson, Amari Demicario, and Breshard Smith type situation where, you know, we have these guys.
I kinda wanna see Emmett Johnson be that number 2.
I think Breshard Smith can be a weapon.
I'm not sure about Demarcado, but I know he's a guy that can, can contribute, um, but certainly not somebody, I, I kind of expect Emmett Johnson to be that number 2.
Um, and especially with Kenneth Walker's injury history, just seems like the perfect spot for him to be as well, and Price would be happy, and that's really what we're all about on this show is making sure Price is happy.
So yeah, I just wanna see him eat more ears of corn, man, if I'm being, if I'm being honest, um, all right, so thank you guys for listening.
Um, Matt, great talking with you again, man.
We're, we're definitely gonna have to have you back on.
Um, why don't you plug your socials and we'll get out of here.
Yeah, I always appreciate you guys having me on.
Yeah, you can follow me at Chabo Sports.
Chabo is a C H in the beginning and a T at the end, so that can be a little hard to find.
But if you find me on Arrowhead Addict, you know, just Matthew Chabo, I'm writing all the time.
We didn't get too much of a chance to talk about UDFAs, but I just wrote about Xavier Nwapa, who I think is almost a lock to make the roster at this point.
So we got a lot of fun things going on over there talking about roster construction.
And I really appreciate you, Christian, for having me on.
Um, I love joining you guys.
It's always nice to get on here and talk about the Chiefs.
I could do it all day if, if we had the time.
I was gonna say draft man, we always go over on this show.
It doesn't seem like who we have on, but you've been a great addition, man.
We really appreciate you coming in.
Um, thank you to everybody over at Arrowhead Addict.
We really appreciate the platform.
Um, thank you guys for listening and go Chiefs.
