Did the Chiefs Get Their Final 53-Man Roster WRONG?
Patrick Allen, Sterling Holmes and Matt Conner break down Kansas City's biggest roster decisions, including the debate over Nikko Remigio and Andrew Armstrong, whether the Chiefs are playing it too safe on special teams, the surprising number of defensive backs and tight ends they kept, and what Brett Veach could still change through waivers and additional moves. Plus, are Chiefs fans overreacting to cutdown day? The guys debate Kansas City's roster-building philosophy, look ahead to the future of the tight end room behind Travis Kelce and reveal the preseason Chiefs players they once believed were destined for stardom.
Video Transcript
Fairly normal, I thought was how this cutdown day went.
A lot of people are big mad.
There was an organizational philosophy that unfolded over the course of the offseason, and now at the last minute, we're tapping the brakes like the same old Process, and that's what I have a problem with.
This is too much of a fun era of Chiefs football to be that wound up.
tight ends, is this a Kelsey thing?
Can we all just like take a deep breath and be like, we just want a bunch of freaking Super Bowls.
It's the most successful coaching staff in the history of not just the Kansas City Chiefs organization, but one of the most successful coaching staffs in the history of the NFL, uh, and, and take a breath.
Hey, welcome into Chiefs group chat.
Patrick Allen here with you, joined by the hardest working man in Kansas City, Sterling Holmes, and the editor in chief of Arrowhead Addict.com, Mr. Matt Connor.
It is the last day of August, y'all.
The Chiefs 53 man roster is set for now.
Lots of moves could happen later today and we'll get into all of that, but we're gonna talk about what we know as we record this on, uh, a Monday morning, and this will come out a little bit later today.
Fellas, how was, uh, how was your weekend and who are you the most mad at, uh, in the Chiefs coaching staff right now?
Cause a lot of people are big mad.
At who?
Dave Tobe for keeping Niko Ramijio.
He's getting his guys.
Dave Tobe's guys make the team.
He's got too much power.
He's a, he's a power-hungry maniac .
He's wielding his power of being the special teams coach.
I don't think there are many surprises to me.
Like full transparency.
I think there's ways you can talk about a lot of the moves the Chiefs made making sense.
I think Demarcato would be the biggest surprise, but even that, I feel like there was at least rumblings of when we saw him the preseason game 12, when he was getting carries in the 4th quarter.
Like that was also a writing on the wall.
I know Andrew Armstrong not making it surprising to some.
We'll get into that in a little bit, but I wasn't necessarily shocked by that.
I don't think anyone should be shocked by that.
Esapole not making it.
Is that surprising?
I don't know.
I think we all have this overarching thought of him, myself included, of he could be this stud, and yet even the Jets let him walk.
The Chiefs have now let him walk twice.
So clearly there's some disconnect there.
Um, overall, I didn't have.
Really many surprises.
I didn't think Kater Cohu was making it.
He didn't, but they still kept 11 defensive backs.
I, it's just, Fairly normal, I thought was how this cutdown day went.
Mr. Connor.
Yeah, I, um, I, I almost don't want to get into it because you were disparaging people in your tone who are frustrated with the coaching staff.
So I won't go there until we all go there.
But I will say that, uh, you know, I'm, I'm glad the roster is not a finished product.
I'm glad that the Chiefs are 9th in the waiver wire order.
I have some real questions about the approach, um.
Less about the, the players involved and more about the process, uh, that's unfolding.
I will say this, for those people who are confused by the veterans who were let go, right?
Uh, like Di Mercado, Khu, the ones you brought up, for example, yeah, for sure, Ogba, right?
We see this every year, especially with guys signed before the draft.
Brett, this is an annual thing.
Brett Veach looks at the positions that the Chiefs need something.
He signs a guy to a very cheap one-year deal.
We've done it before.
Richie James at wide receiver, Gennarius Robinson at defensive end, Irv Smith at tight end.
It's no surprise when some of these guys, Elijah Mitchell at running back last year.
It's no surprise when some of these guys don't make the team.
Because they're, yeah, they're signing them so that they give themselves flexibility in the draft, and with undrafted guys, then you bring all that competition to camp and see what happens.
And what you want is for the veteran to not work out.
You want the young guy on a cost control deal to beat them out.
It's a good thing when Kohu doesn't make it, and younger guys with more.
Um, you know, with, with cheaper deals and, and longevity on their contracts are the ones, like, it's good for Kevin Knowles to beat out Khu, because Knowles is gonna be around longer, potentially, if you like what he's doing.
So, those deals don't, uh, ruffle my feathers, and I think we forget that year after year when we're like, how come this one guy who signed a one-year deal didn't make the thing?
And I can get caught up in that too, but Um, yeah, I think it's important to remember that every year.
Well, and to your point, some of these guys, Ogba specifically, right, a vested veteran, what's that mean?
That means you can also put him on your practice squad.
He does not have to go through waivers.
So if you say, hey, Emmanuel, like he has to agree to it, obviously, but you say, hey man.
Right now we have 8, D linemen on our roster.
You're gonna get called up at some point.
It might even be before week one, but this is just trying to figure out how can we make our roster make sense on cutdown day.
This might not even be the initial when it won't be the initial 53 when game one rolls around.
We know this.
And so I think they could choose to put him on the practice squad and have a game day elevation for Emmanuel Ogba, who would not have to go through waivers because he's a vested veteran.
So that is also something to keep in mind as well.
Yeah.
And, and the, the Chiefs know more about how the league feels about certain guys than we do.
And they're talking to people from other teams.
I think that's really important to remember too.
You saw how many, there were a lot of minor trades that went down over the last few days for guys, right?
Why did those happen?
Well, that's because teams pick up the phone and they're like, hey, You know, like the Chiefs signed, they, they, they traded for pounds, from, from the Ravens.
The Ravens.
Look, they put the, the call out.
Like, you know, most, most certainly that hey, is anybody interested in this guy?
He's at a really good camp, we like him, we're not gonna have a room for him.
Does anybody want to give us a draft pick for him?
The Chiefs also may have called, hey, we like Pounds, you guys, we, we, we have a feeling you guys might not keep him.
These teams are in communication.
So, the Chiefs traded for Pounds because they wanted to make sure they got him.
They didn't want to leave it up to the waiver wire.
They had a good feeling that if he were to be cut, he might get moved.
This is, this is the way that teams do this.
So when, when they let guys go like an Andrew Armstrong or an Ogba.
It doesn't mean they're 100% right, but they probably have a pretty good idea if they want to bring them back to the practice squad, that nobody's gonna take them.
And so, they're comfortable making those moves, whereas they might know that if they cut a guy like Nico Nico Rumijio, with the, with the, with thinking that they're gonna bring him back, that somebody might snatch him up.
That we've seen them make this move.
Remember when they, it's the same thing with Tunnion.
Was this last year with, with Big Bob Tunnion or two years ago.
He had a couple of catches in the preseason, everybody freaked out.
We're like this guy who's been in the NFL for years, who's never really done much of anything.
I can't believe they cut him, and it's like, and they brought him back to the practice squad and he never did anything because he's just not that good.
Like, it's a, it's a, I'm, I'm at the same place with DeMarcato, right?
The guy's never had like his .
Everyone's shocked.
Again.
He's, dude, the most carries he's ever had in a season is 58.
He's never had more than 312 rushing yards.
He's, and, and think about all the injuries the Cardinals have had when he was over there.
Yeah, but he was very efficient.
I mean, it's not the rushing necessarily from DeMarcado, it's the third-down prowess that he was supposed to provide.
But this also could take it as a, they feel very comfortable with the growth of Breshard Smith as well as what they have in their fifth-round rookie, Emmett Johnson, who's looked really good.
Yeah, I think it's more about him, right?
You get a veteran in there, but like guys like DeMar Hudd's, he even receiving, he's never had more than 119 yards receiving in a, in a season, you know, he's just, it's not, I'm not, I'm not, and I'm not saying this to rag on these guys or, you know what I mean?
Like they're, they're obviously very talented football players, but in the scope of the league.
There are many guys like them, and, and that's just, they're not special in the NFL.
And that's why they can be disposable in a situation like Matt was saying, where you, you, you, you draft a guy, and Emmett, who looks really good and you're planning on playing, uh, Ken Walker as a three-down back, and you're like, yeah, we don't, we don't need this guy taking up a roster spot.
And they're also, again, they're comparing him to other players.
And I just, I want to touch really quickly on.
You know, what you said earlier, Matt, about people who are frustrated about the coaching staff, and I wanna like, there is a, I wanna add some context.
There is a, a scope of reaction to things, OK?
And if you're on Twitter, you know that it tends on Twitter to go in the extreme.
So, when I say, when I roll my eyes at some of these people who are like, fire Dave Tobe, Dave Tobe's got too much power and all this stuff, like, I think that there's a space between Hey, I really liked, uh, I thought Andrew Armstrong played good.
I think he brings them to the table that the Chiefs don't have at the wide receiver position.
He's big, he's a good blocker.
I really kind of wish they'd have kept him.
I thought he showed some stuff and might, might be useful if there's some injuries down the line.
That's a shame they cut him.
I hope he comes back on the practice squad.
Maybe they made a mistake there.
2.
Like the vitriol I've seen aimed at poor Nico Ramijio, who is somebody who's actually going to play for the Chiefs this year, um, and who obviously the Chiefs think highly of enough to keep them on the roster again and use as a returner.
There's not enough people, in my opinion, in that middle area of like, between, yeah, that's a, that's a shame they cut Armstrong, but he probably wasn't gonna play very much, and fire everybody, these guys are incompetent, you know, and that's, that's my frustration with where I've seen a lot of the Chiefs fandom get to on Twitter in like the last year and a half.
It's like constant, Brett Veach is the worst GM talk, like just crazy stuff.
So the nuance missing from the conversation.
When I make cracks like that, that's what I'm talking about.
It's like, can we all just like take a deep breath and be like, we just want a bunch of freaking Super Bowls.
It's the most successful coaching staff in the history of not just the Kansas City Chiefs organization, but one of the most successful coaching staffs in the history of the NFL, uh, and, and take a breath.
No.
Yeah, no, that's, that's, that is the answer.
Hey, look, I, I'll, I'll take this, or at least, like, let me just say this much.
Yes, I agree with you.
Like there's just a group of people on Twitter, especially or whatever you call it these days, that I have just muted, because they're all in their early twenties, and they all want to fire Andy Reid, because the Chiefs haven't won.
The Chiefs didn't go to their 6th Super Bowl in 7 seasons.
I, I don't give a shit.
I don't give a shit what they think when you're so young that you have no perspective when it's all extreme for the sake of clicks and, and rage bait when there's no nuance, you know, and it's not like social media games or something.
Like, I don't care.
I don't care what they think and I move on with my day.
Um, so I, I get what you're saying.
There's got to be room for nuance in the conversation, including ours, right?
As we're, as we're a part of that.
As we're part of the conversation, and we want people to join in.
And if we don't say the electric thing, maybe people won't pay attention to what we're saying.
Like, we could be a part of the problem too.
But I will say this, my issue is less about like a specific player, Ramijio, or something like that.
Here's my problem.
The Chiefs had an extra month, you know, Andy Reid said, we had an extra month to evaluate our organization.
And the evaluation of the organization was very clearly looking at the team and going, we play it too safe.
We need more speed on defense, we need more explosiveness on offense.
We have to up the ceiling when over the years, it's been about keeping the floor at a certain level.
That's how I interpreted the Chiefs this offseason, looking at the team and going, We, we, we can't keep going after the guys we know, the way we've always done things, trust our own process.
We've kind of reached that end.
We have to completely reevaluate and now we're chasing guys with ceilings.
So it's the complete overhaul of, it's going with our Mason Thomas for the first time, when everyone's been begging for a speed rusher.
It's paying big money at running back when they've never even spent anything more than a cheap 1-year deal or a 7th round pick on the position, right?
Like, Like on the, on the offense and defense, we're looking and going, all right, let's raise the ceiling, we're, we're, we're taking the roof off of this place, and we're taking some chances.
So when I look at returner, when I look at special teams.
And it, Ramijio offers nothing proven in terms of a ceiling there.
It's all floor, it's the safe guy who doesn't field the wrong punt.
He doesn't fumble the ball, he's not a Codarius Tony anymore.
We learned our lesson.
If we're behaving there, the same way we did last year, a year before, and the year before that, with my guys, safe guys, high floor guys who won't make the mistake and cost us the game, and last year that led to 6 and 11.
My problem is not Ramijio, my problem is, That's organizational failure to say we're like, it's inconsistency.
If you're doing it on offense, if you're doing it on defense, you've got to do it on special teams too.
And if Breshard Smith is electric and can take you there, why are you using your roster spot on a guy.
They never feature Ramijio on offense.
There's no trust they're built with Patrick Mahomes.
They don't throw him out there in the offseason to see what he can add in that dimension.
There's nothing there.
There's nothing except Ramijio, comma, safe returner.
That's his one role.
And when you're already keeping 3 quarterbacks, 4 tight ends, and you have little margin for extra roster spots, I'm just thinking, what are we doing?
Smith is so much more electric.
Tyquan Thornton can totally do it.
Cyrus Allen could handle the bill.
What, like, whatever it is.
So, it's not about like Ramijio sucks.
I can't believe we kept him.
It's more like there was an, an organizational philosophy that unfolded over the course of the offseason, and now at the last minute, we're tapping the brakes like the same old process, and that's what I have a problem with.
But if you Remind ourselves of 3 or 4 years ago when they could find no one to just catch the ball.
I think they're legit scared.
Like, I think the Chiefs are scared of putting someone back there.
Like they're gonna say, could Cyrus Allen do it?
Sure, but do we ruin him like we ruined Sky Moore, whether they did or didn't, that's been the narrative, right?
I, I don't disagree that that's the, it's a, it's fear-based coaching to me.
It's fear-based roster personnel to me.
And I, you just, you can't coach that way.
You can't make decisions that way.
And I don't think to me it was Armstrong or Emihio.
Like, I don't think that was the breakdown.
It was probably Ramihio or DeMarcado, right?
Because if Rashard Smith is one of your returners, well, then you're probably keeping 4 running backs, right?
Because Just in case of injury, a plethora of situations.
And I still think on kick returns, we need two guys, probably Nico and Bershard Smith to begin with, right?
Can we agree there?
Yeah.
If you have to have Ramijio around, then use him.
I Again, to me, my issues are macro on a macro level, not not personnel one by one.
I get your.
I, I get where you're coming from.
I have less of an issue because I do think on special teams, I don't mind the safe option on special teams.
Like, I like the ceilings on offense and defense, but special teams, when you have Patrick as your quarterback, I basically say don't bleep up.
Like just catch it and margin of error, it's too thin.
And so I, I don't know where I find myself where I, I think that at times people have overvalued Nico.
I think now we've gone to a point where we might undervalue a little bit of what he provides.
Again, I'm not saying it's great, but I also don't think Broussard looked really good as a punt returner.
Brouschard tried to do too many bouncing around like he's Tyreek Hill or, or, you know, Dante Hall or Devin Hester.
He's not that guy.
Nico will get it, go upfield for 6 yards and just go straight ahead.
Yeah, he's not busting you a big one, but he's not gonna cost you.
The other guys on special teams will cost you.
There, there, there's my other issue.
If you know he's not gonna bust you a big one, why are you holding?
Why are you blocking in the back?
You know, he's not gonna bust you off an eighty-yarder.
He's just gonna be the smart guy, which is fine, which means everyone else on the special teams needs to know that and make the smart decision.
Don't try and get handsy to spring a big one when that won't happen either way.
There's where my real issue lies, is the penalties that persist on special teams.
Yeah, constantly.
I, I agree, and I agree with Matt that it's more of a macro issue.
And what's really annoyed me about it is, for a lot of people, it's turned into an Armstrong versus Nico argument, and like, I tend to side with Sterling on like, I'm OK with them being, because if they think they're gonna have less of a margin for error, like they can't, like, you can afford to take some chances in some places, a young running back, right?
When you're back there and they're kicking the ball towards your end zone, if you've got somebody back there who's scared or inexperienced and they dropped the ball, that's cost you the game.
You know, any turnover, of course, can cost you the game, but it's a little bit different when you're moving towards their end zone than when they're kicking the ball 5 or 2010 yards from your end zone.
So I'm OK with there being , like, I don't think it has to be, I think they can have make organizational change without it being like compulsory for every decision that they make, that they take more risk, and especially a position with returner that they think is more, potentially more risky.
But I think that like, that it has become this Nico versus Armstrong issue, and it's like, you can look at this roster, this initial 53 man roster.
And you can find a lot of areas where if you really wanted Andrew Armstrong on this 53, I mean, they kept 11 defensive backs, for God's sake.
Like, why did they do that?
Like there's obviously a reason for it.
Yeah, you know, I mean, we want to get real crazy, you got James Winchester, you know, he doesn't ever get featured.
In the offense either.
Why don't you teach Creed to long snap and save yourself a roster spot instead of continuing to have this outdated thing like we need to have one guy who's a long snapper.
You pay a guy to be a center, teach him to long snap.
You know what I mean?
Like there's all kinds of ways you could dive and pick this roster apart and get Andrew Armstrong on it.
Um, you know, the other thing I was telling Sterling this before you came in, Matt, like everyone's mad at Nico because he, they're like, we know what he is, he's never done anything.
It's like, well, neither is Jalen Royals.
Jalen Royals couldn't even get on the field last year.
They won 6 games.
At the end of the year, none of you could blame the coaching staff for this, but at the end of the year, when they had nothing to play for, they still wouldn't play Jalen Royals.
So it's like, well, you, why, why aren't you mad at Jalen Royals for not, for not, you know, getting on the field?
Why are you, why are you mad at, at, at, uh, Nico, who's actually, they're actually gonna use in football games this, this year.
So, you know, I just like, It's, uh, I just think it's the state of the fan base right now who, and I, I think Matt's right, you have a lot of young Chiefs fans, new Chiefs fans, who don't remember what it was like for everything.
And again, whenever anybody hears me say stuff like this, I feel like they immediately go, it's OK to criticize the team.
And like that's not what I'm saying.
I'm not saying you can't criticize Andy or Dave Tobe, or that every decision that they make is right or that I'm gonna defend every decision that they make.
It's the extreme, right, it gets the extreme, it's like somebody shoplifts and you're like, let's execute them.
And it's like, whoa, hold on here, like, it's shoplifting.
You know what I mean, the, the, the punishment has to fit the crime, and I don't.
I, I think there's a lot to be excited about with what this coaching staff did this offseason.
Like you pointed a lot of it out, Matt.
Like they went and they signed a big name running back and they spent a lot of money and they got faster guys and they took our Mason Thomas.
The draft class so far looks like maybe the best draft class potentially has the potential to be the best draft class of the of each era, after a lot of people have problems with some of his draft classes.
So like, You know, are we melt, we're melting down over Andrew Armstrong and digging up conspiracy theories that Josh Simmons is a, the football hating lunatic.
Like that's what I'm seeing in my, in my Twitter feed, and it's like, this is , uh, this is too much of a fun era of Chiefs football to be that wound up over.
a guy who didn't get drafted and who's been cut by a bunch of teams and like had a couple of good plays in the preseason.
Was he the one also that volleyballed that ball into an interception?
Was that Armstrong in the preseason or was that somebody else?
Do you remember what I'm talking about?
He's coming across the middle.
I feel like it was.
Um, from my, my, like, I liked a lot of the things he did, and I also thought his hands looked a little shaky in the preseason, to be honest with you.
He was bobbling balls a lot.
Um, but he also made some really nice catches to, actually to the fact that I was in a texture, I was comparing him to Dwayne Boow.
I was like, how come Andrew Armstrong seems to bobble like really easy passes and then like make an incredible diving catch on the sideline.
He's like, he's Costco brand Dwayne Bow.
No, I just Uh, we don't need to dive into it too much, but I mean, he was going to be wide receiver 6 if he makes the team.
He wasn't gonna play.
Like, maybe we always ask, why don't they have a big wide receiver?
Why don't we use him?
Whether that's right or wrong, doesn't matter.
They, he, he wouldn't get run.
He's not jumping over Rice Worthy, Tyquan, Cyrus, or Jalen.
I thought Jalen Royals actually had a nice preseason.
I know he struggled in training camp and that was the narrative was, oh, man, Royals, he's struggling year two.
Yeah, and then he didn't, and then he turned it on, but people still remember the first talking points of him until they ran with it.
I thought Royals looked pretty darn good.
I'm, I, I was impressed.
Again, I'm not saying he's Aman Rod Saint Brown out here, but I'm saying he looked like a pretty solid player.
And you, again, you take everything with a grain of salt when Armstrong was coming in.
He did run some early in games as well.
But a lot of times you're going up against, you know, the 5th string or 3rd string corners on teams, right?
Like, Nuance is key in this entire conversation.
I'm not too bent out of shape.
I was last year with Asapole and clearly it didn't really matter.
Like a lot of the guys that we fall in love with and we're like, yeah, because it's because we want to be right.
I wanted to be right last year with Eapole.
I wanted to be right a couple of years ago with CRW.
Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong.
And who knows, maybe Armstrong turns into a stud player, but he was a UDFA for a reason.
And to act like he's Jerry Rice is disingenuous or that he was gonna come in and be a starter if he for some reason he makes the team and he's going for 1000 yards, I think is just foolhardy.
Is, is this the year that we put Reese Zammit in the ringing of Honor, or is it next year?
Yeah, it's, it's actually next year.
You have to wait a couple of years.
Yeah, yeah, it's next year.
OK. What if I told you there's a guy out there who had more production this preseason, uh, at the wide receiver position that the Chiefs could sign, 14 receptions for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns, got let go yesterday.
Do you know who that, do you know who that is?
Carson Steele.
It's Carson Steele.
Well done, Mat Connor.
Carson Steele, he led the Eagles in receiving 14 receptions for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns, 21 carries and 59 yards.
Can you imagine?
If the Chiefs had, if Demarcato had those numbers or something and the Chiefs, they'd be losing their minds, losing their minds.
And I was a big Carson Steele guy.
I was very excited about the way that he ran, you know, in the preseason for the Chiefs, uh, and I was rooting for him in Philly, and he still got cut because We, he's just not that good.
He's an NFL player, but he's, he keeps getting kicked off of NFL teams.
It's not like they're not all incompetent.
That's another really good organization.
So it's like the preseason stuff , you gotta take a deep breath because we just have such limited information.
And yeah, I know some people go to camp, and they're watching, you still have limited information, you know, it doesn't mean you're right or you're wrong, but it's, How many guys have the Chiefs cut?
I'm sure there's got to be a couple, but how many during the Andy Reid era have the Chiefs cut that have gone on to be huge stars?
Jack Fox, punter.
the punter.
They let go of Cairo Santos, and he's, he's, uh, he's been really good for the Panthers let go of Ber and Bucker became, I know he's struggled the past couple of seasons, but Butker, I mean, you do, but we remember the guys like the, the Will Shields or the, or the trades that were for Parker Anger for Trevarius Ward or.
You know, Priest Holmes was a, I believe a UDFA, right?
At one point.
Wasn't Priest with the Ravens, a UDFA?
I can't think was he?
That's, that's incredible, yeah.
So it happens.
I mean, Brian Waters was a tight end from the Cowboys and then turned into.
Brian Waters.
I mean, yes, these things happen, but they are so rare that we, we, we remember 25 years later who they were.
Yeah.
Wherever Todd Haley is, he just got really angry for no reason.
You mentioned Brian Waters.
He's talking.
Have you seen Todd lately?
I saw that Twitter thing of him like a year ago.
He's doing like a podcast and the man is just uh.
You know, when he came to the Chiefs, he was like pretty clean cut and everything, like he's He looks like he's living his best life in the Rex Ryan Ryan brother.
He loves, yeah, he loves it.
Um, so we'll see what happens.
There's, there's more moves to come by the time you're hearing this again, and this is why you need to be reading Arrowhead Addict.com all the time because we, we, we produced this one in the morning.
And, and when you're listening to this, the Chiefs may have cut Mike Caliendo, for example, if you're furious that he's still on the roster and brought somebody else in because the waivers have to go, and trades can, there's all kinds of things that can still happen, and Matt, Connor and the team at Aerodak.com, they're gonna have everything in real time.
So we'll try to provide you as much context as we can on this show for what we think right now, but Armstrong could be back on the practice squad.
Uh, a lot of these guys that you liked could be back and may find their way onto the 53 at some point as well.
Uh, were there any other, what were your, were your other big surprises from this, from the way this roster shook out?
I know we've talked a little bit about like the, Matt, what did you think about all the DBs?
Um , well, you know, I think you, you know, you keep Kevin Knowles around, I think it was the biggest surprise among the defensive backs.
But honestly, I mean, aluerious Snead, you got to wonder like how much you can depend on him.
So, you know, I, I think, I think that was, I think they kept an extra guy because they don't know how much they can count on that.
I also think that's the position that they're going to lose a guy.
I think it, I think you could keep him.
You know, because what's gonna happen is you keep a guy, let's say they keep a guy like Knowles, thinking some team may take him, if on waivers.
So you keep him right now, let everyone else do their roster claims, so there's even less room to go around, and then you cut him to slip him through waiver.
I mean, a lot of this is about timing, a lot of this is about, um, There's a, there's a finessing that happens at the bottom of the roster.
So, it's hard to look right now and go, oh, I can't believe there was 11 defensive backs, 4 tight end, like that kind of thing, because it's just, it's hard to know.
I think sneeze health is a, is a, you know, potential X factor there.
I was actually surprised.
I know every It wasn't a surprise to others, because I saw often on roster projections, uh, Xavier Wampa, um, like as like the fourth safety.
To me that's surprising.
Uh, Gilman's been injured late in the pre-season.
Connor's been nursing a knee injury late in the pre-season.
Jaden Hicks has never earned the full trust of Spags.
And then you've got a rookie free agent there as the next.
Many end up to, to me that if I'm looking at things and going, where's kind of the overlooked.
Issue.
I, I don't mean that as a slight to, towam.
I'm, uh, you know, I'm happy for him.
It's a good story, good story.
Um, he's a special teams maven out of Iowa, had a ton, like 500 special teams snaps there.
I, I get why he's on the roster.
Job likes him.
But, um, You know, in the past, the Chiefs have gone with like an experienced guy there, Mike Edwards, Dion Bush, like someone was are you talking about the ceiling now?
Matt Connor, you are a team ceiling, not floor.
Would that be Wampa over Mike Edwards?
I am team ceiling.
I'm not sure that Wampa is any more of a ceiling guy.
He's specialty.
I, I just, I think there's gonna be a play there for a 4 safety who has not yet appeared.
Like I think there's gonna be a claim for a safety if they get him or not, who knows?
But, um, some sort of move to shore up that position makes sense to me given the late preseason injuries.
Even if they're minor, you got to do something before Denver.
That's what I think.
I was just trying to catch you in a little, uh, back and forth right there.
Get out of here.
I was just trying to catch you my organizational, my organizational philosophies run top to bottom, my friend.
There's no incongruency.
Here I'm all ceiling, by the way , come on, I'm all ceiling.
You are, you, you're gold on the ceiling.
I'm all ceiling all day.
I'm dancing on the ceiling.
I'm Lionel Richie.
Yeah.
The one that stood out to me was, uh, was, uh, them keeping, uh, Jake Branning stool.
I think a lot of people had him on there.
I, I saw a lot of people who were like, didn't think he was gonna make it.
Uh, I thought he made it , I thought he was gonna make it over Jared Wiley.
I, I, I thought.
It was, I was seeing both of those two, right?
Either some, some had Jake off, some had Wiley off, um, but you know , I, I, I liked what I saw from Jake in the preseason blocking as well, um.
The Chiefs have done this though, remember when they kept all those running backs, like when they're not sure about a position and they're not quite sure how it's gonna shake out, sometimes they stock up, and I think, I think with the defensive backs, like that's, I think that's one of those things, right?
I think it's hard to know.
You can see the skill level there in camp, but how consistent is somebody gonna be?
And it's just, I think that they may be kind of slow playing it a little bit to see how some of these guys shake out that they may be like, but they're just not sure who's, who's gonna emerge exactly when they get some more reps. Hey, everybody, want to start football season off with a bet that feels like it can't miss?
Well, then, you need to check out the My Bookie lock of the season.
It's back and the first one is an absolute no-brainer.
Uh, it's the Patriots in Seattle to kick off the NFL season and my bookie is asking one simple question.
Will the Seahawks raise their championship banner that night?
Yeah, duh, they won the Super Bowl.
They're gonna be raising the banner in the first game of the season.
That's what everyone does.
And, uh, you can get plus money odds on that one.
You're getting paid to say yes, the Seahawks will do the thing, the entire night is built around, and that's the first my bookie lock of the season.
There'll be more coming all season long.
So get in before kickoff, sign up at my bookie.
With our promo code arrowhead, and start your season off with a win.
Bet on anything, anytime, anywhere.
Must be 21+, 18+ in select jurisdictions.
Terms and conditions apply, gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLR or visit 1-800-gambler.net for free.
Confidential support, available 24/7.
Let me ask you guys this, is for tight ends.
Is this a Kelsey thing, right?
Is this them looking and going, all right, obviously we have Travis.
Obviously, Noah Gray's not going anywhere.
I know he has his detractors, I know he costs a ton of money, I know the production, but he's not going anywhere.
He's trusted, he's got his, he, the top two are set.
If you're looking at that and going, A year from now, we may have nothing there.
So if we find that we're intrigued by Jared Wiley, another year off of injury, and Wiley this summer said, last year I was still very much dealing with the ramifications of having lost my rookie season injury.
And you like Brenningstool, who by the way, muscled his way into a roster spot.
I was really enamored with his preseason.
Then , If you're the Chiefs, are you looking at that and going, we're going to have to burn.
TE4 spot.
I've never said that before, TE4.
Anyway, you know, we're gonna have to burn a spot there all year so that we can really know, do we have a guy after this?
It doesn't have to be Kelsey's replacement, you, but you gotta have a producer there among many.
And if we let one of these guys go, we're shooting ourselves in the foot in terms of long-term roster planning.
Do you think that's in the cards there?
That's a good call.
I, I think there's something there.
Especially because this is probably Gray's last year too.
So you're, you're looking at an entirely new tight end room.
I'm with you, Matt.
Uh, I'm glad that you and I are lockstep on this one.
I, I think Brendan Stowe was tied in 3.
I think Jared Wiley was tied in 4.
Like I think Wiley was the one in danger of missing the 53.
Um.
I'm not surprised they kept 4 by any means.
I thought they were to begin with.
We might see more 13 personnel in general.
We'll see.
I mean, Travis Kelsey is what, 37, right?
37.
I mean, I'm not surprised by the way the Chiefs win at tight end.
Real quick, back to corner.
Kevin Knowles was surprising, so that was gonna be Melvin Smith.
Now, I don't know how serious Melvin Smith's injury was in that final preseason game, if there was a reason.
Yeah.
So I don't, I don't know if there was, if that was a reason, but it felt like Melvin Smith was on the team.
The way that Dave Merritt, was it, was it Spa no, I think it was Spaggs.
Spaggs was talking about him.
He had him listed as like CB 3 or 4.
Like it was crazy.
Like they had him above like, uh , like Christian or like Noel.
I, I forget how he broke it down.
I mean like, we got, we got Monso Elaine, we got Noel Williams, we have Melvin Smith, we have LJ, we have Christian Fulton.
I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa.
So I was like, OK, there's clearly something here.
We saw Melvin Smith getting a lot of run, a lot of love.
So I, I do wonder what the injury to the rib, um.
Kevin Knowles is intriguing because that isn't he a slot only?
I mean, special teams, right?
I mean, he probably won't play, but.
I, I just thought that was Surprising, I guess.
Again, we're talking about things that probably don't matter and he probably won't even make it once this is released, but The Kevin Knowles over Melvin Smith, I thought was surprising.
Yeah, and, and on the tight end thing, for those who might not remember, I mean, Wiley was a 4th round pick.
So this is a guy that the Chiefs saw something in, he's, he's, he's hardly gotten to play, and it takes, it does take time.
The tight end position, a lot of times in the NFL, unlike some other positions, there are a lot of, uh, late bloomers at that position.
Not always, uh, but, but we've seen it happen before, and so I do think it's a move about the future.
They're looking, they want to find out what they have in these guys, and Hopefully somebody can emerge as a, uh, as the heir apparent to Travis Kelsey, at least in the pass catching department.
Matt Connor, are you gonna stand on the breeding stool for him?
Oh.
Uh, I have no jokes in response to that, but, uh, it was too good.
Yeah, yeah, it's like a mic drop.
I'm just gonna leave that as a, as a, I kind of just Wiley Coyote to you guys.
Oh, that's a new movie, right?
Isn't that some new movie out with like Wile E. Coyote?
No, that was a, that was a, a guy from a show a long time ago.
Before we, before we get out of here, I just wanted to ask you guys, cause this is a , this is a time of year of training camp crushes.
Who's, who's the one guy during your Chiefs fandom that you're still carrying the torch for?
From, from their training camp performance that never made the roster.
We're talking like Bobby Scipio types here, who you were like convinced was the next great chief, and never made it.
It's a good call.
I'm not sure he's like the guy, but I do remember thinking that Marcus Kemp was gonna be a thing.
And he stuck around.
I mean, it would, it's a, for an undrafted free agent out of Hawaii who never really even had that much production at Hawaii, the fact that he was around for like 4 or 5 years as like practice squad guy is an achievement, but yeah .
I played basketball with that guy.
Didn't know who he was.
I remember at Lifetime.
Like I just moved back from Philly and I was playing basketball at Lifetime.
Funny enough, Jeff Judia was there too of NFL Network.
And so it was like me, Jeff Judia, and, uh, and then Marcus Kemp.
We were running fives and Marcus just yammed on a guy, just dunked on him.
And I was like, holy, who's that guy?
And someone goes, you serious?
I'm like, no, you know, that's Marcus Kemp.
I'm like, oh, the, the Chief, I think at that point like Chiefs practice squad or I forget what it was, but I was like, oh my gosh, OK.
So he doesn't have the same contract as Patrick Mahomes and they have no playing basketball lifetime, but, uh, That's.
That's a good question, man.
I, I. I thought Cornell Powell was gonna be something.
He's still around.
He, he was on a roster this preseason.
I saw him in a box score.
UFL hero.
And I thought Cornell Powell was gonna be like a really solid safe option in the Chiefs' offense.
Like, I don't know what I, I didn't think he did the ceiling, but I thought he was gonna be really safe.
I was in on him.
Yeah, for me, it was Dere Fountain.
I was a big Deree Fountain guy.
Good.
I, I loved him.
I thought he was gonna, you know.
And I, he ended up in uh in Indianapolis, was there for a little while, never caught on with anybody, finished his career.
I think he's done 3 targets.
2 receptions, 23 yards.
Uh, God bless him.
Richie.
Yeah, it will always be Richie James.
Alright everybody, we gotta get going.
Look, this is fun, this is a fun time of year.
Try not to get too worked up about everything.
There's a lot to like about this Chiefs team, there's a lot of excitement heading into the season and a lot of moves still to be made.
So , let's give, uh, let's give Veach and Andy and everybody a chance to let things come together , and remember, no matter what you saw this preseason, the one thing that you didn't see.
Was Patrick Mahomes with these players.
So if you were encouraged by some things that you saw on the offensive side of the ball, just wait, baby, cause that was, uh, that was Little League, what you were watching this, this August when the number 15 gets back under center.
Uh, we appreciate y'all.
If you want to become a member of the Arrowhead Addict podcast, check out the link in the description.
We appreciate your support.
We'll see you tomorrow with Tuesdays with Sterling, and uh make sure you head over to arrowheadAg.com for all the latest news and analysis on what the Chiefs are doing with their roster for Sterling Holmes, Matt Connor, producer Joan Anne, and Patrick Allen.
We'll see you next week.
But until then, as always, go Chiefs.
There's a great beer up there, uh, Nugaleris Brewing.
Oh yeah, they have a spot of cow.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, um, as far as I know, maybe they've expanded, but you can't get it in Chicago, so it's always nice to go up there and smuggle some back down south.
In my, in my belly as well as in my trunk, my car.
