Andy Reid’s team has appeared in two consecutive Super Bowls. And the Kansas City Chiefs have been busy fine-tuning a very talented roster.
This year, the Kansas City Chiefs will attempt to become the second club in four years to hoist a Lombardi Trophy one season after winning a Super Bowl. The 2018 New England Patriots stifled the Rams in Atlanta (LIII) one year after losing to the Eagles in Minneapolis (LII).
This offseason, the priority for Andy Reid’s team was the offensive line and he and general manager Brett Veach addressed those issues in numerous ways (more on that later).
Keep in mind that this team owns the league’s longest current postseason streak with six consecutive trips to the playoffs. So predicting five players who won’t be on Reid’s roster come the Week 1 playoff rematch with the Cleveland Browns is much easier said than done.
5. CB Mike Hughes
Earlier this month (via ESPN), Chiefs’ general manager Brett Veach orchestrated a deal with the Minnesota Vikings to obtain 2018 first-round cornerback Mike Hughes (via ESPN) in a deal that also involved lower-round draft choices.
The 30th overall pick in ’18 appeared in only 24-of-48 games with the Purple Gang and missed the club’s 2019 playoff run. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s unit could certainly use some help on the back end but is the 5’10”, 189-pound defender a reliable answer?
4. T Martinas Rankins
A year ago, the Chiefs showed why it was important that a team not only have a strong offensive line but depth as well. In 2019, the club obtained Martinas Rankin from the Houston Texans in exchange for running back Carlos Hyde. He started five games at guard later that year and in Kansas City’s 2020 regular-season finale he opened at left tackle in place of Eric Fisher.
Of course, the latter is no longer with the club along with starting right tackle Mitchell Schwartz. This offseason, the organization swung a deal with the Ravens for Orlando Brown Jr. and he’s take over on the left side. Rankin has appeared in just seven regular-season contests in two years with the club.
3. WR Byron Pringle
Even with Sammy Watkins moving onto the Ravens, Andy Reid’s club is still pretty stacked at wide receiver. Of course, there’s the big-play ability and production of Tyreek Hill, who can reach the end zone in a variety of ways. A fifth-round pick from West Alabama from 2016, he’s totaled a combined 53 receiving and rushing touchdowns in 74 regular-season games, to go along with five more on special teams.
Wideouts Mecole Hardman and Demarcus Robinson have flashed their talent on both offense and returns and in the fifth round this year, the club added Clemson’s Cornell Powell. The latter’s arrival could make it tough for Byron Pringle to retain a spot on the roster.
2. RB Jerick McKinnon
With the final pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Kansas City selected LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire. He played and started 13 games for the Chiefs and finished with 1,100 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns. He missed the playoff clash with the Browns, ran six times for seven yards and one TD in the AFC title game and added 64 yards on the ground on nine carries in the Super Bowl loss to the Bucs.
The team has Darrel Williams and Darwin Thompson and added Jerick McKinnon this year. He did finish with 572 yards from scrimmage and six TDs in 16 contests for the 49ers a year ago after not playing in 2018 and ’19 but can he stay healthy?
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1. G Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
A year ago, the five-year pro and 2014 sixth-round pick of the Chiefs opted out of the 2020 NFL season and put his medical degree to good use. But times are now changing in the world and for Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.
“It’s now time for me to transition back into football but there is no doubt that those 10 months working part-time in a long term care facility will help me become a better physician,” he said via his Instagram account (per Curtis Crabtree of ProFootballTalk.com). “Thank you all for your sacrifices and your hard work.” But does his football future lie in Kansas City? The Chiefs coaxed guard Kyle long out of retirement and signed Joe Thuney away from the Patriots.