Chiefs rumors: Reunion in the making, Mahomes protection, wide receiver doomsday

The Kansas City Chiefs clinched a playoff spot, but some serious depth questions still loom, especially at wide receiver, cornerback and left tackle. The latter of those concerns might be the most serious, as protecting Patrick Mahomes blind side is of vital importance as the postseason nears.

As general manager of the back-to-back Super Bowl champions, Brett Veach never sleeps. He is always trying to improve the roster, even with just a few weeks left in the regular season.

The Chiefs face the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football, which some could argue is a less-than-ideal divisional round matchup for Kansas City should Jim Harbaugh's group make it that far. Veach has one eye on the present, and another on the postseason.

Chiefs rumors: Mecole Hardman injury could hurt wide receiver depth

The Chiefs placed Mecole Hardman on injured reserve this past week, and Kansas City wideouts are dopping like flies this season. Veach tried to fix the issue for good this offseason, signing Hollywood Brown and drafting Xavier Worthy. However, Brown has been injured and Worthy's struggled at times in his rookie season.

While the DeAndre Hopkins trade has looked like a win for Veach and Co., he alone will is not enough help on the outside for Mahomes. Brown could return before the end of the season, which would be a monumental boost. JuJu Smith-Schuster has had a career revival of sorts since re-signing in KC. But without their longtime Swiss-army knife Hardman, the Chiefs are lacking.

“Alright, as far as the injuries go, Mecole Hardman is the only one,” said Reid. “His knee locked up on him, and so we’re evaluating it right now. This was after our meeting, right before we got on the field. So, we’ll just see where he’s at with that. I don’t know that. I mean, they’re literally evaluating (him).”

Chiefs rumors: KC has a new plan at left tackle

It can't get much worse at left tackle for the Chiefs, which is why they plan on trying something new Sunday night against the Chargers. Per ESPN, "The Chiefs plan to work veteran D.J. Humphries into the left tackle rotation Sunday against the Chargers. It's unclear how much he will play over incumbent Wanya Morris or whether he will start, but the expectation is that Humphries will be on the field after having a solid week of practice."

Morris took over the starting job from second-round pick Kingsley Suamataia out of BYU. However, the on-field product hasn't improved much, and Mahomes is still under constant duress on his blind side. Andy Reid made perfectly clear he wasn't satisfied with either player just this week.

"I think, eventually, you want to get somebody in there that does a good job and really can stay in there and be that guy as we develop the young guys," Reid said. "You're going to have some hiccups, we know that, we knew that going in. But we'll see if D.J. can do that. (Either) he can do it. If he can't, he can't. So, we'll see how it goes."

If Humphries keeps Mahomes off his back, he'll likely be handed the keys moving forward.

Chiefs rumors: Familiar face makes a lot of sense in the secondary

Per Ian Rapoport, the Chiefs are expected to host veteran cornerback Steven Nelson. Nelson started his career with Kansas City, so he is familiar with Arrowhead. His career coming full circle sure would be something, and couldn't come at a better time for the Chiefs.

Nelson started in 38 of 52 career games with the Chiefs. Despite retiring back in June, Nelson apparently misses the game, and wants to chase a ring back where it all began. After leaving the Chiefs, Nelson struggled to find another long-term home, playing for the Eagles, Steelers and Texans before retiring from football.

Kansas City got rid of L'Jarius Sneed this past offseason, trading him to the Tennessee Titans. Trent McDuffie has been solid in CB1 snaps, but the rest of the Chiefs depth chart is a mess at corner.