3 Chiefs starting the 2024 season on thin ice despite making the roster

Since the beginning of the Super Bowl era in 1967, no team has ever won the Super Bowl in three consecutive seasons. That's zero three-peats in about 60 years of NFL football.

The Kansas City Chiefs enter the 2024 season with the chance to make NFL history.

Having won back to back Super Bowls, the Chiefs sit on top of the NFL due to their generational QB and TE combo as well as their incredible head coach and a great defense.

But the team is under a ton of pressure and scrutiny this year, so there are a ton of different player that will be playing on thin ice, including a few starters.

Who's on thin ice for the Chiefs to start the year?

3. WR Mecole Hardman

Patrick Mahomes is so talented that the team really uses a revolving door of wide receivers for their offense. Throw in the fact that they have the best tight end in the league and a top end running back and the wide receiver position just isn't the spot that Kansas City feels secure at.

With that in mind, it's important to look at who's safe and who's on thin ice in the wide receiver room.

The top three receivers, when everybody is healthy, are Rashee Rice, Hollywood Brown and first-round pick Xavier Worthy. Rice has the potential to be incredible this season as the top pass catcher on the team. Brown and Worthy both have game breaking speed.

Beyond them, there's the likes of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Justyn Watson, Mecole Hardman and Skyy Moore. Looking at this room of guys, they're likely all to be playing on thin ice early in the year.

Hardman is the one that will be on the thinnest ice though. His skillset is very, very similar to that of Brown and Worthy. There's no room for him to make plays on the field if the team has two versions of him, just better, in the lineup already. If Worthy sticks as the team's punt returner, Hardman could be out of luck if he doesn't produce in his limited opportunities.

2. RT Ethan Driskell

As incredible as the Chiefs are on defense and at the skill positions, a team can only go as far as their offensive line takes them. This can absolutely be seen with the Chiefs, who could attribute the offensive line to their 2021 Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay.

This unit is headlined by one of the best, if not the best, centers in the league, Creed Humphrey. But the depth is a bit sketchy in a few places.

One player that could be on thin ice is the backup right tackle, Ethan Driskell. The 6-8 rookie tackle out of Marshall has looked okay in camp, but he isn't the most mobile of lineman, which is to be expected given his size.

He very well could be on thin ice in practice and if he sees any on field opportunities if injuries are to occur. The Chiefs won't be playing any games with the lineman that they send out there, so if Driskell isn't playing and practicing up to caliber, I would anticipate the Chiefs to be active in the trade market and free agency before Mahomes' line crumbles in front of him.

1. WR Skyy Moore

And now we're back on the wide receiver room. While Hardman is fighting for a spot to continue to remain on the roster, Skyy Moore isn't fighting for that same idea. Instead, he will be battling for playing time, leaving him on a bit of a different kind of thin ice.

But the ice is still thin for Moore's playing time.

He's set to start Week 1 for the Chiefs, giving him the opportunity to showcase his ability early on in the season, until Hollywood Brown returns. The time period until Brown returns should be seen as Moore's "tryout" for playing time this season.

If he struggles, he could get jumped in the depth chart by a name like JuJu Smith-Schuster. If he excels, he could still find targets when Brown returns. Andy Reid loves to get creative with his offense and Moore has the chance to force his hand over the next few weeks.

But it doesn't change the fact that Moore will be playing on thin ice to begin the season. He's under some of the closest watch among all Chiefs this week and for the next month.