3 Kansas City Chiefs who made the 53-man roster but didn’t deserve it

The Kansas City Chiefs found themselves all over the news on roster cut-down day. Not only did they pull off an under-the-radar deal for some tight end depth, but they chose to bring JuJu Smith-Schuster back to Kansas City to add to their wide receiver room.

The Chiefs, obviously, have a roster as talented as any, and have as good of a chance as any team to win the Super Bowl in 2024. If they do indeed win it, that'd be their third in a row - not too shabby.

Adding Hendershot and Smith-Schuster should help the Chiefs, even if they're depth pieces at best, but Tuesday was all about who they were going to subtract. Kadarius Toney is just one of many who did not make Kansas City's roster.

Most of the 53 players that they kept were expected to be on their Week 1 roster, but there are some surprises. These three in particular didn't exactly deserve a spot.

3) Nic Jones, CB

This was a confusing one. The Chiefs chose to roster Nic Jones, a player who didn't show much during camp. He might add some value to special teams, but still, keeping him over a veteran like Deon Bush is tough to understand.

Bush has eight years of NFL experience under his belt with the last two coming in Kansas City. He has even been a very valuable contributor in the playoffs. Anyone remember this from last season's AFC Championship Game?

Bush isn't subject to waivers so he'll almost certainly be on Kansas City's practice squad, but still, this team should be about winning now. They used a recent late-round pick on Jones so they clearly do believe in him, and they should, to an extent, but again, it's really hard to make the argument that Jones is a better option in Kansas City's secondary right now over Bush who has experience and recent performance swaying in his favor.

To make matters worse, Bush had a slightly higher PFF ($) grade (57.6) than Jones (56.5) this preseason, adding to this decision making little to no sense.

2) Ethan Driskell, OT

This might've been the biggest head-scratcher of all. Congratulations to Ethan Driskell, an undrafted free agent out of Marshall who had a good preseason and made the team, but was that really the right call?

By going with Driskell, the Chiefs opted to omit Lucas Niang, another offensive tackle who has three years of NFL experience under his belt.

Not only does Niang have three years of experience, but he has appeared in 33 games for Kansas City over those years. Granted, he hasn't been on the field much when he has played, but still, he has experience with this team and probably feels like a more comfortable substitute if needed.

In a perfect world, the Chiefs won't need much out of their reserve tackles, but injuries are impossible to predict. Driskell might have potential, but the Chiefs are trying to win right now. Rostering the undrafted free agent over the three-year veteran who was good enough to keep around this long was an unexpected call that could come back to bite then when Niang is inevitably claimed by someone sometime in the not-too-distant future.

1) Skyy Moore, WR

This one is a bit of a shocker. Yes, the Chiefs released Toney, but they also added Smith-Schuster. They're carrying seven wide receivers on their 53-man roster. If that seems like a lot, that's because it is. It feels like one or two too many.

Smith-Schuster, Rashee Rice, Marquise (Hollywood) Brown, Xavier Worthy, and Justin Watson all felt like obvious locks, and the Chiefs keeping Mecole Hardman around makes some sense given what he has accomplished as a Chief. What has Moore done, though?

He had a very quiet preseason and has a total of 494 receiving yards in his two NFL seasons. Is that really worth keeping around when there are six other receivers seemingly ahead of him on the depth chart?

I get that he was a second-round pick in 2022, and it's hard to admit a mistake of that magnitude. Still, the Chiefs need to have the best possible 53 players on their roster if they want to win another Super Bowl. It's hard to imagine Moore playing any kind of meaningful role barring a slew of injuries to other receivers, and if Moore is pressed into action, how comfortable are you that he'd be better than a guy like Justyn Ross who was cut?

Sure, he might have some potential, but it hasn't worked. Both sides would've benefitted from a fresh start, but the Chiefs weren't ready to let go.