Organized team activities begin today for the Kansas City Chiefs.
This is the first point in the offseason where all of the Chiefs’ players, including rookies and veterans, will be on the field and work together.
The Chiefs have a lot of work to do if they want to get back to AFC championship game and win a Super Bowl in 2019. Every player will be important in achieving that goal this season. Here are a few that you should be keeping an eye on during OTAs.
WR Sammy Watkins
There are a lot of players that need to have a big season if the Chiefs are to find success in 2019, but one of the most important ones is Watkins. Everything is in place for him to have a huge 2019 season for the Chiefs. He’s healthy, he knows the offense, and he’s developed chemistry with Patrick Mahomes.
Watkins recently sent out a tweet saying he was sacrificing everything for greatness. He spoke a bit about that tweet and the mindset behind it on SiriusXM NFL radio on Monday.
“Just the work I’ve been putting in and the confidence that I have in myself,” Watkins said. “Knowing that my body just feels amazing. Knowing that my body is holding up and that I’m constantly getting faster, stronger, better. And I’m getting the support from my team — from my teammates and the organization. I feel like the fans and everyone, all of the support I am getting, it can’t go wrong. The universe kind of gives everyone everything that they wish for and the energy that they push out. That’s what I’ve been doing, just trying to manifest a great year.”
Definitely keep an eye on Watkins, because he’s sounding like a player that has worked really hard toward making next season the best one he’s ever had.
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TE Deon Yelder
One of the burning questions of the Chiefs’ offseason is all about what is going on with their tight end depth. Travis Kelce is set to be out until training camp as he recovers from an ankle injury and the Chiefs haven’t done much to address the depth behind him.
We’ve already gotten a look into the Chiefs’ thinking here. When Dwayne Bowe retired, the Chiefs released a video that revealed Yelder lining up with what appeared to be the first-team offense. The Chiefs added Yelder to the practice squad late in 2018 and quickly elevated him to the active roster. He was the third tight end behind Demetrius Harris, so he didn’t see much in the way of action, but that should change now.
Without Kelce taking part in OTAs, Yelder will likely be taking a lot of the first-team repetitions, if he is in fact the No. 2 tight end. Monitor how he does in that role, particularly as a receiver.
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LB Darron Lee
The Chiefs just acquired Lee in a trade with the New York Jets. Typically when you send a late-round draft pick to a team in trade for a player, the expectations aren’t terribly high. Lee is a different story because he’s a former first-round pick and he plays at a position of need in Kansas City.
What type of role will Lee play for the Chiefs? Many expect him to play the weakside linebacker spot and become a starter right away. I wonder if they won’t ease him into that role while he learns a new defense and works with a new coach. Maybe he’ll be utilized more frequently in sub-package groupings than he will be in the starting defense. The front office seems to covet Lee for his coverage abilities, so look for him to match up in man and zone coverage situations at the very least.
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DE Breeland Speaks
I feel like Speaks might have the most pressure on him out of any second-year player to step up in 2019. His performance in 2018 was largely excused because he was playing out of position. Brett Veach has made it abundantly clear, dating all the way back to the NFL Scouting Combine, that he expects Speaks to be a lot more comfortable playing defensive end in a 4-3 defense.
So where does Speaks factor into the Chiefs’ defense? Will he earn the starting defensive end spot opposite Frank Clark? There are no excuses to fall back on in 2019. However, the coaching staff might view one of the other players the team has added as a better fit to start.
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CB Bashaud Breeland
Breeland signed a one-year contract with the Chiefs, but they’d been interested in him since the 2018 season. He chose to join the Packers instead. It’ll be curious to see where he factors into the Chiefs plans in 2019. Will Breeland be handed an opportunity to secure a starting job right away opposite his former teammate Kendall Fuller?
It wasn’t until late in the 2018 season that Breeland started coming on for the Packers. He was still recuperating from his injury and he wasn’t signed by the Packers until late in the process. Now he’ll have an actual offseason to learn a playbook and won’t have to learn on the fly. The ceiling is a lot higher in that type of situation than it was with the Packers.
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RB Darwin Thompson
It took me long enough to get to one of the Chiefs’ rookies.
It’s still going to be hard to tell a lot about Thompson because there is no live contact during OTAs, but there are a few things we can discern about his role with the Chiefs. First of all, we’ll get a chance to find out where he is in the pecking order for carries. That will tell us a lot about his role moving forward and how quickly he’ll factor into the team’s plans.
He could easily be second to Damien Williams when it comes to getting carries. He could also potentially be as low as fourth in line for carries behind Darrel Williams and Carlos Hyde. Again, it just all depends where the coaching staff values his skill set.
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