I’ve already shared my own thoughts on the Kansas City Chiefs rookie class with 50% of the 2019 season accounted for.
On Thursday, Chiefs assistant coaches had a chance to speak with the media. Several of them shared their thoughts on the performances of their rookies at the halfway point of the 2019 season. One thing that’s clear with all of the coaches is that they see the ways that each player can keep progressing and working on to become better football players.
Sam Madison on DB Juan Thornhill
“Young player. One of the things I like, his open-field tackling,” Madison said. “He’s been doing really good in that area. He’s improved from Week One. We try to explain to him that this isn’t college anymore and these quarterbacks are going to lie to you. They’re going to look one way to hopefully move you and then they’re going to come back. He’s gotten better with that and the play down in the endzone when he came up with the interception, it just shows that he can get there. When you have a middle-of-the-field post safety, you want him to be able to get from two-to-three yards outside the numbers to two-to-three yards outside the numbers and he’s able to do that. He’s showing his range and hopefully, he can keep getting better.”
Part of having range while playing safety is having experience. Thornhill has even said himself that the game is beginning to slow down for him and it’s making it easier for him to go out there and make plays. I think we’ll only see more of that as he continues to play ball and get some snaps under his belt.
Brendan Daly on DT Khalen Saunders
“Khalen has done a nice job,” Daly said. “He had improved over the course of training camp. I would say that with some added opportunity, based on the injury situations, he has done a nice job. I’ve been pleased with him and his sense of urgency, and how he has stepped up. He has progress to make, he knows that. He is not a ready-made and finished product by any means. But, happy with the effort that he has put forward and the improvement that has been made.”
This is a long way from Steve Spagnuolo saying that Saunders had hit a bit of a wall. The fact that he’s putting in a great effort and hustle on the field but also improving his technique has me really excited about this player. This is one to keep an eye on as he continues to develop for the Chiefs.
Sam Madison on CB Rashad Fenton
“Rashad is playing fast,” Madison said. “When you talk about a guy like Rashad, he’s able to play outside, he’s able to play inside and early on having Kendall Fuller inside, he didn’t really get those reps unless it was walk-through. It was limited throughout the days of practice but now he’s getting those practice plays with Fuller out and he’s playing fast. That’s what we want, these type of football players on the field, and it just pushes everybody else. Hopefully, he will continue to get better. Once again, Juan Thornhill is a rookie and Rashad Fenton is a rookie, so you’ll have those mental lapses here and there. But as long as you’re out there playing fast and trying to make some plays, and he had opportunities, and now you’re able to build off those as a young player. We’re just going to keep feeding him as much as possible and hopefully, he’ll continue to grow.”
Fenton has been the biggest surprise of all the Chiefs’ rookies thus far. People were scratching their heads when there were only four cornerbacks on the roster and he was the backup at three different positions. Now that we’ve seen him play, I think we all understand why the coaching staff had such confidence in his abilities.
Deland McCullough on Darwin Thompson
“Right now it’s just a numbers game for him,” McCullough said. “Last week, the plan was to get him more involved. I think with the number of plays we had, we did have some packages for him, but we just didn’t get an opportunity to get to. But if you watch Darwin in practice, we’ve got to get that guy out there. I’m telling you this guy is fast, he’s explosive. He’s racking up some numbers against our defense as far as what he’s doing on scout team and again, he’s keeping a great attitude. We’re going to continue to work on getting him some snaps in the game.”
This question was about Thompson’s lack of snaps thus far. The fact that he says the Chiefs are actively trying to get Thompson more involved in the gameplan is interesting. It’s a good sign that he’s built some more trust up with the coaching staff. He even got a chance to return a kickoff in Week 8. I think the next step for him is really just a matter of stepping in for an injured teammate. Until then, his opportunities might continue to be spotty.
