The Kansas City Chiefs released their first official depth chart for 2019.
For the most part there are no big surprises regarding the first team, beyond that there are a few interesting choices. Keep in mind that these are generally assembled by the team’s PR staff and not the coaching staff. They are unofficial and are not set in stone. You have to take them with a grain of salt because of that.
The team will release more depth charts ahead of each preseason game and sometimes they’ll reflect changes, such as new player acquisitions or if a player exceeds expectations in a game.
Take a look at the first depth chart below with some observations below:
Offense
| Pos. | First | Second | Third | Fourth |
| QB | Patrick Mahomes | Chad Henne | Chase Litton | Kyle Shurmur |
| RB | Damien Williams | Carlos Hyde | Darrel Williams | Darwin Thompson; Josh Caldwell; Marcus Marshall; Tremon Smith |
| FB | Anthony Sherman | John Lovett | ||
| WR | Tyreek Hill | Demarcus Robinson | Gehrig Dieter | Rashard Davis; Cody Thompson; Felton Davis; Jody Fortson |
| WR | Sammy Watkins | Mecole Hardman | Byron Pringle | Marcus Kemp; Jamal Custis; Davon Grayson |
| TE | Travis Kelce | Deon Yelder | Blake Bell | Nick Keizer; David Wells; John Lovett |
| LT | Eric Fisher | Cameron Erving | Dino Boyd | |
| LG | Andrew Wylie | Nick Allegretti | Abdul Beecham | Zack Golditch |
| C | Austin Reiter | Jimmy Murray | ||
| RG | Laurent Duvernay-Tardif | Kahlil McKenzie | Ryan Hunter | |
| RT | Mitchell Schwartz | Pace Murphy | Chidi Okeke |
Observations:
- The second-year QB Chase Litton is getting the benefit of the doubt here. QB Kyle Shurmur has quietly looked quite good for an undrafted rookie, but he’ll be fourth string to start.
- It doesn’t surprise me that second-year RB Darrel Williams is ahead of rookie RB Darwin Thompson. Pass protection is what separates the two right now.
- It’s not ideal that Tremon Smith is No. 7 in terms of RB depth, but it isn’t surprising given he just started working there. Look for him to rise throughout the preseason.
- John Lovett listed as both a tight end and fullback makes sense given his H-Back role. I believe it was 41 KSHB’s Nick Jacobs that recently evoked Mike Alstott when talking about what he’s seen from Lovett so far.
- The top six receivers what I predicted they’d be. It’s fairly accurate to how the repetitions have played out. Beyond that it looks like Rashard Davis has caught the eye of the PR staff. Marcus Kemp is another player that’s flashed quite a bit in camp. He may have more first team repetitions than Davis right now, so keep an eye on his positioning.
- This depth chart doesn’t bode well for the gang of undrafted free agent receivers the Chiefs brought in. Guys like Cody Thompson, Jamal Custis and Felton Davis are buried by the other depth. They’ll have a chance to flash and make an impression in the preseason, but this isn’t exactly encouraging.
- Recent comments by the Chiefs coaching staff would lead you to believe that Blake Bell is TE No. 2, but sure enough Deon Yelder remains ahead of him on the depth chart.
- Nick Keizer seems to have jumped David Wells on the depth chart, look for him to perhaps be the TE that the Chiefs keep on the practice squad this year.
- Cameron Erving is your swing tackle according to this depth chart.
- Nick Allegretti winning the No. 2 LG spot is interesting. Ryan Hunter has been playing there through most of the offseason program until recently.
- Kahlil McKenzie as the No. 2 RG is good progress. Though there are some reports out of training camp that he still looks pretty raw.
Continue…
Defense
| Pos. | First | Second | Third | Fourth |
| LDE | Alex Okafor | Breeland Speaks | Emmanuel Ogbah | |
| LDT | Chris Jones | Xavier Williams | Khalen Saunders | Cavon Walker |
| RDT | Derrick Nnadi | Justin Hamilton | Joey Ivie | |
| RDE | Frank Clark | Tanoh Kpassagnon | Rob McCray | |
| WLB | Anthony Hitchens | Darron Lee | Dorian O’Daniel | D’Juan Hines |
| MLB | Reggie Ragland | Ben Niemann | Raymond Davison | Darius Harris |
| SLB | Damien Wilson | Jeremiah Attaochu | ||
| LCB | Kendall Fuller | Charvarius Ward | Herb Miller | Mark Fields; Michael Hunter; Keith Reaser |
| RCB | Bashaud Breeland | D’Montre Wade | Rashad Fenton | Dakari Monroe |
| FS | Daniel Sorensen | Juan Thornhill | Harold Jones-Quartey | |
| SS | Tyrann Mathieu | Jordan Lucas | Armani Watts | Andrew Soroh |
Observations:
- Alex Okafor and Frank Clark are the starters as expected, but their backups are interesting. Tanoh Kpassagnon is backing up Clark and Breeland Speaks is backing up Okafor. That’s good news for the former second-round draft picks. They were both expected to take on bigger roles in the new 4-3 defense and it appears they have in the eyes of the Chiefs PR staff.
- Emmanuel Ogbah being a third-string player is a bit of a surprise, but I think the rotations suggest more of a split between Ogbah and Speaks.
- Anthony Hitchens, Reggie Ragland and Damien Wilson are the starters at linebacker. This was the projected depth chart early in free agency and fans were skeptical. They’ve been the guys throughout training camp so this is accurate.
- Darron Lee has definitely been the first guy off the bench and he comes in on obvious passing downs with the first team.
- When Damien Wilson was absent from practice, Ben Niemann shifted to MLB and Reggie Ragland to SLB.
- Dorian O’Daniel playing with the third string is not ideal, but not exactly a death sentence either. He could definitely still make the roster.
- The CB depth chart is a little wonky because they don’t have a dedicated slot corner spot. Kendall Fuller is that guy right now, but the Chiefs are still looking for a backup behind him.
- The most interesting thing for me on the defensive side is seeing Herb Miller listed ahead of Mark Fields. I’m not sure that actually team repetitions have reflected that as D’Montre Wade and Fields seem to be the guys who run with the second team. Perhaps Miller is making that push for the No. 2 slot corner spot.
- The safety depth chart doesn’t have any surprises, however, look for Juan Thornhill to eventually overtake Daniel Sorensen as the starter at free safety.
Continue…
Special teams
| Pos. | First | Second | Third | Fourth |
| P | Dustin Colquitt | Jack Fox | ||
| K | Harrison Butker | Dustin Colquitt | ||
| KO | Harrison Butker | Dustin Colquitt | ||
| LS | James Winchester | |||
| H | Dustin Colquitt | |||
| PR | Tyreek Hill | Mecole Hardman | ||
| KR | Tremon Smith | Tyreek Hill |
Observations:
- Nothing too surprising here, I am still curious who the emergency holder is now that Chris Conley has gone. We know the emergency long snapper has been Travis Kelce in the past.
- We know that the Chiefs have other players in the mix at both the punt and kick return positions. Toub expressed interest in limiting Hill’s touches, but doesn’t want to rule him out completely because he’s such a threat.
- This may be the players they envision as No. 1 and No. 2 right now, but by the end of the preseason this could change.
- It’s interesting that Tremon Smith is the No. 1 kick return, but is the No. 7 RB. It’s hard to imagine the Chiefs keeping him if that persists.
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