The Kansas City Chiefs released their depth chart for Week 8 of the 2019 regular season. This depth chart reflects several new changes to the roster while neglecting another that was clear in Week 7 against the Broncos.
Generally speaking, these depth charts give you an idea of where a player is in the pecking order. They’re considered unofficial because they’re assembled by the team’s PR staff and not the coaching staff. Some things may not accurately reflect what happens on game day because of that. However, the PR staff does have access to the teams’ closed practices and wouldn’t purposely mislead with the depth chart.
Let’s take a look at this depth chart and see what we can learn.
Offense
| Pos. | First | Second | Third | Fourth |
| QB | Patrick Mahomes | Matt Moore | Kyle Shurmur | |
| RB | Damien Williams | LeSean McCoy | Darwin Thompson | Darrel Williams |
| FB | Anthony Sherman | |||
| WR | Tyreek Hill | Demarcus Robinson | Byron Pringle | |
| WR | Sammy Watkins | Mecole Hardman | ||
| TE | Travis Kelce | Blake Bell | Deon Yelder | |
| LT | Eric Fisher | Cameron Erving | Greg Senat | |
| LG | Andrew Wylie | Martinas Rankin | ||
| C | Austin Reiter | Nick Allegretti | ||
| RG | Laurent Duvernay-Tardif | Stefen Wisniewski | ||
| RT | Mitchell Schwartz | Martinas Rankin |
Observations:
- QB Kyle Shurmur was elevated to the active roster from the 53-man practice squad on Tuesday. He’s now listed as the third-string QB behind Matt Moore. He’ll serve as the backup QB until Patrick Mahomes is healthy.
- WR De’Anthony Thomas was released to make room for Shurmur. This would also suggest the Chiefs are expecting Sammy Watkins to return to action this week from his hamstring injury. Thomas previously was listed as a third-string WR behind Watkins and Mecole Hardman.
- RG Stefen Wisniewski played LG for a few snaps when Martinas Rankin was injured in Week 8. It’d serve to reason that he can play either left or right sides even though he’s listed as the second-string RG.
- C Nick Allegretti played a position in Week 7 that isn’t listed on the depth chart. He came in for two offensive plays as an extra blocker in short-yardage situations.
Continue…
Defense
| Pos. | First | Second | Third |
| LDE | Alex Okafor | Emmanuel Ogbah | |
| LDT | Chris Jones | Khalen Saunders | |
| RDT | Derrick Nnadi | Mike Pennel | |
| RDE | Frank Clark | Tanoh Kpassagnon | |
| LB | Anthony Hitchens | Ben Niemann | Reggie Ragland |
| LB | Damien Wilson | Darron Lee | Dorian O’Daniel |
| LCB | Charvarius Ward | Rashad Fenton | Mo Claiborne |
| RCB | Bashaud Breeland | Rashad Fenton | |
| CB | Kendall Fuller | Rashad Fenton | |
| FS | Juan Thornhill | Daniel Sorensen | |
| SS | Tyrann Mathieu | Jordan Lucas | Armani Watts |
Observations:
- DT Mike Pennel replaces Terrell McClain as the second-string DT. We’ll see how much of an impact he makes in his first week with the team. This addition potentially indicates the return of Chris Jones this week.
- LB Reggie Ragland got the start at SAM linebacker for the Chiefs in Week 7. That change is not yet reflected on the depth chart for the Chiefs.
Continue…
Special teams
| Pos. | First | Second |
| P | Dustin Colquitt | |
| K | Harrison Butker | Dustin Colquitt |
| KO | Harrison Butker | |
| LS | James Winchester | |
| H | Dustin Colquitt | |
| PR | Tyreek Hill | Mecole Hardman |
| KR | Mecole Hardman | Tyreek Hill |
Observations:
- With De’Anthony Thomas being released to make room for Kyle Shurmur, Mecole Hardman is now listed as the starting kick returner. It’d stand to reason that he’ll be the full-time returner for both kick and punt returns. He had a long punt return against the Broncos in Week 7.
- The Chiefs could mix in Tyreek Hill and Byron Pringle at times for both kick and punt returns. Hill is still listed as the starting punt returner but it’s hard to imagine him returning any punts unless the game was on the line.
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