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USA Today Sports Media Group

Sport

Charles Goldman

First look at Chiefs’ 2019 53-man roster

Roster cuts are over and the Kansas City Chiefs have assembled their 53-man roster for the 2019 season.

You can check out the Chiefs roster cuts list here. Take a look at the roster down below to see individual and total counts, along with some observations on how the roster is constructed for the upcoming season.

Offense

Total count: 25

Quarterback: 3
Patrick Mahomes
Matt Moore
Chad Henne

The Chiefs went with three quarterbacks for now, but I suspect Chad Henne will eventually go to injured reserve after being on the initial 53-man roster. That means he’ll be able to return at some point this season were the Chiefs to need him.

Running Back: 5
Damien Williams
Darwin Thompson
Darrel Williams
Tremon Smith
Anthony Sherman

I’m a bit surprised to see Tremon Smith still on the team. His special-teams ability appears to be enough to keep him around for now.

Wide Reciever: 5 (6)
Tyreek Hill
Sammy Watkins
Demarucs Robinson
Mecole Hardman
De’Anthony Thomas Suspended
Byron Pringle

This is a very fast and talented wide receiver group. It’s certainly the best group from top to bottom that I’ve ever seen on this team. I would imagine they do their best to get everyone involved too. I’m not surprised they went with Byron Pringle in the No. 6 spot. Offensive and special teams coaches raved about him this offseason.

Tight end: 3
Travis Kelce
Blake Bell
Deon Yelder

This felt like it was going to be the TE room from the onset of the offseason. Even with Yelder injured, the Chiefs saw enough from him to want him on the roster. I like the idea of going with three tight ends over just two for when you need to go heavy and grind out the tough yards on the ground.

Offensive Line: 9
Eric Fisher
Cameron Erving
Austin Reiter
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
Mitchell Schwartz
Andrew Wylie
Ryan Hunter
Nick Allegretti
Martinas Rankin

Carrying nine offensive linemen is pretty standard for the Kansas City Chiefs at this point. The reserve linemen can play a lot of different positions which certainly adds to their value.

Continue…

Defense & Special Teams

Total count: 28

Defensive Line: 10
Frank Clark
Alex Okafor
Chris Jones
Xavier Williams
Tanoh Kpassagnon
Derrick Nnadi
Joey Ivie
Khalen Saunders
Emmanuel Ogbah

Joey Ivie beat out veteran DT Justin Hamilton for a roster spot. Everything else is kosher at this position group. Technically there is a 10th defensive lineman, but I’ll cover that below.

Linebackers: 7
Anthony Hitchens
Damien Wilson
Darron Lee
Reggie Ragland
Ben Niemann
Dorian O’Daniel
Jeremiah Attaochu

The Chiefs have decided to go with seven linebackers including Dorian O’Daniel and Jeremiah Attaochu. Like I previously said, Steve Spagnuolo is known for using diverse packages of linebackers. I’m not surprised to see him keep a lot of guys. Attaochu is officially listed as a defensive lineman, but he can play both spots for Kansas City.

Cornerbacks: 4 (5)
Kendall Fuller
Bashaud Breeland
Charvarius Ward
Rashad Fenton
Mo Claiborne Suspended

The biggest questions still remain at this position group for the Chiefs. It’s extremely slim in its current iteration, especially for Week 1 of the regular season. I expect some more moves here before things are over.

Safeties: 5
Tyrann Mathieu
Daniel Sorensen
Juan Thornhill
Armani Watts
Jordan Lucas

This is a good safety group with a solid blend of veteran leadership and youthful exuberance. It’s early, but I feel a lot more confident with this group than I did with the group the Chiefs trotted out in Week 1 of 2018.