The first wave of free agency is complete.
Teams across the league are beginning to take shape. Many teams will change with the 2020 NFL draft, including the Chiefs. The free agency period gives us an idea of the holes that Kansas City will seek to fill in the draft. All things considered, if the Chiefs had to trot a starting lineup out today, their starters from Super Bowl LIV remain mostly intact.
Here’s a look at the current projected starting lineup for Kansas City in 2020:
QB: Patrick Mahomes
I mean, really? Who else did you expect to be the starter? Mahomes has gone on a historic run since taking over for Alex Smith in 2018. He became the league MVP and Super Bowl MVP in back-to-back seasons. His awe-inspiring play should leave no doubt that he’ll be the starter in Kansas City for many years to come.
RB: Damien Williams
Williams earned the starting job well before the 2019 season, but injuries derailed his progress. The addition of LeSean McCoy led to a 50-50 timeshare for a good portion of the season. Williams had regained his claim over the starting spot by seasons end. His performance throughout the playoffs, 290 total yards and six combined touchdowns, only reinforced the notion that he should remain the starter in 2020.
FB: Anthony Sherman
Sherman plans to re-sign with the Chiefs on a one-year deal. While he played in less than 10% of the offensive snaps in 2019, Sherman plays a valuable role in this offense. He isn’t just a blocking fullback, he can catch the ball, carry the ball as a halfback and he’s also the emergency quarterback for the team.
TE: Travis Kelce
There’s really no concern about this one. Kelce will enter his seventh season as the unquestioned starter at the tight end position in Kansas City. He’s been selected to the Pro Bowl for five straight seasons and now he has a Super Bowl championship to go with it. He’ll start for the Chiefs until the wheels fall off.
WR1: Tyreek Hill
Hill remains one of the most deadly offensive weapons in this league. In 2019, following his early-season injury, Hill’s game was a bit more refined. He was no longer beating defenders with pure speed, adding expert route-running and a newfound level of toughness to his game.
WR2: Sammy Watkins
For now, Watkins remains the No. 2 receiver in Kansas City. He’s still got a big target on his back because of his $21 million salary-cap hit during 2020. He could be a candidate to be traded or released. Brett Veach could also choose to extend his contract, spreading out his cap hit over the life of a new deal.
Watkins proved his value during the playoffs, with 288 yards and one touchdown over the course of all three games. Without Watkins, the Chiefs likely don’t hoist the Lombardi in Super Bowl LIV.
WR3: Mecole Hardman
With Demarcus Robinson still a free agent, I expect Hardman to take up a bigger role in Kansas City in 2020. During the 2019 season, Hardman led the NFL in yards per reception (20.7) among players with 25 receptions. Mahomes had a near-perfect passer rating when targeting Hardman (151.0), which was good for the top mark in the NFL.
Additionally, he spent some time this offseason working out in Texas with Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes. All signs point to a bigger role in Kansas City during the upcoming season. He could even make a push for Sammy Watkins’ stranglehold over the No.2 spot.
LT: Eric Fisher
Chiefs fans learned the true worth of the former No. 1 overall draft pick when Fisher missed half the season with an injury. He might not be a perennial All-Pro, but Fisher keeps the blindside of Mahomes protected better than anyone else on the team. He’ll remain the starter at left tackle so long as he is on the roster.
LG: Andrew Wylie
Wylie is one of the few players on offense that wasn’t a starter in Super Bowl LIV, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be a starter in 2020. Wylie won the Mack Lee Hill Award as a first-year player in 2018, specifically for his play at the left guard spot. The only reason he relinquished his spot to Stefen Wisniewski in the first place was because of injuries.
While Wylie should be the favorite to regain the starting role for Kansas City in the upcoming season, watch out for Martinas Rankin too. He filled in nicely for Wylie before suffering a season-ending patella injury.
C: Austin Reiter
I want to say that the Chiefs will open up the competition to improve this spot, but I’m just not certain that Nick Allegretti or even a draft pick will be able to beat Reiter. He’s already developed plenty of chemistry with Mahomes, but he’s also been one of the clear weak links on the offensive line. For now, Reiter is the guy, but that has the potential to change depending on how things play out over the next several months.
RG: Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
Duvernay-Tardif didn’t quite regain his form in 2019 after suffering a season-ending leg injury the season prior. He struggled at times in pass protection and the run game. Right now, his salary cap number makes him an option to be traded or cut with a post-June 1 designation. For the time being, he’s earmarked to be the starter but that could certainly change in the coming weeks.
RT: Mitchell Schwartz
Schwartz is unquestionably the best right tackle in the league. He also happens to be an iron man, starting practically every possible snap in his career. He first missed a snap this season when forced out of a game briefly. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves, but no on this roster is starting in his place next season.
LDE: Frank Clark
Clark got off to a slow start in Kansas City, but he had a strong finish to the 2019 season. He had game-clinching plays in each of the three playoff games for the Chiefs, including Super Bowl 54. He seems to have established himself as a finisher in Kansas City and there is nothing wrong with that. At his salary, even if he wasn’t playing well, he’d be the de facto start for the Chiefs.
DT1: Chris Jones
All signs point to Jones remaining in Kansas City in 2020, but things could get a little bumpy along the way. Jones hasn’t yet signed his franchise tag tender, which means a few different things can and can’t happen. The Chiefs can’t trade him unless he signs the tender. The team can still rescind the tag, making Jones a free agent. Additionally, Jones isn’t subject to fines if he misses mandatory workout sessions.
DT2: Derrick Nnadi
Nnadi has been a stalwart defensive tackle next to Chris Jones. The Chiefs use a strong rotation so it’s really hard to narrow down guys to starter and non-starter at this position. Expect Khalen Saunders and Mike Pennel to have near equal contributions to Nnadi.
RDE: Alex Okafor
Similar to the second defensive tackle spot, I expect the Chiefs to use a heavy rotation here. Okafor makes sense as the starter seeing as he started opposite Clark for most of the season. He produced five sacks, five tackles for loss and 22 tackles in nine games started
Right now, we don’t quite know where he stands in his recovery from a torn pec. Assuming the recovery and rehab goes well, he should be in line to earn the starting job again in 2020.
SAM: Damien Wilson
Wilson played a lot of WILL in 2019, but he was originally signed to play on the strong side. Reggie Ragland remains a free agent, so that opens the door for Wilson to take over the SAM role in 2020. The fact that Wilson has the ability to play both outside spots leaves the options open for Kansas City in the upcoming season.
MIKE: Anthony Hitchens
Hitchens will be the starting middle linebacker for at least another year because of his contract. I expect UDFA Darius Harris to be an understudy this year after not playing at all in 2019 due to injury. He’s a guy who can push Hitchens to be better in 2020 and learn enough to take over the role in the future.
WILL: Ben Niemann
The linebacker position will be interesting for the Chiefs. We already know that they were on the hunt for a coverage linebacker in free agency. Those options have dwindled and I don’t expect they’ll sign one. Niemann was often utilized in nickel sub-packages alongside Sorensen. I’d like to see Dorian O’Daniel take a step up and play here, but I’m not sure he’s capable of beating out the competition.
RCB: Rashad Fenton
This one also relies on some projection. Bashaud Breeland is still a free agent and the only corner with starting experience in this defense besides Charvarius Ward is Fenton. He played some snaps in the nickel spot early on, but I actually felt he was better suited to play on the outside when he had those opportunities. Could he bet the new starter at right cornerback in 2020? For now, I think he has a case to be that guy, but I’d expect there to be some competition brought in soon.
LCB: Charvarius Ward
Ward has proven to be a valuable commodity since his arrival in 2018. He’s worked his way up to becoming one of the most reliable starters in the league. In 2020, his goal is to be recognized as the top corner in the league.
He’s well on the way to that goal after his play in the 2019 season. He recorded top grades among cornerbacks in run defense. He also had the lowest reception percentage when targeted among starters in the NFL.
NCB: Tyrann Mathieu
The fact that the Chiefs let a lot of free agent nickel corners pass them by suggests that they plan to have Tyrann Mathieu continue to play most of his snaps at slot corner. He played 457 snaps from the slot in 2019, the most snaps at any of the five positions he lined up at during the course of the season.
SS: Daniel Sorensen
Sorensen is still clearly part of the Chiefs’ plans. He had plenty of game-saving plays in 2019. He basically is the football version of a utility player in baseball. He can do a lot of different things and plays a ton of snaps for the team. On defense, he often lines up as a sub-package linebacker or a box safety.
FS: Juan Thornhill
This is working under the assumption that Thornhill will be healthy and ready for opening day, whenever that might be. He is currently recovering from an ACL injury suffered in Week 17 of the NFL season. It’s not clear how the COVID-19 pandemic will impact his recovery timeline.
What is clear is that Thornhill was one of the best rookies for the Chiefs in 2019. If he returns at even 80%, he’ll make an immediate impact on the defense.
