The Kansas City Chiefs are set to begin training camp on July 29th, but their players will begin reporting a bit earlier. On July 24th, their rookies are required to be in the building, and the veterans will join them four days later on the 28th. Their first practice will be the next day, and they will practice all the way until August 20th, just before their second preseason game.
With the rookies reporting for camp next week, I figured it would be a good time to put together a Chiefs training camp guide, going over everything from the latest on Patrick Mahomes’s health to some position battles to watch.
Here’s everything you need to know before the Chiefs take the field on July 29th.
The Latest on Patrick Mahomes’s Health
Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a two-time NFL MVP and three-time Super Bowl Champion, tore his ACL in a Week 15 contest against the Los Angeles Chargers last year. ACL injuries don’t take as long to come back from as they used to, but there were still some question marks around if he’ll be able to return to the field for the Chiefs’ season opener against the Denver Broncos.
While nothing has been confirmed yet, Mahomes’s goal is still to be ready for the season opener, and he told Yahoo Sports that he’s doing everything in his power to be out there in Week 1.
Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach seemed confident that Mahomes would be good to go for Week 1 when he spoke to reporters back in May, saying Mahomes is “way ahead of schedule.”
The NFL obviously has no idea when Mahomes is going to be back, but they seem fairly confident he’ll be ready for Week 1. Otherwise, I don’t think they would’ve scheduled a massive Monday night showdown between the Chiefs and Broncos for opening weekend.
The Newcomers
The Chiefs signed seven outside free agents this offseason, but none of them were bigger than Kenneth Walker, who is coming off an incredible postseason run where he rushed for 313 yards and four touchdowns in three playoff games, including a 135-yard performance in the Super Bowl, which earned him the Super Bowl MVP trophy.
Kansas City, which hasn’t had much of a run game the past few seasons, invested $14.4 million a year into Walker, making him the sixth-highest-paid running back in the league. They hope that he can come in and immediately help elevate their offense to what it was in the late 2010s/early 2020s.
But that’s far from the only addition they made in free agency. The Chiefs, who lost three very talented defensive backs this offseason, also signed safety Alohi Gilman from Baltimore. They also improved their defensive line by signing versatile defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga from New England.
Those were their big free agent signings, but I think their biggest additions from the offseason came in the NFL Draft.
In Round 1, the Chiefs made a splash by selecting the top cornerback in the class, Mansoor Delane out of LSU. The Tigers have a great history of producing defensive backs, and as someone who went to LSU and covered the team for multiple years, I can tell you right now that he’s one of the better ones to ever come out of there.
When the Chiefs traded Trent McDuffie to Los Angeles, they received the No. 29 pick in the draft in return, giving them two first-round selections. They used that pick to draft Peter Woods, a promising, high-upside defensive tackle out of Clemson to bolster the interior of their defensive line. I’m not a big Woods fan, but if he can reach his potential, this could be a steal.
With their second round selection, the Chiefs dipped right back into the defensive well, picking R Mason Thomas out of Oklahoma. He’s another guy who has a ton of upside coming off the edge. He’s a bit undersized, but is incredibly quick off the line, so if he can reach his full potential, he’s really going to give this pass rush a boost.
You also can’t sleep on KC’s fourth-round addition, Jadon Canady, who could be their starting slot corner in Week 1. He’s coming off a year where he allowed a 50 percent completion rate and 104 yards with two interceptions and four PBUs at Oregon, so he’ll be in the running for a starting role right away.
The Chiefs have a lot of promising talent coming through the door this season. Now they have to make sure they all play well together on the field.
Position Battles
Edge Rusher
One of the biggest position battles for the Chiefs this offseason is going to be the edge rusher battle. George Karlaftis has a pretty firm grasp on one of the starting spots, but who will line up next to him?
The Chiefs invested a first-round pick into Felix Anudike-Uzomah a couple of years back, but he’s dealt with some injuries, and he also just hasn’t played well when he’s been on the field. In two seasons, Anudike-Uzomah has played 550 total snaps, logging just 25 pressures and 3.0 sacks. He’s been underwhelming, but now he has some competition, so if he wants to start this year, he needs to step it up in training camp.
Rookie R Mason Thomas is going to do his best to make sure Anudike-Uzomah doesn’t earn that starting role, though. The undersized, speedy edge rusher out of Oklahoma is incredibly twitchy and will be able to beat a lot of linemen with his first step. But how will he adjust to the NFL, where the average tackle is much bigger than the ones he faced in college? He’s going to have to adjust quickly if he wants to start as a rookie.
Defensive Tackle
Defensive tackle is another fascinating battle. Chris Jones is obviously going to start, but like with edge rusher, there’s a battle raging for the second spot.
The Chiefs signed Khyiris Tonga, who is coming off a career year with New England, in free agency, but they also invested a first-round pick into Peter Woods. While Tonga had a career year last year, he still didn’t record a sack, and Woods is viewed as a project player, but one of them is going to have to start alongside Jones.
Will Tonga step it up in year six and become a full-time starter? Or will Woods be able to adapt to the NFL much quicker than most anticipate? We’ll see…
Slot Corner
The Chiefs have another position battle raging at slot corner, where Kader Kohou and Jadon Canady will be battling it out for the starting spot.
Kohou is a free agent from Miami, where he actually played pretty well last season. In 473 coverage snaps, Kohou gave up a 65 percent completion rate, 335 yards, and two touchdowns with a pair of interceptions and three pass breakups. He’s been solid for his whole career, but he hasn’t been elite.
Meanwhile, Canady doesn’t have any NFL experience, but his ceiling is much higher than Kohou’s. I thought he should’ve gone in the third round, but he slipped to round four, and he could end up being one of the steals of the draft if he reaches his full potential.
Both of these guys are going to give it their all in training camp, but I think it’s safe to say KC’s slot corner position is in pretty good hands.
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