Training Camp Roster Projection
 

You get 53 players. Let's see what you can do.

QB: Smith, Mahomes, Bray
RB: Ware, Hunt, Spiller, West
FB: Sherman

WR: Hill, Conley, Wilson, Robinson, Chesson, S. Jones
TE: Kelce, Harris, Escobar

LT: Fisher, Schwartz
LG: Witzmann, Ehinger
C: Morse, Fulton
RG: Duvarney-Tardif, Fulton
RT Schwartz, Reid

DE: Jones, Nunez-Roches, Jenkins
NT: Logan, Miller, Nunez-Roches
DE: Bailey, Kpassagnon

OLB: Ford, Hali
ILB: Wilson, March, Pierre-Louis
ILB: Johnson, Eligwe
OLB: Houston, Zombo

CB: Peters, Mitchell, Nelson, Gaines, White
S: Berry, Parker, Sorensen, Murray

K: Santos
P: Colquitt
LS: Winchester

That's 53.

Without seeing them in pads... poke and a hope ...

QB (3): A. Smith, P. Mahomes, T. Bray
RB (3): S. Ware, C. West. K. Hunt
FB (1): A. Sherman
WR (6): T. Hill, C. Conley, A. Wilson, S. Jones, D. Thomas, J. Chesson
TE (3): T. Kelce, D. Harris, G. Escobar
OL (8): E. Fisher, M. Schwartz, L. Duvernay-Tardif, B. Witzmann, M. Morse, Z. Fulton, J. Devey, J. Reid
DL (7): C. Jones, B. Logan, A. Bailey, R. Nunez-Roches, T. Kpassagnon, J. Jenkins, R. Miller
OLB (5): J. Houston, D. Ford, T. Hali, F. Zombo, M. Rush
ILB (5): D. Johnson, K. Wilson, J. Pierre-Louis, U. Eligwe, J. March-Lillard
CB (5): M. Peters, T. Mitchell, S. Nelson, P. Gaines, D.J. White
DB (4): E. Berry, R. Parker, D. Sorensen, E. Murray
SP (3): D. Colquitt, C. Santos, J. Winchester

PUP (2): OLB D. Nicolas, OL P. Ehinger

Six roster spots on OLB. Wow.

Cut West and add Ross Travis. A TE will go down at some point and we overvalue TE's.

West can't do anything Spiller can't do, and Spiller has a higher upside, and can also contribute on returns (especially important if we cut DAT).

Spiller isn't on the Chiefs depth chart at returner.

Matter of fact, it's not clear he's playing any special teams at all...

Spiller has a "higher upside"?

LMAO LMAO

What is this fascination with a 30 year old RB that hasn't played a full 16 games since 2012, that has a total of 12 rushing TD's in his career, which began in 2010?

Someone, PLEASE explain this to me.

Thanks.

Because West doesn't have upside.

LMAO

That's ****ing reeruned.

I'm going to ignore every take you have in the future because this is just outright one of the stupidest comments I've ever seen on Chiefsplanet.

Good ****ing god.

just actually throw me on ignore and that will be best

Spiller is really, really exciting to watch when he's "on."

He doesn't have Jamaal's talent or prolific career but when he busts a play wide open he is every bit as thrilling.

Dane,

I assume you had no problem with KC bringing on Joe McKnight in 2014. Right?

Spiller can be a much much better version of that in KC.

Bullshit.

McKnight was 26 years old.

Spiller is 30 years old and hasn't done dick in 4 years due to chronic injuries.

Teams don't cut a guy like Charcandrick West, who led the Chiefs in rushing 2 seasons ago, for old ass broke dick.

JFC, you're reeruned.

2014: 300 yards rushing
2015: 112 yards rushing
2016: 18 yards rushing

HE'S THIRTY YEARS OLD

West had 634 yards rushing and 4 TD's while sharing the load with Spencer Ware in 2015.

Last year, he was injured in training and never fully recovered, so his numbers dropped to 293/1 TD.

He just turned 26 years old in June and has several good years ahead of him.

JFC.

I... am not projecting West to get cut, am I? Check the OP, genius, and tell me where each of the RBs are ranked. I expect West to be our 3rd guy with Spiller de-activated until Ware inevitably gets injured.

I get it -- Spiller's stats suck. That's well established. The guy has battled injuries and a shit offense and his own inadequacy. That's all fine. My (and Dante84's) argument isn't that he's a 1st or 2nd back on this team. It's that he can provide some 3rd down snaps, some of which he can blow wide open if he gets a crease. I saw it myself on Saturday -- guy was wide open, Mahomes nailed him, and he just flat-out beats everybody to the end zone.

We need more big play threats on this offense. Spiller can ostensibly provide us a little.

Spiller is 30 years old and if he makes the roster, he's stealing a spot from a more important position.

Look at my depth chart. Who is being edged out that you'd prefer over Spiller?

Ross Travis? Marcus Rush? Leon McQuay? Josh Mauga? De'Anthony Thomas?

DAT for certain, as Toub said he's the "toughest guy on the team", plus, he's Tyreek Hill insurance.

If Ross Travis doesn't have a strong camp, he's probably waived and if cleared, ends up on the PS but that's yet to be determined.

Mauga? Yeah, I think he's a bubble guy, especially since the Chiefs drafted Eligwe and traded for KPL.

McQuay's probably a PS guy. There's a logjam at safety and they didn't like what they saw of him at corner.

I count 5.

The way I see the PUP guys are as follows:

Nicolas, if he recovers, would push Rush out.

Ehinger likely pushes Devey out.

Ehinger will start the season on the PUP.

He didn't have surgery until late November so unless he's a super human healer, he might not be even be active this year.

Welp, by God, there he is, returning the ball in the first preseason game.

Cut Jah Reid. Worst player on the field tonight by a LOT. He was getting beat on swim moves, power moves and just straight bum rushes by 4th string linemen for SF. Third down play in the third he got driven straight back into Mahomes lap by a guy that just ran directly at him.

Reid needs to be cut. He's trash.

I look at my OP and I still feel like the same player make it everywhere but at ILB.

It's pretty clear it's going to be DJ, Ramik, Mauga, KPL, and Eligwe.

March and Terrance Smith will be cut.

I don't think I've heard Mauga mentioned this year. Has he done anything to keep his roster spot?

He's been signed to a non-JAG contract, for one. I know it's not a determining factor but it is a factor.

Secondly, he's playing second-string with KPL.

DAT has played his way onto the squad. He's looked elusive in space, has shown solid hands, has broken a tackle or two and provides the ability to return punts and kicks.

He'll make it over Jones. I'm not convinced that Jones won't make it over Robinson (who's shown very little to this point, IMO).

I think DAT actually becomes the weapons they hoped he'd be this year. He's been one of the better players on offense

What?

He signed a one year, $775k Vet Min deal that counts $615k against the cap with no guarantees or signing bonus.

Do you ever get ANYTHING right?

QB(3): Smith, Mahomes, Bray
RB(3): Ware, Hunt, West
FB(1): Sherman

WR(7): Hill, Conley, Wilson, DAT, Chesson, Robinson, S. Jones
TE(3): Kelce, Harris, Escobar

OT(3): Fisher, Schwartz, Witzmann
G(3): LDT, Ehinger, Mama
C (2): Morse, Fulton

DE(4): Jones, Bailey, Jenkins, K-Pass
DT(3): Logan, Nunez-Roches, King

OLB (5): Houston, Ford, Hali, KPL, Eligwe
ILB (4): DJ, Wilson, Mauga, Smith

CB (5): Peters, Mitchell, Nelson, Gaines, White
S (4): Berry, Parker, Sorensen, Murray

K: Santos
P: Colquitt
LS: Winchester

I know they're playing Witzmann at G right now but I think he can play T at least as well as Reid. He was a damn good tackle in college and was seemingly signed as a swing tackle when we originally brought him in. Honestly, I'm hopeful that they'll find a new veteran swing tackle in FA who will probably end up making putting Mama on the street. If they can't replace Reid, he's going to get someone hurt.

In the end, there were fewer truly difficult cuts than I'd imagined there'd be. When you start to look at the roster and see someone like Miller, a 30 yr old who's really nothing more than a backup for Logan and a guy that doesn't really project to be capable of helping elsewhere, you ask why he should actually make the squad over someone like King with developmental upside and more versatility. Or when you see a roster crunch at ILB because you've just committed Eligwe and KPL to the middle - why? Part of the appeal of KPL over Alexander was his ability to shift outside and Eligwe played OLB in his time in a 3-4.

It doesn't take much in the way of roster creativity to keep some players that I didn't see good ways to keep while getting rid of some guys that are truly trash heap players at this point.

QB: Smith, Mahomes, Bray
RB: Ware, Hunt, West
FB: Sherman

WR: Hill, Conley, Wilson, DAT, Chesson, S. Jones
TE: Kelce, Harris, Escobar

OT: Fisher, Schwartz, Reid
G: LDT, Witzmann, Fulton, Ehinger,
C: Morse, Devey

DE: Jones, Bailey, Jenkins, Passognon
DT: Logan, Nunez-Roches, Miller

OLB: Houston, Ford, Hali, Zombo
ILB: DJ, Wilson, Eligwe, KPL

CB: Peters, Mitchell, Nelson, Gaines, White
S: Berry, Parker, Sorensen, Murray

K: Santos
P: Colquitt
LS: Winchester

PUP: Nicolas

King, Travis, Mama, Robinson, McQuay and T. Smith are all Practice Squad eligible.

I believe Robinson, Smith and Ross had too many games played last year. King has already spent 2 seasons on practice squads (one with Cincy, one with KC). I'm not sure exactly how many weeks he spent on practice squads those years but I believe 6 is enough to burn your 'season' and I'd imagine he did so.

Mama and McQuay would be obvious and I expect Mama would make it through pretty easily (McQuay probably would, but teams often find uses for toolsy safeties on special teams).

EDIT: It looks like perhaps King could qualify for a 3rd year depending on how the Chiefs use their 53 man. That said, he's been in the league 3 years and has spent 2 years on practice squads. He's played 10 games total. I guess he could've just sneaked through some cracks (given how spread out those 10 games have been) but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a way I'm mis-reading this that keeps him off the PS.

Travis, having not actually spent a season on a practice squad yet, appears to still be PS eligible because he only had 6 games on the active roster. He can't get a second year, though. I don't see any way Smith or Robinson will be PS eligible as both played 9+.

I can't seem to find a definitive site for PS rules but this is from 2016:

https://www.sbnation.com/2016/9/3/12...ibility-primer

Up to four of those 10 players can have two accrued NFL seasons. So, was a player on the 53-man roster for at least six games of two NFL seasons? Sorry, they’re out of luck.

It used to be that three weeks of an NFL season spent on a practice squad counted as one full season of practice squad eligibility. Now, that number has been increased to six weeks, which expands some players’ eligibility. A player can spend no more than three seasons on any practice squad.

----
If I'm reading this correctly (and I may not be), I think all the guys I listed are eligible. Robinson, Travis and Smith all have one accrued season, so they're still eligible.

I'd like to find better confirmation.

FYI, Ramik Wilson played in 11 games, starting 2, in 2015.

In 2016, he was cut and added to the Practice Squad, then called up when DJ was injured.

If those rules still stand, Travis, Robinson and T. Smith are all eligible.

It appears that David King has one more year left of PS eligibility, then he's either on a roster or on the street.

Hadn't seen your bolded rule; and with Wilson's history, that makes sense.

It's a funky-ass set of rules to try to figure out, I'll say that. Lots of different ways of accruing time and when/how they actually apply. The 3rd year thing is also weird (why wouldn't a team ever be carrying 53 players on their roster?).

Robinson playing 16 games and being eligible for the PS is a little bit ridiculous, IMO, but I guess them's the rules...

Until the NFL has a true developmental league, I don't have any issues with this kind of rule.

Basically, there's no other way for young, raw players to get experience.

I would rather see McQuay on the 53 rather than White. DJ White has not looked
Good at all IMO

McQauy was moved back to safety after day one of TC.

This should help you out, direct from the CBA:

McQuay is a hell of an athlete and if you can sneak him through to the PS that's probably ideal. You'd love to try to mold some of that clay but unless you're moving Murray back to CB, there's just no room for McQuay.

I still can't figure out why they threw the money at Sorenson that they did. This organization does a damn nice job finding/developing safeties and suddenly they feel the need to spend $4 million/season on a 3rd safety/nickle linebacker.

I guess they could get out of it as early as next year if they wanted to - they backloaded that base salary so much that just eating the remaining $3 million in signing bonus to clear about $1.8 million off the cap is feasible (his number is at $4.8 if he's on the squad), but it seems unlikely.

Just a strange deal for a part-time player at a position that wasn't exactly thin (especially when he's a bit of a liability if Parker or Berry were to go down, making him not exactly a true backup either).

From my understanding, due to his athleticism, they drafted him with the intent of moving him to cornerback. For whatever reason, that experiment ended after day one of training camp.

I'll be surprised if he doesn't pass through waivers because was a late 6th rounder and hasn't shown much, if anything, in preseason. Considering that any team that claims him would need to make a roster move of their own, it seems likely that he ends up on the Chiefs practice squad, unless a Florida based team offered him a spot.

Not to pile on the guy even further, but this is one of those head-scratching contracts that Dorsey all too often doled out.

So why are we keeping Escobar?

I haven't seen anything from him that makes me think he has a place on the roster.

Did he sign a contract with guaranteed money?

No guaranteed money but he's much better than Travis at this point.

I hope they don't regret the trade of O'Shaugnessy.

Agree on Escobar, never did like the signing. He's pretty well a lock to make the roster though given that Travis hasn't stepped up and done shit. Hopefully the Chiefs scour the waiver wire for a TE they can at least dump on the PS.

I think Travis ends up on the PS.

He just needs more time to bulk up, improve his blocking assignments and route running.

He's already had 2 years on the PS. I think its time to dump the project and find another one. To have that many flaws yet, especially in blocking as a potential #3, is tough for me to give a yes vote for.

He was on the PS for part of 2015 and the active roster for 2016.

He's got potential but hasn't reached it yet. There's no harm in giving him another year to develop because until 2015, he hadn't played football in 8 years and he's only 24 years old.

I don't like Escobar or Ross. I'm hoping we can get someone on the waiver wire after cuts.

How and why is Gary Barnidge still a free agent?

Man our WRs just scare me . I wish they had one more really reliable guy

Well the Spiller/West conversation seems to have resolved itself.

That said, I'd still like to see a different kind of RB; West and Spiller seem redundant. I liked the way it lined up with Ware/Hunt/West but with Hunt/West/Spiller you just seems to be short a power back and heavy a scat/3rd down back.

I'd rather have him over Escobar.

Yeah the ware injury really sucks. Him and hunt paired up was really exciting to me.
I'm holding out hope that the second opinion shows a better diagnosis and he can get back this year

I wonder if the Jets would move Matt Forte for something?

I really don't like Albert Wilson being out there. Chesson has looked pretty good and has the size and ability to be a nice 3rd receiver.

I want him to get some PT this season.

Matt Jones of the Redskins would be a very solid addition

Updated to reflect the Ragland trade:


QB: Smith, Mahomes, Bray
RB: Hunt, West, Spiller
FB: Sherman

WR: Hill, Conley, Wilson, DAT, Chesson, S. Jones
TE: Kelce, Harris, Escobar

OT: Fisher, Schwartz, Reid
G: LDT, Witzmann, Fulton, Ehinger,
C: Morse, Devey

DE: Jones, Bailey, Jenkins, Passognon
DT: Logan, Nunez-Roches, Miller

OLB: Houston, Ford, Hali, Zombo
ILB: DJ, Wilson, Eligwe, KPL, Ragland

CB: Peters, Mitchell, Nelson, Gaines, White
S: Berry, Parker, Sorensen, Murray

K: Santos
P: Colquitt
LS: Winchester

PUP: Nicolas

That all seems super plausible, Dane.

If it were up to me, I'd probably cut Devey and bring Ross Travis on.

I would seriously entertain cutting Miller, too. I'll defer to the Chiefs, as they're in the room with Miller all day every day, but he just looked like complete garbage against the Seahawks 2's.

I don't know who I'd bring on, though, if I wanted to cut Miller. Steven Terrell, DeVante Bausby, and Ashton Lampkin would all be in the conversation for me.

I actually think they'll keep Miller.

My "fringe" roster guys at this point are Seantavius Jones, Jordan Devey, Jah Reid and CJ Spiller.

If the Chiefs can find upgrades for each, I can see them moving on. Also, I think that while Lampkin or Bausby could push for a spot on the 53, the Chiefs would be looking at 8 offensive lineman versus 9.

Miller's coming off an Achilles and while he hasn't looked great so far, I expect his play to continue to ascend over the course of the season.

Skins just lost Phil Taylor for the year. Wonder if they'd take a Nt for Jones?

Perhaps -- but I've never known an athlete to get healthier by continually playing him.

If they're playing him now, he's only going to get less healthy as the season wears on.

I think he's just getting back into game shape.

It's not like he's a small man, so it'll take some time.

McQuay over White. I think McQuay can play both spots. White has really struggled.

Who would the chiefs have to cut and what would it cost to trade for Shady?

Shady carries a fat cap number, doesn't he?

That's just not in the cards for us.

I'll look at the cap when I'm not on my phone, but it just seems like a bridge too far.

8 mil iirc:

I've dozed off in the 4th of every game and haven't had any time to re-watch on the DVR.

What are you seeing from McQuay?

He got first string reps at S and has the size and speed. I think it's more DJ White struggling as I haven't heard/seen one good thing from him so far.

I think McQuay would be poached from the practice squad. Guys with the size, speed and experience he has will be gambled on eventually.

Small updates; with Ragland on board, I think they'll see less need for a developmental ILB in Smith so I suspect Smith is now gone. Sadly, this means that Zombo is back on the squad.

Hey Direk - Cam Erving is on the block. I'd consider giving up a 6th for him. Maybe.

But maybe not. He's probably terrible. I'd need to see if he can be counted on as s genuine swing tackle. Most people seem to believe he cannot.

I'd give up nothing more than a 2021 7th rounder but I think he'll clear waivers, so if the Chiefs want him, they can sign him then.

I'd be surprised if they wanted him.

I guess I wasn't paying attention and need to go back and re-watch.

But he only spent one day at CB and while the Chiefs initially suggested that's where they'd play him, I can't see them keeping him at a CB at this point.

I think he clears waivers. Keep in mind, some team would need to cut one of their safeties in order to claim him.

$8 million is his cap number but I'd imagine Buffalo would eat his Dead Cap, so the Chiefs would only be responsible for $6 million.

That said, I highly doubt they're going to trade him on the cheap and he IS 29 years old, so the wheels could fall of at any time.

To understand my desire to acquire Erving, one really needs to watch Jah Reid play.

He is, without question, the worst player on the roster. I mean all the way through 90. He's unbelievably bad at playing tackle and he's absolutely going to get someone hurt.

Remember - the one single !@#$ing play he was in for during the playoff game had him in as an extra tackle and he STILL got torched so badly that Smith was hit as he threw, leading to an interception.

He's unbelievably bad. And he's somehow been worse this pre-season than he's ever been.

I refuse to believe he's going to make this team. I just cannot fathom it.

That worthless **** has the 12th highest cap hit on this team. Let that sink in.

LMAO

True but for whatever reason, AR seems love JAG's like him and Wilson.

It's pretty crazy to see a veteran NFL coach play favorites.

Wilson and Reid are not in the same stratosphere. Wilson is relatively cheap and is productive when called upon. He's a JAG, yes.

Jah Reid is not a JAG. He's a complete piece of shit.

I'll take JAG for my swing tackle but Reid can't clear that bar. Hell, Reid can't even make it to that bar. He sees the JAG bar and limbos under the damn thing. He's trash.

Fortunately he's going to get cut and that cap number will come off the books and roll over for us next season when we can put it to good use.

Because again, Pest - I absolutely refuse to consider the possibility that he makes this team. It's not a thought worth having. I'm convinced there are people in the stands every Sunday that wouldn't be actively worse than Jah Reid. Some of them are women.

That's true

But man, he'd be pretty awesome to have

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Jets?src=hash">#Jets</a> have gauged trade market for RB Matt Forte, who’s healthy now, per sources. But it’d be very tough to move his $4M guaranteed salary.</p>&mdash; Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/902579705609502720">August 29, 2017</a></blockquote>
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