Pre-training camp throw-darts-at-a-wall 53 man roster predictions
 

I know how much people like O.City love to occasionally make crazy-ass roster predictions so they can gloat about being right the small number of times they actually are, so here's your chance now. All you've got to work with is a few sparse minicamp reports, college and pro game clips, your memory, and your gut.

So feel free to post your own predictions or just bitch about what a shitty job I did. I'm fine with either. Mostly, I just really wanted another football thread on the first page.

OFFENSE- 24
QB (3): Patrick Mahomes, Chad Henne, Matt McGloin
RB (3): Kareem Hunt, Spencer Ware, Charcandrick West
FB (1): Anthony Sherman
WR (6): Sammy Watkins, Tyreek Hill, Chris Conley, Demarcus Robinson, Marcus Kemp, Gehrig Dieter
TE (3): Travis Kelce, Demetrius Harris, Jace Amaro
OL (8): Eric Fisher, Ryan Hunter, Mitch Morse, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Mitch Schwartz, Parker Ehinger, James Murray, Cameron Erving

My worthless analysis:

• God, it's good to not see Alex Smith's name on the starter's spot. Our starting QB is a dude we drafted in the 1st round. I still have to be pinched sometimes.
• At RB, we brought in Kerwynn Williams and Damien Williams as vets to compete for CJ Spiller's old role of getting signed and cut every other Tuesday. Can't tell them apart, nor do I really care to wager a guess if we keep one of them at all. If Ware isn't healthy or if West gets injured, one of them MIGHT take over the 3rd RB role, which is why I think they're here in the first place
• I have no clue what's going to happen after Watkins, Hill, and Conley. I don't think even Robinson is an easy safe bet to make the roster. There's a lot of unknown shit that can take place. The reason why I'm betting on Kemp and Dieter is that they had some good chemistry with Mahomes last offseason, and the team clearly thought they were important, because they kept both players either on the practice squad or active roster all season long. They're the only 2017 practice squad guys who can claim that, actually. I guess Pringle is also really impressive, but that's probably just the K State weirdos buzzing about him, because in reality, we really know nothing about him. Also, I realize that means I'm flushing Jehu Chesson down the toilet. Sorry keg in kc, but I'm feeling just fine about that.
• No, idiots, Demetrius Harris is NOT going to get cut. I'm putting on Jace Amaro as our 3rd TE only because of his distant Texas Tech connection to Patrick Mahomes-- maybe old college offenses will lead to chemistry? Would be surprised if Andy only kept 2 TEs and told Veach to go find another dude off the street he likes.
• Look, I don't know anything about the offensive line beyond four of the starters, and neither do you at this point. So I'm gonna go a bit out on a limb. Ryan Hunter was taking starting snaps at LG in minicamp, so he seems nice. Reid also loves position flexibility- so that's mostly how I determined the last three guys. I really wanted to cut Cameron Erving; however, it's $1.7 million down the drain if we cut him, and the dropoff in play between him and Bryan Witzmann is negligible, so I kept him. Ehinger has some flexibility to play OT. James Murray is my stupid pipedream pick where I go, "this guy looks INCREDIBLE against Division II competition, so maybe he can be just as good in the pros!" I'm thinking he might be good enough to redshirt on our active roster. Yes, I left off Kahlil McKenzie. I think the practice squad just makes too much sense for him at this stage in his transition to OL-- it's just not going to be instantaneous. And I really don't think he's going to get picked off like LDT would have had we practice squaded him in 2014. We may as well leave that roster spot available for somebody else.

DEFENSE- 26
DL (6): Chris Jones, Allen Bailey, Derrick Nnadi, Xavier Williams, Jarvis Jenkins, Justin Hamilton
OLB (4): Justin Houston, Dee Ford, Breeland Speaks, Tanoh Kpassagnon
ILB (5): Anthony Hitchens, Reggie Ragland, Dorian O'Daniel, Ukeme Eligwe, Terrance Smith
CB (6): Kendall Fuller, David Amerson, Steven Nelson, Tremon Smith, Keith Reaser, Will Redmond
S (5): Eric Berry, Daniel Sorensen, Robert Golden, Armani Watts, Leon McQuay

My worthless analysis:

• I think Derrick Nnadi will take the starting NT spot, which means I think Xavier Williams will play a lot more DE than we initially thought when we signed him. I think he'll function a lot like Mike DeVito did for us, only this time we'll be subbing him in instead of subbing DeVito out. Some people want to see us cut Bailey since it's the last year of his deal and the first one in which we can save cap space by cutting him, but our rotation at DE then becomes Chris Jones coming off of offseason surgery, Xavier Williams, Jarvis Jenkins, and a bag of dicks. Not a good idea.
• We drafted a billion special teams guys. We've got four passrushers better than Zombo. We save approximately $1 million by cutting him. He gone.
• Can you guys believe that last year at this time we were looking at Derrick Johnson recovering from his 2nd achilles injury and Ramik Wilson as our starting ILBs? God, what a difference a year makes! ILB has suddenly turned back into a team strength in only one year. Awesome job, Veach! And uhh... I put Dorian O'Daniel here because the Chiefs official website lists him at LB. If his official position changes to safety, my 53 will still include all of the same players. So whatever, I guess.
• I don't think David Amerson will be that good. I just don't. He's Raider trash who reminds me too much of the time Pioli picked up Stanford Routt and automatically plugged him in at starting CB prior to free agency so he wouldn't have to sacrifice any comp value next year. I know he's supposedly going to go back to playing press man, which is his strength, but I still just can't shake the feeling that he'll look like a bag of dicks in camp and preseason, and we'll end up cutting him. That being said, I had an extra roster spot available, so I kept Amerson over another dude like Bryan Witzmann or a random variable RB. I would not be shocked to see Will Redmond claim the other starting CB spot, though with his injury history, we definitely should not count on him playing a full 16 games.
• I like Robert Golden a lot, actually. I think he fills an important need, which is as a solid veteran contributor at the safety position. Notice I said "solid"; I think Eric Murray has shown over two years that he simply can not be trusted in a reserve role. I don't think he's the worst thing we've ever had back there, but he simply doesn't make plays. Ever. We need more than that if one of our starters goes down.

SPECIAL TEAMS- 3
K: Harrison Butker
P: Dustin Colquitt
LS: James Winchester

My worthless analysis:
I don't have anything to write here. Do you?

PRACTICE SQUAD- 10

OL Kahlil McKenzie
OT Dillon Gordon
DL Dee Liner
WR Byron Pringle
OLB Robert McCray
ILB Ben Niemann
CB Arrion Springs
CB D'Montre Wade
TE Blake Mack
QB Chase Litton

My worthless analysis:
Hooray for looking up random shit about players and saying, "Sounds good. You're in!" Even if I get half of these guys correct, a practice squad is constantly evolving from week to week in the NFL. Last year only one guy (Gehrig Dieter) participated in Chiefs training camp, made the practice squad before Week 1, and stayed there for the entire duration of the season. So here's my probably worthless practice squad prediction.

I already explained my thoughts on McKenzie. We apparently REALLY like Springs and Pringle. Dee Liner... come on... he's a 340 lb. NT named Dee Liner. How can you NOT throw him a bone? I did see McCray and Niemann play in college football games last year, and I kind like the idea of seeing what they can do with an extra year. Chase Litton sucks, but whatever. I have no information whatsoever on Blake Mack; I'm just taking a random guess.

I think Dillon Gordon is actually really intriguing and deserves a good long look. He made the Eagles' 2016 roster after being shifted around from TE to FB to OG to OT all in one offseason. He was on the active roster for the entire season, then got bumped back down to their practice squad in 2017. They released him, and we picked him up on our practice squad midway through December. I'm not going to anoint him as a guy who will ever oust Eric Fisher out of the starting LT job, but he's certainly worth keeping around. But again, I'm just guessing here.

One more thing while I'm going on about Dillon Gordon:

Andy Reid and Dorsey/Veach do this thing that really pisses me off-- they never invest in a backup swing tackle. They always find shitty interior linemen with experience doing a bad job of playing tackle. Not that Donald Stephenson was remotely good, but at least he had one single designated job, and that was to make sure our LT didn't become a steaming pile of AIDS should an injury happen at that spot.

The reason why it's so frustrating is because he'll do shit like keep Jordan Devey around as a 3rd string OG/OC in spite of the NUMEROUS assholes we have on the team who can play guard. And yet when it comes to a far more important position like LT (or even RT), we have no real backups or solutions-- just assholes with a bit of position flexibility. And even that position flexibility is quite arbitrary.

Unless Dillon Gordon is way more than just another Jarrod Pughsley, it appears we're content to just let Cameron Erving play LT if Fisher goes down. Great thinking, guys! Hey Pat, it was nice knowing ya!

Very nice write up. I also think that Travis Kelce will make the team this year.

Jesus Christ!

I generally agree with your grouping with a few changes.

Out
McGloin, West and Deighter

In
Kerwynn Williams, McKenzie and another guy via trade or pickup from another team.

Good work here.

I’d say we keep 4 RBs and I think Springs makes the roster at CB. Also think DAT might make it, at least after a PUP stint.

I didn't see CJ Spiller on your chart?

Why do we need a 4th RB? Did you not see Sherman BAUCE THE **** OUT in Week 17?

Only joking. Yeah, I think 4 RBs is likely, but the only dude I've seen play out of that group is Kerwynn Williams. I know nothing about the other Williams, only that he saw some action here and there in Miami. Both dudes are unspectacular. I guess if I had to pick one of them, I'd put on Kerwynn Williams and take out Dieter.

I'm also emotionally prepared for DAT to play spoiler and round out the WR crew as the 5th guy. That's typically what happens, anyway.

What do you know about Arrion Springs?

You know what? I had the same thought about removing McGloin, only because I figured he was too old, too short term, too new, and perhaps too expensive. Well, he's not too expensive, since he's making just about league minimum (650K). And he's probably better than a lot of other 2nd string QBs, and he's probably the most experienced and most reliable 3rd string QB in the league.

I don't think it's because we want extra vets for Mahomes, though. McGloin isn't going to even dress on most Sundays, and the person who actually has the most familiarity and experience with Reid's offense is Mahomes himself. He has Henne, and he doesn't need McGloin.

We just don't have a young 3rd stringer on staff, though. I don't know where we'd find one where we actually take an honest shot with the hopes he could be good. We have no Bray or even an Aaron Murray. I'm really not thinking that Chase Litton will be anything special.

We may as well keep Matt McGloin. I'm not very keen on rolling with only 2 QBs. I just don't like it.

No Jehu Chesson ? WTF!

Matt McGroin ! Come on, Litton will be better

Somebody's gotta eat shit. Can you tell me why Chesson shouldn't be the one?

DLine sucks. Sign Catapano!

Chesson is an outstanding special teams player. I think he gets the last WR spot based on that.

What has Charcandrick West done in the last 2 years to show he deserves to be on this team?

He’s a nice guy I get it, but he has sucked ass since his breakout season in 2015.

He really looked bad last year, but then again, he looked bad the year before that as well.

I've accepted over the years that some dudes have incriminating photos of coaches and will usually earn roster spots in spite of how much the fans think they suck.

DAT is another.