Offseason Outlook 2015: Kansas City Chiefs

Offense

Do the Chiefs have a franchise QB in Alex Smith? No idea. He's pretty good though, and Kansas City has put him in a position offensively that limits mistakes and works well for his style of play. This year marks the first year under Alex Smith's tenure as the Chiefs QB that he has offensive weapons not named Jamaal Charles. The Chiefs gave Jeremy Maclin a 5 year/$55 million deal this offseason to come in and be their number one guy. Fact: All of the Chiefs WR's last year combined to catch 0 touchdown passes. The Chiefs know their WR's were not good last year, and they needed to change the dynamic at the position, ergo Jeremy Maclin. They also released Dwayne Bowe, and even though he was playing uninspired last year, he is still a good WR so they needed to fill the void even more. I'm taking a bit of a shot in the dark here, but I also think De'Anthony Thomas' role as a receiver will increase this season. I know he was drafted as mainly a returner and a gadget player, but he has ridiculous speed and I think he could be used more often this season. Another player to keep an eye on for Kansas City is Jason Avant who wasn't that bad last year in a brief stint with the Chiefs and he might be even better with Jeremy Maclin as the first receiver. The Chiefs are still clearly thin at the receiver position though, but they have other threats on offense too. Travis Kelce at tight end, is basically mini Gronk. I'm sure he's not a fan of that nickname, because he will eventually carve out his own legacy whatever that may be, but he plays with that same intensity. There will be plays where he will be impossible to take down. I honestly mean that, this guy gets hit and he shakes it off like it was a bug that flew into him. He is a monster, and if he stays fully healthy, expect big things from him even out of the conservative Kansas City offense. In the backfield, the Chiefs have Jamaal Charles. Most people know how good he is, so I'm not going to dive into too much detail here, but yeah he's really, really good. Knile Davis backs up Charles, and he is a curious case because he had a rough year last year, but was great in limited action the year before. He's still very young (only 23), and I think he can be a solid backup for Charles this season. The Chiefs offensive line is... Rough. The Chiefs only spent one pick on it in this draft, when they have holes all across it. They picked Mitch Morse, who will slot in at center to replace their one good O-lineman Rodney Hudson who got signed by Oakland. On the left side they have Eric Fisher at tackle, who has struggled mightily ever since he was drafted first overall, and they traded for Ben Grubbs who was solid last year, but he's getting older and is a bit of a question mark himself. On the right side the Chiefs have Jeff Allen and Donald Stephenson respectively, and they were both below average starters last season and haven't shown anything to make me think they will turn it around. The silver lining for this team having a weak O-line is they know how to minimize mistakes. The conservative offense they run gets the ball out of Alex Smith's hand very quickly and tries to get their speed players (Charles, Thomas) in space. They run a lot of slants and get their WR's blocking well, which plays to their strengths in the long run. They were surprisingly a decent offense when it came to points scored per game last year, and they should have no trouble repeating what they did last year based on the upgrade from Bowe to Maclin and another year of development out of Kelce.

Defense

This is one scary defense on paper. On the D-line, they have a star in Dontari Poe, who consistently is in the backfield being as disruptive as any other nose tackle in the league. They also have Mike Devito to put on one side of him, and he is a very underrated player. He has a motor that never turns off, and I think is a key player for this elite defense. Opposite Devito, the Chiefs have options. Allen Bailey was solid last year, but they also have Mike Catapano and Jaye Howard who both could be good options too. Whoever they end up choosing, there is depth at the end positions for KC. At linebacker, the Chiefs have some serious talent. In the middle they have a star in Derrick Johnson. Who they pair up with him is the real question because they run a 3-4 defense. James-Michael Johnson was okay last year, but they drafted Ramik Wilson in the 4th round this year and he could help them a lot against the run. Then at outside linebacker, the Cheifs have a couple okay players I guess... They have this guy Justin Houston who had 22 sacks last year, and this other guy Tamba Hali who is consistently at the top of QB pressure leaderboards and has almost 80 career sacks. Oh and they have last years first round pick Dee Ford too. The craziest thing about this defense is that their secondary is shaping up to be one of the best in the league. Sean Smith, who has been terrorized in his career for having bad hands and dropping interceptions, was great last year as the Chiefs number one cornerback. They also drafted Marcus Peters, who I thought was the steal of round one, and he has all the tools to be a star in this league. If his off field issues are completely in his past, then he will put the NFL on notice quickly because he has everything you look for in a cornerback. He has straight line speed to keep up with receivers, fluid hips, he is very physical in press coverage, and he has terrific ball skills too. Call me out if I'm wrong, but this kid is a star in the making if he gets past his off field troubles. At safety the Chiefs resigned Ron Parker, which was a solid signing because he is a good safety. They also have Eric Berry who is a star, but due to being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma nobody knows what his future in football entails, we just wish him the best and hope for a speedy recovery. The Chiefs have Husain Abdullah to play beside Parker, and he is also a very solid option at safety. In the slot, Phillip Gaines will most likely be the man, and he also had a decent season last year and should get even better. This defense won't get as much press as the Seahawks D, but maybe it should. It was the second best defense last year, and frankly it looks even better this year. The mix of established stars and young talent implies that this defense can continue to grow, and continue to win Kansas City games.

This is a good looking Chiefs team. I predict them to be competing for a wild card spot just like last year, but just because I'm calling a similar finish doesn't mean that this team didn't get better. The questions on offense prevent me from being all in on KC, but this defense is no laughing matter. I think that this team has a chance to be good for a long time too, as they have a lot of game changers on defense that are really young, and they appear to be drafting pretty well (at least in my opinion). They franchise tagged Justin Houston, so his status is up in the air after next season, but he could easily be going for the sack record again this year so let's just take his contract details in stride. Andy Reid has put together a good ball club with John Dorsey their GM, and with the raw talent they have on this roster, I could easily see them in the playoffs next season and maybe even winning a playoff game or two.