This remains true even shortly after initial rosters are set. Each team cuts down from 90 to 53, which results in a flood of players hitting the market. At that point, teams then decide what players they want to try and add to their rosters from waivers or direct signings. After THAT, players who aren’t claimed can be brought back to the practice squad (another 16 guys, or potentially 17 if you have a roster exemption). There’s a certain art to cut day, as you want to try and protect players you think won’t make it past waivers, and have a feel for who is “safe” to cut and you’ll still be able to bring back to your practice squad.

Because of all this, when the Chiefs made their cutdowns for their “final 53,” I waited a bit before writing thoughts on the roster. With the Chiefs having a higher waiver priority than normal, I knew they would probably add a player or two via that process, which would in turn result in guys who made the “final” roster getting cut loose. It’s a brutal process for players who thought they’d made it and then found out they did not, but I digress (the NFL is, after all, a business, and that should never be forgotten).

Anyways, the Chiefs did claim a pair of players on waivers, DT Bryson Eason (from the Niners) and DE Jack Pyburn (from the Bucs). Both had strong preseasons for their respective teams, and Pyburn in particular got a lot of publicity not just for his play (which had some real moments) but for him potentially returning to college after joining a pro team, a decision he ultimately decided against pursuing. Pyburn is interesting as a developmental edge/hybrid type who could perhaps fill some of the role Leo Chenal has vacated (though he seems to have more pass rush tools and less raw power at a glance). And Eason showed on multiple occasions that he is just a big, strong dude who is hard to move.

Watch him stand up to a double team here (67, playing RDT).

I’m not going to go into a full-fledged film review for these guys, but something like that is highly encouraging to see from a young NT. Eason engages both both the LG and the C at the snap and shows a heavy and low center of gravity, stopping both blockers in their tracks and giving up zero displacement at the line of scrimmage. Look at where he is relative to the line multiple seconds after the snap.

That’s fun stuff, a true “effective double team” in which he not only occupies both blockers without moving but does it so well neither can move off him. That allows other defenders to stay free, keeps the line in place so there’s no push, and ultimately leads to a stuff. Fun stuff!

Anyways, with the addition of Pyburn and Eason, the Chiefs moved on (for now) from Marcus Harris and Kevin Knowles. I’d anticipate both get added to the practice squad (which has a few spots left) if they clear waivers. But for now, you can find a full list of the current roster here, and a full list of the practice squad here. You can find the roster listed out by position here, but it’s an older list that doesn’t include the Pyburn/Eason signings and Harris/Knowles waiver (again, always movement this time of year!

All right, that was a LOT of information. I’ve got some thoughts on the way they’ve constructed the roster this year, let’s go through a few of them.

Omarr Norman-Lott could be in trouble

Norman-Lott is starting the season on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list, which technically leaves him off the roster and means he’ll miss at least the first four games of the season. That’s bad news for Norman-Lott, and means he’s still got a ways to go to recover from the injury that ended his season last year. The problem for Norman-Lott is that he also struggled with an injury last season that limited him, and when he did play, he overall didn’t play particularly well. His film review (with the caveat that it’s an extremely small sample size) was rough and showed a ton of growth was needed for him to become an impact guy.

That combination (injury issues and poor play when on the field) is a tough one to overcome for any player, even a young one who was a 2nd round pick. To further Norman-Lott’s problems, the Chiefs are MUCH stronger at DT than they were last season (I’ll circle back to that as an overall point later). That means it won’t be as easy to get on the field and get opportunities if/when he does return.

Norman-Lott is just in the second year of his career, so there’s a ton of time left. But they say the NFL moves fast, and there’s a reason for that. Hopefully his rehab goes well and he gets a chance to work on his pass rush chops at the next level.

Dave Toub still has say on the roster, for better or worse

There were a LOT of upset Chiefs fans on cut day when Nikko Remigio made the final roster over Andrew Armstrong, who had a strong preseason and is the kind of big-bodied WR fans tend to fall in love with. Toub has been quite open that Remigio is their most “trusted” returner in terms of fielding kicks/punts, and how important that is to him.

To be perfectly frank, I’m not surprised the Chiefs cut Armstrong loose. They correctly deduced that he’d pass through waivers, and he’s now back on the practice squad, where he’ll have a chance to keep developing. That’s not really the thing that irks me about the process. For me, it’s more a twofold issue:

• First, it’s the fact that Remigio, who has not been a particularly good returner, is considered the best option at this point when Brashard Smith has clearly looked much more explosive in that role, and;

• Second, the idea that Toub would have that level of say over ANY roster spot at this point given how poorly special teams has performed over the last several seasons makes me a tad cranky.

To be clear, all teams make some bottom of the roster decisions based on special teams. But for the Chiefs, some of those decisions (hanging on to guys who struggle with penalties, or the fact that it feels like it’s multiple roster spots as opposed to just one or two) are hard to swallow when that phase of the game is struggling so much.

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What do you choose?

Anyways, let’s talk about the Chiefs’ decision at right tackle, one of the more “this started off as a good story and is looking more like bad news” storylines of this NFL preseason.

Jaylon Moore entered this offseason the presumptive starter at RT. The multi-year veteran who was brought on last season (for a pretty decent-sized contract) to start at LT was subsequently unseated by Josh Simmons after he fell in the draft. Moore saw multiple starts last year at LT when Simmons was out for family issues, and then played snaps when the OL became destroyed by injuries later in the year. His play was uneven but passable overall last year, and the thought was with Jawaan Taylor (whom he outplayed last preseason) out of the picture he would be the starter in 2026.

Kahlil Benson went undrafted after being a multi-year starter at the college level, including for a national champion last season. Despite having prototypical size and arm length for an NFL tackle (he’s a BIG dude), his lack of lateral agility and problems in pass protection led to NFL teams passing on him in the draft. The Chiefs brought him on after a tryout at rookie minicamp, and the fact that he’s managed to seize an opportunity to even compete for a starting job (seeing the majority of the RT1 reps in camp) has been a really terrific story.

What felt like a fun storyline without any possibility of a bad ending (upstart rookie presses decent veteran option) took a bit of a turn Saturday night against the Bucs, as both Moore and Benson (Moore got the start at LT with Simmons out with a back issue) having some struggles, and Benson in particular having a very rough evening after an overall OK Week 1 of preseason.

This particular loss on a hump move from fellow rookie Rueben Bain Jr. went semi-viral (and yes, Moore didn’t have a great snap here either, we’ll come back to that), with Benson getting tossed aside with ease. And to be perfectly frank, this wasn’t Benson’s worst snap/loss of the night in pass protection.

Now let’s be clear about something… one game, especially a preseason game, doesn’t define any player. This is especially true of a young guy who is learning the ropes of the NFL. And while we’re all tempted to use any single game to verify our priors, there’s still another opportunity for Benson to show that he’s able to learn from his mistakes Saturday night and build on them (remember when Kingsley Suamataia looked literally unplayable at guard last preseason, then went on to have a solid season at LG?).

That said, the Chiefs need to decide sooner rather than later what they want to do about right tackle. And unfortunately for Moore, he had a pretty rough night of his own at the LT spot (though he played markedly fewer snaps, getting a little more of the “starter” treatment than Benson did). Here’s Moore on the other side of the line on the play you just saw where Benson got tossed aside.

That’s a rough snap from Moore, who doesn’t get depth fast enough and then struggles to move the edge rusher wide around the pocket.

I think this snap, though, is instructive as to the decision that the Chiefs need to make (assuming that we don’t see anything too different in Week 3 of the preseason, which one can never rule out). I went back and re-watched each snap by Moore and Benson on Saturday night, charting each for wins, losses, and neutral plays as pass blockers and run blockers, as well as for pressures/hits/sacks given up. And I think I know the direction I would go if I were Andy Reid.

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On the other hand, the playbooks for teams are famously pared down for preseason games, and the pro competition players are facing often consists of 2nd or 3rd string players who aren’t on the same level of who they’ll be facing Sundays. Additionally, because of the way players are rotated in preseason games the sample size tends to be quite small in a sport where sample sizes are already quite small.

That last part shouldn’t be underestimated. Because sample sizes are so small (often players are on the field for perhaps 20 to 30 snaps, or even less), it’s much more likely that the snaps available for review will be affected by context. What sort of assignments was the player given, what sort of plays did he face from the competition, how much did luck play a role in things, etc.

The reason I bring all this up is that I want to talk about both Cyrus Allen and Peter Woods today, and both of them involve some real contextualization, Woods in particular. Allen had a pair of catches for 20 yards or so, while Woods didn’t collect a single stat in his snaps. Of course, the impression people came away from the games regarding both players were pretty different (most fans seem pretty excited about Allen, for reasons we’ll talk about shortly, while they were disappointed in Woods), but that doesn’t change the fact that context should be greatly considered when talking about both players.

I went back and reviewed every snap by both, and it’s interesting to me how the context of their situation affected them both, and in different ways. Let’s talk about each of them, starting with Cyrus Allen (the player who clearly played better and, thus, is more fun to talk about).

(If you haven’t seen them, I already broke down the snaps of R Mason Thomas and Emmett Johnson, which you can find by clicking their names here. Both acquitted themselves nicely Saturday and I’m excited to see more tomorrow)

Cyrus Allen

Allen has been, by far, the “buzziest” player coming out of training camp. He’s gotten a ton of reps with the first team (aided, of course, by Rashee Rice’s slow ramping up and Xavier Worthy getting banged up) and has made the most of it in virtually every practice. That trend continued after the pads came on, with Allen not just winning reps with some regularity but earning some trust from Patrick Mahomes during 11x11 sessions. Because of all that, he was the player fans were the most excited to see.

Allen’s stat line (2 catches for 20 yards on 5 targets) is not impressive on its surface, and it would be easy for a box score analysis to use that as a reason to slow the hype (and to be fair, it’s almost always a good idea to slow hype on rookie WRs). However, it’s worth noting that in a limited sample size the context of Allen’s snaps needs to be taken into account. For example, in a small sample size it matters that Allen, on multiple plays, was not really a genuine part of the reads.

What I mean by that is that there were multiple plays where Allen wasn’t really a part of the play in terms of an opportunity to get the ball. Some ways that can happen, for example, are when they used him as the “sweep action” receiver trying to get defenses moving the wrong direction on play action going the other way (three times). That creates a scenario where Allen’s ability to get open isn’t tested, and is actually irrelevant (that’s the downside to utilizing WRs for sweeps, though there’s significant upside as well in terms of misdirection and affecting the pass rush). He also had a few plays where he was more the deep “clear” route whose job is to draw defenders elsewhere. And on several other plays he was simply asked to run to a spot and curl, right into the teeth of the defense, or run an out against a defender who is playing leverage for that route with inside help.

Here’s an example of that last sort of play, with Allen coming from the slot.

The slot defender here has help from the safety to the inside, and he knows it. The LB is helping underneath and the safety is available for intermediate and deep. Because of this, the CB in the slot can play heavy outside leverage from the snap and doesn’t have to worry about a cut to the inside. This isn’t, from all appearances, a route where Allen was given the ability to adjust to the coverage. And so he runs right into the coverage, never getting remotely open. But that’s more a function of the look than anything to do with his (or the CB’s) skill.

And that’s what I mean when it comes to contextualizing limited snaps. What actually happens on the snap matters in terms of what we can actually gauge about the player moving forward. And because a lot of Allen’s snaps weren’t geared towards showing off whether he can beat man coverage on an island, we just don’t know a ton more about him in that area.

Of course, there WERE things we saw Allen demonstrate in the opportunities that he did have. The biggest one, from my perspective, was the fact that he has good hands and ball skills and is able to make contested catches.

This was the play that everyone buzzing about Allen following the game. On 3rd and 8, Allen is part of a route combination designed to overload a zone look. It’s worth noting how well he moves to the spot (I’ll come back to that). He also doesn’t let threatened contact slow him up, and in his turn he’s careful to not move his spot towards the closing defender.

But the biggest thing for me here is what Allen does as the ball is in the air. Rather than wait for it, he attacks it by moving forward towards the QB. This matters a great deal in terms of where the defender has to arrive to contest the ball. Imagine that Allen stayed put where he initially turned to the QB. That would have given the CB one less yard or so to cover when trying to close. That may seem insignificant, but there’s a massive difference between a CB arriving right AFTER the ball arrives vs right AS the ball arrives. Here, because of Allen’s movement, it was the former, and that creates an easier catch.

That’s the sort of savvy football that Allen was known for in Cincinnati. Those little things can make a big difference in terms of consistency, and seeing him do it in his first (almost) pro action was really nice. But he also showed off another trait that will be highly important in determining whether he can contribute on a snap-by-snap basis, and that’s the ability to collect the ball through contact along with strong hands/ball skills.

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That was awesome.

There were a LOT of things I had my eye on heading into Saturday’s preseason opener against the Rams. One of them, R Mason Thomas, I’ve written about already (you should really check that one out if you have not, as the kid has some juice from all appearances).

Another player that I was curious about was Emmett Johnson, the Chiefs’ rookie RB who showcased a skillset in college that could translate well to the pros. The Chiefs’ RB position seems to be relatively set after their signing of Kenneth Walker and then obtaining veteran 3rd down back Emari Demercado. They also have talented second-year guy Brashard Smith (who flashed in his own right on Saturday). So it’s a bit of a crowded room in terms of snaps.

That said, there ARE some RB2 snaps available for the Chiefs. Let me explain what I mean by RB2. I’m not talking about a guy who comes on the field for 3rd down and obvious passing situations. That’s a 3rd down RB, requires a specific skillset (mainly being a strong pass protector and route runner), and is a guy who gets on the field 10-15 snaps per game or so with a clear role. A RB2 is a guy who rotates in on 1st and 2nd down (and of course at times 3rd down) and on various drives to ensure that you’re not overworking your RB1.

In other words, your 3rd down back is more a passing down player, while your RB2 is more a guy you want to be able to count on to carry the ball a half-dozen times a game or so without the offense slowing down (as well as be a legitimate threat to make defenses respect play action looks). There’s an argument to be made that Demercado isn’t necessarily that guy, and there are of course questions about Smith’s snap by snap ability (though he should’ve seen more time last year, but I digress). So that leaves Johnson with an opportunity to seize a role.

So what did he show on Saturday? Keep in mind that Johnson’s snaps came against backups, with backups. But we were fortunate enough to see him get plenty of opportunities to demonstrate the skillset the Chiefs need for that RB2 spot. And he definitely seized those opportunities.

Here’s Johnson breaking a 13-yard run. We’ll come back to the blocking of it all in a moment, but for a little perspective, the Chiefs only had a handful of 10+ yard runs from their RBs all of last season. Johnson did it on his fourth carry of the game. Re-read that sentence. Johnson did something in 4 carries that was almost unheard of in Kansas City last year. And he did it in a way that was virtually impossible for the Chiefs’ RBs to execute in 2025. And here’s where we come back to the blocking and the “how” of it all.

This wasn’t a particularly well-blocked play by the offensive line. On the contrary, similar to the first three carries Johnson had, overall the defense got the better of the situation at the line of scrimmage (it’s worth noting that Johnson gained 3 yards on all of those carries despite a “meh” situation, which is yet another thing I’ll circle back to when we talk traits after finishing discussing this individual play). Look at what Johnson is seeing here as he gets the ball.

The Rams aren’t fooled by the counter, and the defensive tackle is unblocked in the backfield to immediately pressure the play. And the situation is actually worse than it looks, because whole Briningstool (the tight end pulling left to right down the line) is moving in the direction of the unblocked defensive end, it’s not his assignment to actually block him there. Rather, he’s to get out in space while the WR down blocks the LB. In theory, the action of the counter is supposed to draw the DE inside far enough to give Johnson space. But he plays it pretty disciplined (though not quite disciplined enough, as we’ll see.

And here’s where Johnson shows off a couple of the subtle skills that people don’t think about enough when discussing RBs; Decisiveness and bend/fluidity in change of direction. Johnson sees that the play is going to require that he change direction outside even more quickly than it’s designed for. And he immediately compensates by doing so, showing the ability to change direction (or “corner” if you think of it the way we commonly talk about it in pass rusher terms) fluidly without losing speed.

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I cannot begin to describe how good it felt to see the Chiefs take the field again on Saturday afternoon. After all the frustration and letdowns of the 2025 season, watching a new group of players have the opportunity to flash their potential felt like a brand new start. Which of course it is, for the Chiefs as well as 31 other NFL teams.

There were a LOT of things to look at from Kansas City’s preseason opener, from Emmett Johnson to Jaden Hicks to Cyrus Allen to Peter Woods to more under center looks to Garrett Nussmeier (no, I’m not kidding at all) to a whole lot more. But the first guy I want to talk about is pass rusher R Mason Thomas, who made an impression in his first outing as a Chief.

Thomas, who was affectionally dubbed “the closer” by Oklahoma fans during his college tenure, was brought on board to help the Chiefs’ pass rush. And based on his college film, there was a lot of reason to be optimistic that he could do so.

The primary question for Thomas, a guy with exceptional burst off the line and a terrific 2nd and 3rd step to the top of the arc, is whether or not he’ll be able to have the entire toolkit necessary to be a consistent pass rusher at the next level. The other question is whether he’ll be able to hold up enough against the run to be more than just a pass rush specialist.

We obviously don’t know a LOT more about Thomas now than we did on Friday, but we do know more after he played a fair number of snaps against the Rams (it should be noted that LA did not play their starting tackles, so that has to be taken into account with everything we look at). Most people will want to start with his half-ending hit on the quarterback, which is of course what you want to see from a guy called “the closer.” But it’s more important to look at what he did on a snap by snap basis.

To do that, I went back and reviewed every snap Thomas took against the Rams (the all-22 came out FAST, which was quite nice), charting for wins, losses, and neutral plays against the pass and the run while also charting pressures/hits/sacks, run stuffs, and effective double teams forced. Those numbers themselves aren’t all that important given the small sample size, but they allow us to get an idea as to what he was doing on a snap by snap basis in terms of wins/losses, and show what kind of impact he was able to make.

The important thing in preseason games, to be clear, isn’t necessarily the charted numbers (though that matters), but rather the traits that are shown in these snaps and whether or not they seem translatable to success long-term. But of course, it DOES matter what a player does on a snap by snap basis when you’re trying to project forward, as consistency is what separates mediocre players from good players.

Here are the numbers for Thomas.

For starters, I need to remind you again that the Rams were not playing their starting offensive line. Additionally, it’s worth noting that because LA utilizes so much under center play action in their offense on early downs that true pass rush opportunities were relatively hard to come by on Saturday (hence, all the “neutral” pass rush snaps). With those important caveats in mind, there are a couple things to note about those numbers.

The first and most obvious are those 5 pass rush wins. That number actually surprised me a bit. While Thomas clearly played well while watching the broadcast, I wouldn’t have pegged him for quite that many wins. That said, on re-watching you could see him winning a few reps where the ball came out so quickly that it was easy to miss in real time. But that doesn’t make it any less of a “win” for the pass rusher in that scenario, as it means the ball HAD to come out to avoid problems for the offense.

This actually started with Thomas’s first snap of the game, coming on 3rd and 3 on the Rams first drive. Watch Thomas from the left defensive end spot.

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I’ve written before extensively about how to watch preseason games in a way that’s somewhat helpful (I hope), and you can check that out here. However, with “almost” football nearly upon us, I wanted to write more explicitly about who, and what, I’m watching for this preseason.

All right, we’ve gotten through the Cyrus Allen of it all.

I wrote earlier this week about why the “how” is so much more important than the “what” when it comes to the Chiefs’ rookie WR, who is receiving more camp hype than any rookie I can recall at this point (we’ll see how it turns out). But obviously, there’s so much more to pay attention to as the Chiefs line up for their first “almost football” game of the season.

We already know that Patrick Mahomes is not going to play. And from the sounds of it, a lot of starters aren’t going to see the field. I think that leads us to an obvious question as to whether we’ll see other “non-starter” guys who still have an important role, as it appears they’re going to slow-play the preseason.

And that’ll be (to an extent) one of the first signals we get about any player. Do they hold him out and give him the “starter” or “important player” treatment? Do they have him play the first quarter and sit down? Does he play the entire first half? Does he play well into the third quarter, or even beyond? All of that could tell us more about whether the Chiefs view him as a guy they’re going to be utilizing this season.

Of course, whether guys get on the field (and for how long) is just the first step. After that, what they DO on the field will give us some signal as to where they’re at, particularly the younger guys. So let’s talk about who (and what) I’ll be keeping an eye on most closely on Saturday afternoon.

FOOTBALL!

Peter Woods

I feel like the only reason Woods isn’t getting more hype through what has been (from all reports) a really, really good training camp is that Allen is stealing all of said hype. That said, Woods has been an absolute problem in training camp, both in 1x1 drills and in team drills. This only increased after the pads came on, an EXCELLENT sign for a guy in the trenches.

Shout out to Ron Kopp for the camp clip, he’s terrific people and worth a follow.

(We’re back to gifs today, as I’m in a bit of a time crunch. We’ll likely be going back and forth between gifs and video clips moving forward. I hope that’s not too jarring!)

Snaps like this from Woods are exactly what you want to see from a guy who won in college with a blend of athleticism and pure power. Chris Jones called Woods “strong as an ox,” and you can see that here as he’s matched up against Khalil Benson (who was moved over to RG with Trey Smith missing some practice time). Benson’s calling card is his power and size, so watching Woods move him backwards multiple yards in a very short time is jarring, as is watching Woods et Benson entirely off his feet.

Woods moves Benson back so far here that he’s able to get into the rush lane of Kenneth Walker and force him to cut around at a longer line, which in turn gives the rest of the defense more time to close from the backside. It’s the sort of play that (I’m so happy to be saying this again) doesn’t show up on the box score, but it can change the course of individual plays and, through that, entire drives.

Woods is someone I’ll be keeping a close eye on if he sees snaps. In particular, I want to see how his power translates in live “almost football” action, as well as his athleticism. Is he displacing the line of scrimmage when moving down the line? Is he holding up at the point of attack? Is he able to generate push into the backfield as a pass rusher, or otherwise win 1x1? How is his hand placement looking? All of those things will matter a ton in terms of seeing whether he can contribute as much in year one as Jones believes he will

R Mason Thomas

Yes, this is going to be heavy on rookies (though I’d be somewhat surprised if Delane plays, so he won’t be included here). But the reality is that the Mason Thomas and Woods picks are almost impossible to exaggerate in terms of how important they are for the next several years (and perhaps longer).

The Chiefs desperately needed to add blue-chip talent on the defensive side of the ball, particularly when it comes to pass rush juice. Both Woods and Mason Thomas represent a departure from their norms, but in different ways. Woods is more of a “high ceiling” prospective with formidable physical traits as opposed to a specific “the traits we like” guy (though all teams like guys who are strong as an ox, to be fair). And Mason Thomas is a massive departure from the “Spags guy” mold of edge rushers, a guy who wins with an explosive first step and burst up the field alongside the ability to corner.

In other words, they’re both big swings on guys who can add a high-level talent to the defense. Particularly Mason Thomas, who feels like a player who will either be a very good pass rusher or a guy who contributes little, without much in between.

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Make no mistake, that possibility is definitely on the table. The Chiefs have a long history of playing it safe with guys they want involved on offense/defense during the preseason (even young guys). This is particularly true when said player has had an injury during camp, which Allen has.

Its seems kind of absurd that a 5th round pick at WR wouldn’t get EXTENSIVE playing time in preseason, but I can see a path for it. The Chiefs have been playing Allen a lot of reps with the first team (an injury to Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice’s “ramp up” have certainly helped), and he’s performed well enough to be the primary “buzz” guy in training camp even after getting hurt. And the fact is that reports are coming from all over (from Albert Breer to James Palmer to KCSN colleagues Nate Taylor and Matt Verderame) that the Chiefs love Allen.

Every year, as preseason gets rolling, I write about who (and what) I’m looking for in the next step towards “real” football. As we’ve talked about before, the NFL ramps up from something that’s not really football at all (OTA’s) to something that isn’t much of football but resembles it (non-padded practices) to something that is kinda/sorta football (padded practices). It’s a lovely acclimation period for all of us. Preseason is the final frontier, actual game reps against other pros who are mostly trying their best, even if scheme is only a skeleton and teams are playing odd lineups. It’s ALMOST football.

I’ve written before extensively about how to watch preseason games in a way that’s somewhat helpful (I hope), and you can check that out here. However, with “almost” football nearly upon us, I wanted to write more explicitly about who, and what, I’m watching for this preseason.

And Allen has earned a spot of his own here, so we’ll start with an individual piece on him and then talk about everyone else later this week. Because since coming back from a brief injury, Allen has continued to grab more hype.

(shout out to Farzin Vousoughian for the training camp footage, which he’s provided a ton of over the last several weeks)

We’ve seen quite a bit of training camp hype for wide receivers before, but I’m at least tentatively intrigued by some of the differences in Allen’s case. The primary difference (and the one that should be given the most weight) is that unlike other pure “training camp stars,” Allen’s success has come before AND after a switch to taking a ton of first team snaps. Getting that bump from the coaching staff (not just rotating in, but playing there a ton and getting his name called for targets during scrimmage sessions) a great deal at least in terms of telling us what the coaches think of him.

And that (signal from coaches) is actually the first thing I’ll be looking for on Saturday. Does Allen get the “he’s part of our plan” treatment from Andy Reid? As in, does he barely play any snaps at all? You can almost always count on 1st round picks getting that sort of treatment, but after that? You’re looking at snap count to get a signal from the coaching staff.

And so while I’d love to see Allen get a ton of looks, perhaps the MOST telling thing (at least in terms of what the coaches think) would be if we got nothing at all. If Allen only plays a few snaps and isn’t targeted, that would be more indicative of a long-term plan than if he plays, say, 20 snaps and is targeted 5 times.

That said, if the latter scenario occurs there’s a lot of ON the field stuff to examine. Let’s talk about what to look for while he’s on the field, and what to avoid reading too much into.

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We also do a lot of extrapolating of storylines that are less fun. When we see a player struggle for a few plays, or over the course of a few practices, we raise our eyebrows. When a player is working through an injury, we can’t help but wonder if he’ll ever get back to full strength, or even back on the field. That’s just human nature. We love to take the information we have and then try and build it into a projection of the future, for good or for bad.

As time passes, and training camp folds into preseason and the regular season begins, a lot of training camp storylines (good and bad) turn out to be more fantasy than reality. But which is which? What points towards the regular season (and hopefully playoffs), and what is nothing more than a dream (or nightmare)? It’s my job to try and sift through what’s real and what is not.

So it’s once again time to play “real or fantasy,” in which I’ll go through some of the main storylines early in Chiefs camp and give my best shot as to whether they point towards something solid or something that will be nothing but a faded memory by October (or sooner). How this will work is I’ll name the storyline, then talk about it for a bit, then rule whether I believe it’s real or fantasy.

There’s a lot to cover here, so let’s dive right in starting with the biggest storyline of training camp; Whether the Chiefs’ offense will change.

Real or Fantasy: Under Center Offense

I want to believe.

(shout out again to Farzin V, who is at camp pretty much daily providing video clips)

Report after report from camp is that the Chiefs are practicing more under center than what we’ve seen in the past. It’s tough to quantify such things, of course, and perhaps this is just a matter of people seeing what they want to see. But any common sense modification of the offense would include more under center looks, given Kenneth Walker’s proclivity there and the way modern NFL offenses are going to attack current defensive trends.

Perhaps this is me just being overly optimistic (I tend to be guilty of that), but I think that we’re going to see Reid go a little more this direction this season. It just seems impossible to me that a guy who has either started or followed multiple offensive trends over the course of his multiple-decade career is going to just ignore the way current defenses need to be attacked. Perhaps Reid has lost his fastball (and the last several years give me pause on that), but he’s never shied away from modern trends before, and it would be odd for him to start now.

Additionally, it’s at least nice to see that the Chiefs are not only practicing under center looks in goal line work, 11x11, and the run game, but they’re even doing it in 7x7 looks so Mahomes can practice throwing out of a traditional dropback.

This isn’t unheard of in camp, to be clear. But it’s nice to see. And I want to believe, and therefore it shall be.

Verdict: Real (I need this)

Real or Fantasy: Peter Woods is a Dude

When I reviewed Peter Woods’ college film (from both 2025 and the prior season, when he had significantly better statistical results), I noted that Woods has a stratospheric ceiling given his combination of power and athleticism. And since the pads have come on, he’s been showing off those traits, particularly in 1x1 drills against offensive linemen.

(shout out to Jesse Newell for this video clip. Jesse does terrific work)

While this rep is against backup Hunter Nourzad, Woods has had success against more established starters as well. This snap just serves well to demonstrate the traits Woods has that make him such a high-ceiling player. First, he shows off his explosiveness with a little stutter into a swim. And he shows the power he’s got in his hands by using that left arm to shove Nourzad off-balance as he moves into the swim.

Finally, Woods is able to show his agility and athleticism/burst to fly past Nourzad after he’s gained an edge.

Woods hasn’t just made noise during individual drills. He’s shown himself to be a real handful against the run in run game drills and has been difficult to block in 11x11 work as well.

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That’s not uncommon. If you’re someone who is unfortunate enough to be online frequently, you’ve seen the way the “news cycle” work. Some sort of event occurs or conversation begins, and it sparks a ton of debate. Anger abounds, emotions are had, arguments are made, and then within a few hours it’s all over. Sometimes stuff simmers for a lot longer, but often times in the modern world a conversation ends before someone has had time to play a round of golf or mow their lawn.

If you didn’t see it, here’s how it went down. Cyrus Allen was injured during training camp on Friday, an injury that looked pretty rough based on his reaction.

The initial reporting is that he was having a hard time putting weight on his leg, and the assumption by many (myself included) was that it was going to be a very serious injury. As news about the injury came out, it included that Allen was hurt while practicing gunner with the special teams unit.

That gunner note is an important one, as is the fact that Allen was getting a lot of buzz early in camp for outperforming his peers and getting significant work with the first team while gaining Mahomes’ trust. Naturally, the hype train was picking up steam and people were excited. His injury took that excitement and morphed it into… something else.

Chiefs Twitter exploded into a cacophony of anger. Blame was thrown out at Andy Reid, Dave Toub, and the Chiefs’ coaching staff in general for the injury. Many people questioned why a player who was getting first team reps was practicing special teams at all, particularly at gunner, a spot he seems unlikely to win at the pro level given his size. The calls were loud and hot, piling onto an ever-increasing list of grievances Chiefs Kingdom has compiled against the current leadership (Reid in particular).

The response to the backlash was swift, with people who cover the team, including former players, pointing out that as a 5th round pick Allen is guaranteed to be playing special teams, just like many other players have before him. The responses often matched the tone of the initial complaints, which is pretty commonplace, and heated conversations started happening all over Twitter (and I assume other social media). Lines were drawn. People said unkind things to one another and made accusations. You know, a typical day on the internet.

When Toub was asked about Allen being injured on a special teams snap, he gave the answer most would expect (albeit perhaps in a slightly defensive way).

There’s a lot I could say about the tenor of Toub’s response, but the truth is that what he’s saying is absolutely correct. Everyone practices special teams until they don’t. That’s the way the NFL works, and is in part a numbers game. And a player getting exempt from special teams work after a few days of doing well in unpadded practice would be basically unprecedented in any city. So to go after the Chiefs’ coaches or GM for that decision is definitely an unfair reaction (though, of course, that didn’t stop many, including myself).

At the same time, however, it should be noted that the general angst about Allen’s injury was about a great deal more than just Allen. I’ll circle back to that, because now we’ve arrived at what I want to talk about today (the windup was long but the point itself is relatively brief); We could learn a lot about ourselves from how the injury discourse surrounding Allen developed.

Once the lines were drawn online, people fought and argued and yelled and chastised and condescended and mocked and so on and so forth. One side sneered at the ridiculousness of acting like a 5th rounder shouldn’t be taking special teams snaps. The other side rolled their eyes at the “this is how we always do things” justification and the rigidity of the opposing view, while noting how desperate the Chiefs are for some help at WR. The arguments became (as they often do) about bigger issues, such as the roster construction, the last several years as a whole, and the entire way fans (and media) talk about the team. It all got bigger and bigger and meaner and meaner.

And then, it turned out to be (at least it appears) much ado about nothing.

Everyone exhaled and then either sheepishly moved on with their day or continued to argue about the points they’d been making previously (because, after all, even IF he’s not hurt people were still right about the WR room or how training camp works or how… well, you get it).

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We get offseason activities, which are decidedly not football. Not everyone participates, the practices are slowed down, a lot of guys who are just being given a shot to show up at a camp are there… It doesn’t remotely resemble the final product. Then we get to the first few days of training camp, when it’s quarterbacks, rookies, and perhaps newer players along with a bunch of guys who are almost certainly not going to make the final 53. We hail that as football being back, but it’s really kinda, sorta, barely, a little football.

Then the entire team arrives for training camp, and it becomes kinda, sorta, barely football (notice we’ve removed “a little” there). Yes, now it’s the entire team and includes NFL-caliber talent everywhere. But it’s still just practice. And more importantly, the pads aren’t on.

Then comes the first padded practice, which is kinda, sorta football (I’ll circle back to that in a second, because that’s what we’re talking about today). Finally, we arrive at the preseason games, which is kinda football, but not all the way given the mixed lineups, vanilla playbooks, and teams looking more to see what guys have and practice than win. It’s a long, slow ramp-up over the course of several months that has us, by the time Week 1 rolls around, absolutely ready for real football to begin.

On Monday, we take another step in that “ramp up” period, as the Chiefs will put on pads during practice for the first time. As I talk about every year when discussing what matters and what doesn’t at training camp, padded practices are much closer to real football than non-padded practices. It changes the level of contact, the technique involved (not just in the trenches but for WRs/CBs on routes and in coverage), and helps separate players who are heroes in shorts (a term you’ll hear a lot of coaches use) from guys who can produce through actual contact.

That’s worth keeping in mind for any reports or clips you see coming from camp while guys are in shells (as well as the warnings I gave in the piece linked above about not getting too high or too low on any individual play). The short story is that without pads, contact is more light. And when contact is more light, the offense has a big advantage in the WR/CB matchups.

(NOTE - I’m back to gifs for today. Let me know in the comments whether we like the change back or want to stay with videos. It seems that the determining factor is whether people utilize the app, a browser, or email. I would note that I can add approximately 6 gifs per article, whereas there’s a much larger number of videos I can embed)

So now that football will be kinda, sorta football again, there are a number of things I’ll be watching for on Monday and beyond. Nine, to be precise. Let’s talk about them, starting with the one thing that has everyone buzzing right now.

Cyrus Allen

Nobody has had a stronger hype train than Allen, who (as I’m writing this) is getting a TON of love on social media during a really strong practice. And it’s not just that he’s hauling in catches, but it’s the way he’s doing it that’s getting attention in that he’s separating often AND winning at the catch point even if he doesn’t.

(Shout out to Frazin V, who is a great follow for training camp videos)

Allen is a really interesting player (I would have a review written, but sadly his all-22 is TOUGH to come by) whose skillset is one that has a chance to really translate at the pro level. He was an excellent route runner in college and separated at a VERY high level against man and zone (Matt Harmon is someone I listen to about WRs, he does good work), something that matters when trying to project ability. He tested as an OK but not great athlete, but plays faster on the field than what he tested at in shorts. He has experience playing both the slot and outside. He’s definitely a bit undersized (a little over 5’11” and 183 pounds), but he’s not TINY in the modern NFL. And as you can see in the clip above, ball skills > size.

And again, the way that he’s been able to show up at camp SO FAR (we’ll get to the caveat in a moment) has been impressive. It hasn’t just been one or two highlights (that happens at camp), it’s been pretty consistent over multiple days. And he’s become, at least as of today, a guy that Mahomes has been targeting more than anyone else by a pretty sizeable margin with Rice in the training room and Kelce getting the veteran treatment (something that a text with a person who is present confirmed. The term “over and over again” was used).

That all sounds great. And yes, there’s precedent for exceptional route runners becoming good players in the league despite being a bit undersized (he’s less than an inch shorter and 7 pounds lighter than Stefon Diggs, as an example of a guy who has utilized route running and savvy and ball skills to become a terrific player). That said.

That. Said.

The pads come on Monday. Which means that the pressing at the line is going to be more physical. The corners are going to be grabbier at the stem and throughout routes, and will have more to grab on to. Actual contact will be a risk over the middle of the field. In other words, it’s kinda, sorta football. And the list of smaller WRs who were heroes in shells and disappeared when the pads come on is EXTENSIVE.

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Football has, once again, returned.

To use the same analogy I’ve used for years, the first snaps of training camp always feel like we’ve found an oasis after months of wandering through a desolate wasteland that doesn’t have a drop of water football.

Every year, I write a piece about training camp as it starts. And every year, I note that this is a wonderful time to be a football fan. Optimism is the primary emotion felt by every fanbase, as everyone believes that the Good Things will happen and the Bad Things will not materialize for their team. That optimism, combined with the lack of actual football for months upon months, causes us to absolutely devour every single training camp clip or image we get.

This is especially the case when there’s a major storyline to follow, like…

• Whether the Chiefs are going to incorporate more under center and play action into their offense.

• Whether the WR room will take a step forward and be utilized correctly

• Whether the young defensive line can help improve on last year’s abysmal performance.

• Whether the CB room that has a huge range of outcomes will come together.

With the long gap between any “real” football news, it’s easy to treat every piece of information we hear, as well as every video clip of practice, as wildly important. Every tweet sends us into a frenzy of excitement or into the depths of despair. The reality is, of course, that much of it is fluff. So many of the storylines we follow throughout training camp, especially early, become forgotten as preseason and then the regular season begin.

That’s because the reality is that glorified practices don’t hold nearly as much meaning as we want to ascribe to them in our thirst for football news/content. But MAN do we want them to mean more.

And so multiple times now, I’ve written here about what matters and what doesn’t during training camp as a primer to help you (and me) try to stay on track during this time of year. I want to reiterate that again today, because it’ll help us stay sane for the next month. It’ll be a lot of the same general ideas as previous years (so some of this will feel familiar), but I’ll try to tailor it to some of the storylines you’re sure to be following right now.

Things That Don’t (usually) Matter

Let’s start with this list, because even though it’s shorter, it actually includes a lot more of the content that we receive this time of year.

Individual plays during practice

During camp, we’re in an unusual situation where practices aren’t televised but there are plenty of media bodies (and a decent number of fans) present. Because of that, most of the information that we get is in the form of live-tweeting about individual plays made through the course of a practice. That makes every play feel even MORE important to a fanbase starving for news, because it’s football that we can actually see!

And why shouldn’t these plays matter? After all, these are pros practicing against pros, so shouldn’t it matter when one of them makes a great (or bad) play?

Not really, no.

There are a lot of reasons individual plays don’t tell you a whole lot about a player. For starters, well… it’s one play. Every single player in the history of the NFL has some great plays on their resume. They also have some absolutely awful ones too. That’s going to happen, especially during practice. Assigning much meaning to a great catch, or really rough rep in pass pro, etc, is looking for more meat than actually exists based on a singular play. The short story is it’s about consistency over time, which we’ll come back to.

Additionally, and much more importantly, as fans we don’t know what players are working on during drills or even during team scrimmage sessions. Patrick Mahomes famously threw a bunch of picks early in his first training camp as a starter. The reason? He was seeing what he could get away with in the pros, trying to nail down exactly how narrow or wide those windows would be at this level.

That’s what practice is for… working on various aspects of your game. It’s also utilized to work on executing certain aspects of the offense/defense, meaning that players aren’t so much trying to “win” their snap but are trying to do the “correct” movement in terms of spacing, pacing, etc. And the guy they are lined up across from is doing the same thing. For example, an edge defender might be told to play things a certain way against a run no matter what they see, which of course is highly different from an in-game situation, where the job changes based on how the play unfolds.

And sometimes, I think, in our desire to gather meaningful information we ignore that. This is especially true when we really, really, really want each rep to mean something. But the short story is without knowing what the player is supposed to be working on, it’s dangerous to assign too much meaning to success or failure over a few plays.

It has to be remembered that the context of what is occurring in a practice rep matters a great deal. We love seeing QBs complete a ball down the field, but if it happens 6 seconds after the snap? That’s not real, and isn’t reflective of what things would look like come gameday. Or is a defender “stonewalled” in his pass rush but was actually working on his contain technique against a play action look? That’s not reflective of his ability to win 1x1. Did an OL “pancake” a pass rusher in a 1x1 drill by throwing him right where the QB’s feet would be? That looks cool, but it’s not a real win.

Yes, we’ll all share camp highlights and talk about them. That’s fun! And perhaps, over time, we can glean some information about certain things. But the overall importance of individual plays is virtually nil.

So when you hear about R Mason Thomas getting completely stonewalled by Josh Simmons on a single rep, you won’t overreact and scream “BUST.” Or when you hear Peter Woods blew up a play on the interior for what would have been a sack, you’ll understand that without knowing what was being worked on there’s only so much that can be taken away. This should help you be shielded from overreaction, at least as much as any of us can be shielded this time of year.

Practices without Pads

I’ll say this the same way I always do; Football without pads is basically a different sport than football with pads.

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That quote was not, in case you didn’t know this, about the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2026 wide receiver room. But it may as well have been.

Earlier this week, I wrote about the Chiefs’ cornerback room heading into 2026 from the perspective of its floor and its ceiling. The topic intrigues me for multiple position groups, but is especially fascinating for that room and a few others. The reason it was so interesting to me, from the CB perspective, is that there is a very wide range of possibilities. And after writing about it in detail, I was happy with how many potential paths lead to Spags/Merritt having a competent-to-good CB room, with the ceiling being quite high.

Discussing that idea of “many paths lead to a good result” made me think about another position group in Kansas City, though. And as you may have picked up from the quote I utilized to start this piece, it’s not nearly as rosy a perspective. Let’s talk about the floor and the ceiling of the wide receiver room.

Similar to what we did with the cornerbacks, first let’s list out every single player who has a realistic chance at making the roster. Yes, I’m aware that sometimes guys come out of NOWHERE, but since that could apply to literally anyone I’m not going to go down the road (as it gets too deep in the weeds).

• Rashee Rice

• Xavier Worthy

• Tyquan Thornton

• Jalen Royals

• Cyrus Allen

• Nikko Remigio

• Jason Brownlee

• Jeff Caldwell

• Xavier Loyd

This list leaves out multiple guys who are on the roster (Jimmy Holiday, Andrew Armstrong, Omari Evans, and Jacob De Jesus), but even naming this many guys stretches credulity in terms of players with a legitimate shot at making it to the final roster. There’s a strong argument to be made that listing Loyd and Caldwell is a classic case of “young player getting the benefit of a doubt,” but I’ll circle back to that.

We’re going to go through each of these names and discuss floor/ceiling the same way that we did with the CB room. But before we even get started with that, I want you to notice a distinct difference between the above list and the CB list we discussed earlier this week; Depth. It’s more of a chasm than a gap between the two lists, and that should have you worried right off the bat. But, similar to the young guys, we’ll circle back to that. First, let’s go through each WR, discussing their potential floor and ceiling. Then we’ll look at the group as a whole and talk about why the “wide path, narrow path” quote is so descriptive here.

Rashee Rice floor/ceiling

As you can imagine, Rice will be the longest player to write about here.

The Chiefs are betting on Rashee Rice to have a career year and to take a step forward into being more of a true WR1 than a guy who does a few (important) things well as a WR2 typ. That said, the Chiefs have been betting on Rice for several years in a row now, so that’s nothing new. In 2024, Rice appeared to be developing into a legit WR1. His development looked promising, and he was showing enough of a varied skillset to be dangerous in a number of ways.

Then he got hurt in a freak play, and his suspension was finally dropped based on his dangerous driving convictions (once he entered a plea deal). We could talk at length about Rice’s foolishness and immaturity, but that’s been covered elsewhere. For now, let’s stick with the football side of things. Once Rice came back from his suspension, he looked like he was ready to pick up where he left off.

This was one of my very favorite reps from Rice all of last season (it’s telling that it came so early). He’s isolated 1x1 at the goal line and shows the ability to grab a little separation off the line with good technique in order to get his hands free and buy space from a defender trying to play him physical. He then shows late hands to snatch the ball at the last moment in order to prevent the defender from making a play on it.

I said it at the time, but this sort of rep (a nice release with complementary hands/feet, then late hands) made it look like Rice was going to be a more polished player in 2025, continuing the trajectory he had set previously in 2024. Had you asked me at the time I would’ve said that he was going to maximize the talent he’s shown since his rookie season.

Of course, you know the full story. Rice didn’t really take a step forward last season once he got on the field, struggling to separate against man coverage consistently and not looking like he’d taken any steps forward in terms of his route running or releases. It was deeply disappointing even as we have to acknowledge the schematic issues the Chiefs’ offense faced (they didn’t run a lot of man coverage beaters for individual WRs, instead relying on picks/rubs/scheme to do the work).

The thing is, though, Rice still flashed the skillset to be a difference maker. There were times last year when he looked like the player we saw in 2023 and then in 2024. His lack of refining and development is something that is tough to separate from the WR coaching, a problem that became severe enough for Reid to fire the former coach and hire veteran WR coach Chad O’Shea. Given the skillset Rice has flashed (acceleration, strong hands, strength through contact, YAC, and ball skills), there’s a legitimate argument to be made that his best is yet to come.

And that’s where the floor/ceiling convo is tough with Rice. His floor (if we take out the “bad luck” stuff like injuries) is a functional but limited WR2, who can execute a limited route tree but is dangerous on screens, slants, drags, and other quick hitters underneath thanks to being an exceptional YAC guy. So that’ll help the offense regardless even if he’s done developing as a player.

His ceiling, though? Well, prior to 2025 I’d have said it’s as a legitimate WR1. And one year back from a bad injury in which he clearly didn’t have his head right shouldn’t necessarily change that, particularly with coaching staff and (hopefully) some schematic changes.

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There’s still lots of film to review from 2025 to try and point us in the right direction for what to expect this upcoming season. That said, with training camp around the corner there are a few topics I’m interested in that I want to write about even as we continue to look back at times.

One of those is the idea of floor and ceiling for various spots on the roster. You’ve probably had this conversation with fellow fans (or yourself), even if you didn’t realize you were doing it. Any time you think about what the best case and worst case scenarios are for any position group, you’re talking about floor/ceiling. And of course, when you do it in a manner that at least attempts realism (obviously the worst case scenario is everyone is horrible, and the best is that everyone is an All Pro and healthy all year), that’s another step in trying to figure out what the realistic possibilities are for a team.

And those REALISTIC possibilities are larger in some position groups than others, especially when you take out random (unpredictable) factors like injuries. For example, there are only so many realistic outcomes that exist in the tight end room. Kelce might drop off a little more, he might be just as good as he was in 2024 or a little better, and the same with Noah Gray. That’s about it. Kind of boring, really. Generally speaking, proven veterans are the opposite of interesting in terms of potential floor and ceiling outcome ranges.

You know what IS interesting, though? Groups with a lot of bodies and unknowns, especially if there’s legitimate (unproven) talent there. And that leads me to the cornerback room, arguably the place with the most potential variance of any position group on the roster. And the biggest reason for that is that there are a LOT of bodies vying for a spot, and there is a LOT of (again, realistic) variance for those bodies.

Here’s a list of the guys who have even a remote chance at making the Chiefs’ roster.

• Jadon Canady

• Mansoor Delane

• Nohl Williams

• Kaiir Elam

• Kristian Fulton

• Kevin Knowles II

• Kader Kohou

• Christian Roland-Wallace

• L’Jarius Sneed

We can say with absolutely zero doubt that Delane, Williams, and Canady will be on the roster in September barring injury given their draft status, cost, and (in the case of Williams) play last season. But after that? It gets a bit weird, and there isn’t anyone I’d be willing to say I’m CERTAIN will be there when it’s all said and done (though there are a few who would surprise me, we’ll come back to that).

The Chiefs have traditionally kept 5-6 cornerbacks on the roster during the regular season. What that means is that there are three guys minimum on that list who won’t be around. And again, that’s fascinating because I can make a rational argument for any of them to make it.

So let’s talk about the floor/ceiling of the CB room, on which will rise and fall the hopes of the defense to bounce back from a relatively lackluster 2025 (which wasn’t on the secondary, but I digress) despite losing a massive amount of talent in McDuffie and Watson. I think the way to do this is to go through, player by player, and give a realistic floor/ceiling analysis of them. And when we’re done with that, we’ll look at the floor scenario as a group overall as well as the potential ceiling.

Let’s start with the roster locks and work our way through.

Mansoor Delane floor/ceiling

The Chiefs traded up for the right to snag Delane, the best CB in the draft and one of their few “blue chip” talents on their draft board. Reviewing his film it became pretty apparent why given the level of ability he showed in college.

The realistic floor for any rookie, Delane included, is that they simply aren’t good. Does that feel likely at all for him? No, it doesn’t. But it has to be included in the range of possibilities that he’s a “meh” player, which would be one of the worst possible outcomes for the Chiefs in 2026.

That said, his ceiling is that of a high-level to elite player in year one. The talent is absolutely there for that when you look at his combination of feet, athleticism, physicality, intelligence and ball skills.

Delane is one of the players they’re counting on to be at least “good” right out of the gate in 2026. If he is, they’ve got a chance to achieve their goals. If he’s not, it’ll make for tough sledding immediately.

Nohl Williams floor/ceiling

Williams ended up seeing the field quite a bit as a rookie, and (despite a mystifying midseason suspension) played well overall. He was known best for his incredibly physical work in man coverage, but also showed the ability to sift through things in zone looks as well.

A full film review of Williams will be coming before the season starts (I hope, we’ll see how it goes), but it’s interesting to me that they couldn’t keep him on the field with snaps like this, where he showed the patience to pass guys off and stay put in order to help prevent an easy throwing lane.

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It might seem pointless to talk about 2025 film at this point, but I’d argue that it’s absolutely essential when trying to turn the page to 2026. Everyone loves to extrapolate how teams and individual players will perform in the upcoming season, but those extrapolations need to be based on something. And the best thing to utilize to project expectations moving forward is what a player has shown on film.

So with that in mind, I’ll be looking at some of the young Chiefs that are being counted on to take a step forward in 2026 in the coming weeks (and in between, the annual Mahomes film review summary WILL come out, and we’ll discuss the way he’s currently being talked about, I swear!). Let’s start with an obvious one who is somehow flying under the radar; Omarr Norman-Lott.

The Chiefs selected Norman-Lott 63rd in the 2025 draft. As I wrote after reviewing his college film, the vision for him was a guy who could add to the pass rush juice of the interior defensive line opposite Chris Jones after losing Tershawn Wharton (who at least added something a few snaps a game in that area) to free agency. A situational pass rusher in college who played on a strict rotation, the idea was also (and the film backed it up) that he had more ability against the run than what he’d been asked to do at that level.

Norman-Lott’s journey his rookie season was a strange one in a year where a lot of things were strange about the Chiefs’ interior defensive line. Reports emerged that he was being asked to put on a significant amount of weight to be able to line up at 1-tech in more of a “nose” role, which is odd considering the way that he won in college (utilizing upper body power, yes, but also unique bend for a big guy and some lateral burst/agility) and the fact that they needed a pass rusher. Of course, in the meantime the Chiefs cut loose their presumptive starting NT and then traded for Derrick Nnadi, who they had previously let walk in free agency. So… it was all weird.

Norman-Lott’s season overall was a quiet one. He only played 73 snaps total over the course of 5 games, struggling with injuries significantly. A preseason ankle sprain led to him missing Week 1, then a shoulder injury that kept him out Week 5, and then he tore his ACL in Week 7 against the Raiders. There has been a lot of speculation by fans as to whether the weight gain played a role in him having health issues, and that’s outside my expertise. But what we do know is that he didn’t play much last year and didn’t stand out during broadcast viewing when he did.

But what does the film say? 73 snaps is hardly a great sample size on a player, but it’s at least enough to know what a rookie is “flashing” in year 1. As always, it’s what happens on a snap by snap basis that matters the most when trying to project how someone will move forward. And so I went back and reviewed every snap he took in 2025, charting for wins, losses, and neutral plays as a pass and run defender along with pressures/hits/sacks, effective double teams, and stuffs.

(Something to note is that when it comes to wins and losses for defensive linemen is that when they’re rushing the passer, the important stat is wins more so than losses. This is the reverse of offensive linemen, where it matters much more that the loss percentage is low than the win percentage is high. The reason for this is pass rush wins are how defenders disrupt plays, not by staying neutral (though at times, with stunts or helping collapse the pocket, that can be helpful to an extent))

One thing to keep in mind, again, is that we’re dealing with a very limited sample size. It’s also worth noting that Norman-Lott was playing through some pain/injury in the majority of the times we saw him. So nothing here should be considered as the final say as to who he will be as a player. With that in mind, let’s look at the numbers, and then talk about the film behind those numbers.

Keep in mind that due to not charting kneel downs, penalties, and a couple of zone blitz snaps where he dropped into coverage, not all 73 snaps were charted

(deep breath)

Look, guys, it’s not great. On the plus side, the film is less discouraging than the numbers. Frankly, they’d almost have to be. Because the numbers aren’t great. Or good. Or average.

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Thornton came to Kansas City with very minimal expectations following his time in New England coming to an end. The former 2nd round pick was known to have an intriguing combination of size an speed, but it hadn’t translated into much production at the NFL level.

However, he flashed in the preseason and looked like he could help stretch the field a bit. And following an injury to Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice’s suspension, Thornton found himself thrust into a much larger than expected role with the Chiefs. And he didn’t disappoint, managing to produce some big plays and help the Chiefs move the ball at a time they were struggling to do so. Perhaps more importantly than any other trait, Thornton showed the ability to consistently get behind the defense and make plays down the field, something the Chiefs have rarely been able to do since 2022.

We’ve talked a great deal about some of Kansas City’s struggles to make teams pay for playing man coverage looks. We’ve also talked a great deal about Kansas City’s struggles to consistently win down the field. Thornton, for a time, was able to help provide some answers to those problems, which in turn (in theory) helped the offense not just gain chunk plays but open things up underneath. He appeared to have started to find a groove with Mahomes, and looked like a part of the solution.

And then, as I wrote about when discussing the 18 most mystifying decisions the Chiefs made in 2025 (EIGHTEEN, people), Thornton just sort of… vanished from the offense.

Through 5 weeks Thornton had 13 catches for 272 yards and 3 touchdowns. He was averaging over 20 yards per catch (and over 10 yards per target), had drawn several downfield pass interference calls, and had legitimately opened up the Chiefs’ deep passing game for the first time in YEARS.

He then basically vanished from the Chiefs’ offense, not getting a snap share above 33% until Week 15, and seeing an even smaller share of targets (12 targets in 9 games) during that time.

I didn’t focus too closely on Thornton when I wrote about this because of all the other issues that needed to be discussed (you know, 17 of them… Man, 2025 was a frustrating season), but the more I’ve reviewed the Chiefs’ offense since the season ended the stranger this all became. And it’s not just a matter of Thornton losing snap counts and losing total targets. That was always going to happen when Worthy got healthy and Rice came back from suspension.

No, the thing that is most bothersome (and needs to be corrected in 2026) is that the Chiefs basically ceased using Thornton as even a changeup deep ball threat.

I knew that this occurred, but I didn’t realize until recently just how extensive the “remove Thornton from the offense” problem was. I went back and charted every single “deep” attempt to Thornton utilizing NFL Pro. There were 27 of them (not including 1 hail mary), but it was incredibly interesting to see not just how much his role changed (or was erased) as the year went along, but how unjustifiable that change was when you look at the results they got.

I want to talk about those 27 attempts, look at the statistical results they achieved, and also look at the way the role just vanished as the year went along even though he was still productive in it when they went to the well. I’m going to go week by week so that you can get a real idea as to the trend in how they utilized Thornton (or did not) in the offense), as well as the results when they did. It’ll also give me a chance to talk about his film organically and what makes him a good downfield target as we go through each snap. Then I’ll talk about the total numbers, including numbers that were lost due to no fault of his own.

There’s a lot here, so let’s just get into it. But first, here’s Thornton selling a downfield route up the field to keep the safety’s hips open so he can convert to a crosser and run to open space (nuance down the field matters, not just speed)

All right, now let’s talk Thornton’s deep ball targets.

Week 1 (LAC): 3 deep targets, 1 catch, 38 yards

• Target 1 (2nd and 9) - Thornton should have broken outside sooner against middle of the field deep safety, tough throw/catch, did get some separation from his man, not close.

• Target 2 (3rd and 9) - Thornton is on an island without safety help, gets terrific separation down the field, ball is overthrown. A good throw here is potentially a 57-yard TD, even an “OK” throw here is at least a 35-yard gain or so. So 35-57 yards lost on a play that he wasn’t to blame.

• Target 3 (1st and 10, end of 1st half) - Gets some separation down the field by fighting through contact, tracks the ball well, 38 yard gain (clip is the first one above)

I won’t be quite this detailed for each week, but it’s worth noting here that Thornton was able to haul in one big play and should have been able to make another in 3 targets. Keep that in the back of your mind.

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The thought just sort of sits at the back of my mind, taking up some of my mental capacity (which isn’t particularly large in the first place if we’re being honest) and processing even as I try to go about my day. It’s like 95% of my brain is focusing on the thing at hand (generally work, or perhaps parenting or husbanding), but that 5% is always going, “Hey, you haven’t dealt with this yet!”

I have to say, it’s an annoying way to live. And so we need to talk about whether or not Brett Veach and Andy Reid (And Steve Spagnuolo) are right about what went wrong (and what didn’t) in 2025.

That might seem like a broad topic, so let me take you down the road of how I arrived at even wondering about this in the first place.

As I sat looking through the Chiefs’ draft picks and current roster, it struck me (again) just how similar the 2026 roster is to the 2025 roster on the offensive side of the ball. We’ll circle back to that, but it was another reminder that Andy Reid, from what we can glean, has made a bet on his own coaching ability in order to cure what has ailed the Chiefs on offense for multiple seasons.

Thinking about that bet (among other stuff) got me thinking about how important diagnoses are to solutions. Not just in the medical field, but in everything. If we identify the problem incorrectly it’s nearly impossible to fix it, because you’ll be asking the wrong questions and tackling the wrong issues. It’s called “issue spotting” in the legal field. If you don’t spot the right issue, you can make a brilliant argument and it won’t matter… because you’re not addressing the correct issue.

A good real life example is that if I believe someone else is the issue in terms of communication, I’ll never address the way my own communication is failing. After all, they’re the problem, right? And why would I look at myself if I’ve “diagnosed” the other person as the problem? It’s a common mistake in real like that we misdiagnose the issue and therefore fail to make improvements where they’re needed.

Football can be similar. In order to start REALLY fixing a team (and a team that went 6-11 undoubtedly needs fixing), one needs to accurately diagnose what the problems were that most affected said team. If one fails to identify the real root issues, one is only going to succeed in rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic and the problems will remain.

In other words, the diagnoses by the Chiefs’ brass have made as to why last season was such an abject failure are going determine how much of a turnaround they can accomplish in 2026. If they’ve correctly diagnosed the issues, they could see a massive swing right back to being a top Super Bowl contender. If they haven’t, there’s a chance that things go similarly to 2025 or get even worse (though with Mahomes as your QB the ceiling always remains high).

So… what were their diagnoses? How can we determine what they are, and on the flip side of things, what they apparently aren’t? Well, by gauging what they’ve done and what action steps we’ve seen so far. You can generally tell what a person believes (I mean REALLY believes) based on what they do. And based on what the Chiefs have done this offseason, I’d say their three major diagnoses for the team’s problems last year were as follows:

• The running back room

• “Execution level” coaching (OC, WR, and RB)

• Talent on the defensive line

Let’s talk about each of these in turn, but first let’s look at the diagnoses they have (from what we can tell so far based on what they’ve done) disregarded as the primary diagnoses. Then we’ll look at each of the diagnoses they’ve made and whether they make sense. Finally, I’ll close with some considerations as to whether they’ve hit what needs to be hit, and what the “prognosis” is if they’re right (as well as if they’re wrong).

Diagnoses they’ve (apparently) disregarded

Of course, you could create a never-ending list of things the Chiefs didn’t believe were the problem. For me, looking here is more about things that most fans and/or analysts believe were a significant issue that the Chiefs chose to not take action on to the best that we can tell.

The first and most obvious piece would be the wide receiver room. There’s a reason the Chiefs were connected with so many first round WR prospects. The reality is that the passing offense stagnated far too often last season, particularly against teams that were comfortable running man coverage looks or match looks that lean into man once routes are committed. While Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, and Tyquan Thornton all had some nice moments last season, none of them showed the ability to be a true WR1 or man coverage winner.

Despite that, the Chiefs essentially stood pat at the WR position, and if anything got even more “unknown” by letting Juju Smith-Schuster (56% of the snaps last year) and Hollywood Brown (50% of the snaps last year) walk in free agency. To be fair, neither of them played particularly well last season, but it’s interesting that the Chiefs have willingly chosen to have their CLEAR top 3 WRs be guys who have so much to prove. By not addressing WR in free agency or the draft (until very late), the Chiefs through their actions showed they don’t view the WR room as one of the primary issues from last year.

Another diagnosis that the Chiefs have, from all indications, rejected to an extent is that there was a serious schematic issue with the offense. This is tougher to prove as a “rejected” diagnosis, but the best evidence we have so far points to them believing the bigger issues were elsewhere.

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The 2026 draft is in the books. Which means there is a LOT of film to go over. With the most draft capital they’ve had in years, Brett Veach and company swung for the fences with multiple interesting players, with every early pick going towards the defense.

Mansoor Delane, LSU - Cornerback

Peter Woods, Clemson - Defensive Tackle

R Mason Thomas, Oklahoma - Edge Rusher

Jadon Canady, Oregon - Cornerback

Emmett Johnson, Nebraska - Running Back

Cyrus Allen, Cincinnati - Wide Receiver

Garrett Nussmeier, LSU - Quarterback

Let’s break down the film of each draft pick, one at a time. We’ve already looked at Mansoor Delane, Peter Woods, R Mason Thomas, and Jadon Canady (you can click their names to see the review. Today, we’re looking at Emmett Johnson.

The Chiefs had the worst RB room in the NFL last season.

The farther removed we get from 2025, the more obvious that seems. While Kareem Hunt was a short-yardage wizard (a valuable trait!), he was so far below NFL average in explosion, acceleration, and speed that it was incredible how many snaps he got. And Isiah Pacheco continued to look like a less explosive version of what he was at his best, and had vision issues hinder him repeatedly as he appeared to press too much for yardage. Between the two of them, a ton of yardage was left on the field in both obvious and non-obvious ways.

The Chiefs clearly saw the RB room as a massive liability, completely revamping it this offseason by moving on from Hunt and Pacheco and signing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker, then signing 3rd down RB Emari Demercado (we’ll see what they do with 2nd year guy Brashard Smith, who couldn’t get on the field much last year despite showing explosion). They continued that revamp into a total rebuild by drafting Nebraska RB Emmett Johnson in the 5th round.

Johnson rushed for an eye-popping 1,451 yards on 251 carries last year (at an excellent 5.8 yards per carry) and added 46 catches for 370 yards through the air. He also scored 15 total TDs (12 on the ground). This followed him spending his first few seasons at Nebraska as a productive part of the rotation (just worth noting that he was productive PRIOR to that breakout year, though not utilized as much).

And when you turn on his tape… You can see how he got there.

After reviewing Johnson’s film, I asked whether or not he would’ve been the best RB on the Chiefs’ roster in 2025. And I think the answer is a pretty resounding “yes.” Now, does that mean he can be a good overall NFL-caliber RB? Perhaps not, as the room was just that poor last year and one never knows how a player will translate to the next level. But it at least makes him interesting as part of the reforming of the room and a potential contributor.

Let’s talk about where Johnson wins, where he has some limitations or questions, and what the overall takeaway was from his college film.

Where Johnson Wins

The two traits that stand out most for Johnson are his vision working in concert with his lateral agility. He’s consistently a guy who does a nice job working the blocking in front of him. And it’s not just a matter of “taking what’s there.” Johnson has the sort of vision and pacing that helps actually generate/maximize holes in the run game. And it shows up repeatedly even on snaps that might fly under the radar.

You can see on a snap like this the way that vision and patience matter as a RB, and not just in terms of waiting for a hole to develop (that matters too, we’ll come back to that) but in terms of movement to help the blockers create a hole. Here, as Johnson moves to his left (given the initial development up front and the DT being sealed off) he knows he’s got a WR coming to crack the linebacker. And so he widens towards that spot in a way that allows the blocker to have the best possible angle. That movement also forces the edge to maintain outside leverage. But he’s always intending to cut right back upfield as soon as the block hits.

That sort of “I’m going this way with the plan already in place to cut back” is what you want to see in a runner. People love to say a guy is setting up blockers, and this is what that looks like in real time; Going to the spot that allows them to maximize their block with a clear plan for where you’re going once the block develops. Because Johnson runs with that intentionality, it helps complement his already very strong lateral cutting ability and makes him play faster (no hesitation).

In the same vein, Johnson understands when to follow the blocker exactly and alter his pacing to let the play develop, and then explode into a cut. He generally executes one-cut looks with a clear plan, and he reads blocks/defenders well in real time.

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The 2026 draft is in the books. Which means there is a LOT of film to go over. With the most draft capital they’ve had in years, Brett Veach and company swung for the fences with multiple interesting players, with every early pick going towards the defense.

Mansoor Delane, LSU - Cornerback

Peter Woods, Clemson - Defensive Tackle

R Mason Thomas, Oklahoma - Edge Rusher

Jadon Canady, Oregon - Cornerback

Emmett Johnson, Nebraska - Running Back

Cyrus Allen, Cincinnati - Wide Receiver

Garrett Nussmeier, LSU - Quarterback

Let’s break down the film of each draft pick, one at a time. We’ve already looked at Mansoor Delane, Peter Woods (you can click on their names to see that review), and R Mason Thomas. Today, we’re looking at Jadon Canady.

Now that I’m back from an extensive vacation, I’m excited to finalize our draft film reviews. And Canady, a somewhat undersized CB prospect (he came in at 5’10.5” and 181 pounds at the combine), is a fun place to start for a number of reasons. The first being that, from an “archtype” perspective, Canady plays with the exact sort of fire that we’ve come to expect from guys Steve Spagnuolo and Dave Merritt covet, even if he is a smaller player.

Canady is a guy who didn’t test particularly well (his 40 and splits there were “meh,” though his vertical and broad jump were excellent) but has good enough tape to still draw the eyes of NFL teams despite size and athleticism limitations. That alone should tell you something when an undersized guy without elite athleticism is still considered worthy of being drafted.

It’s an interesting selection for the Chiefs in particular given their recent problems with the slot CB position. We’ve talked at LENGTH here about Spags repeatedly trying to make Chamarri Conner “happen” as a big slot, and the ways that failed both the player and the defense repeatedly. And other guys they’ve tried there haven’t panned out (other than Christian Roland-Wallace, who looked intriguing there in limited snaps but just wasn’t utilized there much) as they continued to push Trent McDuffie, the best slot CB in the league, out to the perimeter. The entire thing was enough to drive someone (me) crazy.

With McDuffie now in Los Angeles and Spags utilizing CRW more at safety than slot CB last season, the Chiefs brought in Kader Kohou, who has good tape in the slot previously but lost all of 2025 to injury (that’s definitely one of those signings to keep an eye on, for what it’s worth). Kohou was the most obvious player to take slot snaps on the defense. And now, with Canady, Kansas City has another guy who could fit that type of player. It’s worth noting that Canady was asked to play all sorts of roles at Oregon in terms of various box and two-high safety looks, so he’s got the versatility that Spags covets (though his size may limit him there at the NFL level).

I went back and watched multiple games from Canady, looking to see where he wins, where he has unknowns or limitations, and trying to get an overall feel for him. Let’s talk about it.

Where Canady Wins

Since we’ve already shown a video clip of it, let’s start with Canady’s willingness to throw his body into the fray, his physicality despite his size, and his instincts as an aggressive breaker on the ball. All of those are things that show up in his tape time and again, and especially help out with quick throw looks.

The willingness to play aggressively against blockers and quick throws/screens is basically a “must have” in Spags’ defense for corners (and really, in the modern NFL), and Canady definitely shows that. He’s consistently active and aggressive against those looks, and he recognizes them quickly and reacts. His instincts and recognition help him play faster than his 40 time and splits.

Canady’s recognition and understanding of where plays are flowing isn’t limited to quick throws. He’s also got generally good instincts in terms of sifting through routes and reading where receivers are moving. He displays a solid understanding of how WRs are looking to set him up and shows the ability to anticipate breaks/cuts. He’s comfortable with this anticipation whether he’s playing at the line of scrimmage or off man, and generally doesn’t get left behind when the WR makes his move.

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I promised that if there was enough interest, I’d write a “part 2.” Well as often happens on vacations, time flew by and I now find myself back home without having kept that promise. And so today I want to write more about the trip (as it seems many people enjoyed hearing about what it’s like to visit Japan) as a continued “thank you” to all of you for the support as the content dried up during that time. I’ll do my best to write coherently, as jet lag is DRAGGING me down in a way I’ve never experienced. So all the bets to those who hunt for typos here, because my guess is there will be more than a few!

In a fun coincidence, writing this also comes the day before the 6-year anniversary of this website starting up. Six YEARS, people. So I want to take today to reflect on that as well and say thank you.

Here’s how we’ll divvy this up… I’ll write a few more general thoughts on visiting Japan (I somehow didn’t discuss bathrooms at all last time, a terrible oversight on my part), then write about visiting Kyoto, Hiroshima, and being back in Tokyo (this time in Asakusa). Then I’ll write about this being our six year anniversary together. That’s a lot to cover, so let’s get to it.

Visiting Japan General Thoughts, Part 2

I wrote last time about what a different culture Japan is, and how that affects every day life (and travel) in many ways.

Some of those differences, like the always prevalent emphasis on maintaining order and tidiness in public spaces, have recently made the rounds on social media thanks to Japanese fans at the World Cup cleaning up their section. I wrote about this last time but it bears repeating because it’s such a big deal. In Japan, there is a major weight placed on keeping up appearances. This extends not just to cleaning up after themselves at a soccer match, but EVERYWHERE. Every business washes the street in front of it and sweeps outside daily (at least in all the areas I went to), people on picnics organize their waste and don’t leave a bit behind, and so on and so forth.

You would think that it would be hard to adapt to living that way, but oddly enough, it’s not. It’s sort of like when you visit someone’s home that is kept in excellent condition and cleanliness… A mess stands out there in a way that it wouldn’t in a place that wasn’t so well kept, and you find yourself motivated to help a nice place stay that way. And so their parks, streets, and even alleys are just… well, nice.

Let’s talk about travel, culture, and lifestyle differences that I missed last time (or observed after staying there for another 8 days):

• The bathrooms are a completely different world in Japan. From the toilets to the showers to the baths, it is MARKEDLY nicer and (in public spaces) cleaner. The toilets all feature bidets with options to control heat, pressure, angle, etc, and many come with a drying mechanism as well. Heck, the last one we stayed at even had a button to raise/lower the lid, something I never knew I always wanted. And the showers themselves are often the entire “bathroom” (not to be confused with the room with the toilet, by the way, as the two are almost always separate) with a drain in the ground and the entire room designed to be a shower. The, once one has gotten clean, one can enter the bath of they so choose. And the baths are frequently larger, deeper, and have water that runs hotter. The water pressure is always absurd. In other words… the entire bathroom experience is wildly upgraded in Japan, even at “cheaper” places, and that’s one cultural area we could stand to emulate.

• On a similar note, the public bathrooms usually have stalls that go all the way down to the floor to create more privacy, and are frequently much more well-maintained and clean. It’s not perfect (especially in larger areas), but it’s noticeable.

• On a more serious note, the emphasis on respect in the culture grew more and more apparent each passing day. On first glance (and in the early part of being there), I felt like the emphasis was one of politeness. But it runs deeper than that. It’s more of demonstrating respect to others, regardless of the rationale. Oh, this is your business? I’ll give you the respect of being tidy in there. You’re my elder? I’ll give you the respect of deferring to you in virtually all things. You’re a customer? I’ll give you the respect of VERY carefully placing your items in the basket and giving every request you make my attention. You’re a visitor who doesn’t speak the language? I’ll give you the respect of trying to not make you feel foolish while we work through the barrier of not being able to talk, and (generally) be patient throughout. You’re sitting next to me on a subway? I’ll give you the respect of staying quiet and giving you as much space as I can. It’s a culture where respect for each other is the expectation in pretty much every situation. And while it can be intimidating in an odd way, it’s very, very nice to be a part of.

• I have never walked more places (even in Italy) or seen more people choosing to walk places as their primary way of getting around. No wonder they maintain health over time. Everyone is walking 5 miles a day. It’s insane, and I really, really miss it now that I’m back to (checks phone) 1,100 steps by noon.

And because so many people responded last time noting that they would be visiting Japan, I thought a couple of travel tips might be helpful:

• I mentioned in the first article that public transportation was tough. And I stand by that, at least at first. But I’m happy to report that we got the hang of it, and here’s the best way (in my opinion); Don’t be overly reliant on Google Maps. Don’t try to watch your phone step by step once you are near the bus stop or at the station. Instead, look up the directions in advance and save that on your phone, and then utilize the signs at the station or stop. In other words, don’t rely on “100 yards until taking a left,” because in the station that creates chaos isn’t necessarily helpful. Instead, find out what platform and line you need to take, then rely on the signs at the station to direct you to the correct line/platform. It’s a thousand times simpler and allows you to really learn to read the signs and boards well.

• Also, try to find out what kind of bus/train line you are taking (easy enough to Google). Is it one where it’s going to the same destination over and over all day? Many are. In other words, if you miss your 2:45 train, in many cases there will be another one at 3:00 (or sooner) that goes the same direction. So don’t panic if you miss a bus/train. BUT… maybe be cautious about “layering” your trip with too many changeovers (ie going from bus 1 to train 1 to bus 2 to train 2, all relying on specific times) lest you end up delayed and throwing off your whole plan. Maintain some flexibility with timing.

• You cannot possibly eat enough Seven Eleven, Lawson’s, or Family Mart. You cannot. Don’t let the food snobs bully you into saying you HAVE to eat sushi or ramen or whatever for every meal. The quick food options in Japan are elite. I ate dumplings from a convenience store that would’ve passed for high-end food here. And the Seven Eleven fried chicken mashed between the famous “pancake with butter and maple syrup” (like a sandwich) is one of the very best fast meal options I’ve ever eaten.

If you have questions about traveling through Japan, ask them below and I’ll try to answer them! But here are a few pictures and thoughts about each place we stayed.

Kyoto

An incredibly fun place to visit that really has everything for a traveler. Are you interested in experiencing history and looking at various places that are older and contain significant cultural value? They have that EVERYWHERE in Kyoto, with all sorts of shrines, temples, and the old Imperial Palace. Do you like seeing beautiful locations? The gardens and bamboo forests are terrific. Do you love market and shopping experiences, along with food? Nishiki Market is the place for you.

I lost count of all the cool things we did in Kyoto. From visiting multiple shrines, gardens, palaces, and historical places, to walking through the markets a million times and still finding something new every time, to trying some of the best food I’ve ever eaten, to (for my two oldest boys on the trip) forging kunai knives themselves under the watchful eye of a master, to watching my youngest son become mesmerized by “capsule” stores (a phenomenon in Japan that IMMEDIATELY grabbed him), to just… being together in a busy but also somehow calm city.

I could’ve picked any of several hundred photos from our time there and it still wouldn’t have been enough. I’d highly recommend you visit that city if you’re ever in Japan, and be sure to have several days available just for the market alone, let alone all the amazing sights throughout the city.

Hiroshima

Our time in Hiroshima would be best described as two very different experiences.

The first, an extended tour of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (which commemorates the city being obliterated by an atomic bomb at the end of World War 2), was an important but highly somber/serious experience. If you’re ever visiting Japan, I cannot recommend strongly enough visiting that place, though I’ll warn you it’s not a “fun” thing. It is incredibly impactful and interesting, though, and there’s something to be said for seeing this stuff firsthand. And there’s some real beauty in the way the museum (and other places in the city) have taken what happened and turned it into an opportunity to call for peace everywhere and to discuss the strength it took to bring the city back from the brink of oblivion. Seeing a thriving city where there was nothing but rubble, and seeing people talk about it as a reason to call for peace, is genuinely inspiring.

Contrasted with that experience was visiting nearby Miyajima (Itsukushima) island, one of the more beautiful places in all of Japan. It’s a relatively short ferry ride away, and is a wonderful place to take a day trip and take in some great views (or food). It’s a smaller island with only a couple thousand people living there at most, and there’s a small (very touristy, but in the best way) village that has a lot of shops, restaurants, and interesting streets to walk. It’s got an incredibly “smalltown” feel despite all the tourists, and my understanding is that at night in particular it’s a very, very quiet place to spend time.

The island features deer that are considered sacred (not to be confused with the fed deer of Nara, as the rules at Miyajima prohibit feeding them) who wander all over the place and make for a fun experience. It also has some incredible views at the top of Mount Misen that allow you to view multiple surrounding islands and towns. We took the ropeway up and it was breathtaking.

Hiroshima also (as other cities in Japan do) has some pay phones placed sporadically throughout the city, which led to a lot of questions from my son Lucas that made me feel incredibly old. And it was in Hiroshima where I first tried juice made from Muscat grapes, which may have genuinely changed my life.

After Hiroshima, we went back to Tokyo for the final leg of our trip. This was an 8-day stay in Tokyo, this time in the Asakusa District.

Tokyo, Part 2

Asakusa is considered a historic district in Tokyo and is a little less “bustling” than places like Shinjuku and Shibuya, though it’s still obviously a massive “city within a city” by anyone’s standards, let alone someone from smalltown Minnesota.

Asakusa is an amazing place, my favorite among the areas we visited. The intentionality of preserving more of the history than the newer, busier parts of town is clear. And there are also a bunch of really interesting places to visit: the Sensō-ji temple, the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate), the Tokyo Skytree, the Sumida River and nearby parks, the Nakamise Shopping Street and multiple nearby market-style areas where you can walk/shop/eat for hours, and more restaurants and food vendors than you can count. I ate chicken, pork, beef, various forms of noodles, and all sorts of delicious treats there, as well as perhaps the best burger of my life.

There was something truly special about Asakusa. Perhaps it’s because we spent so long there, but it truly felt like a place you could feel at home. Jas found a matcha place that she fell in love with (I may never financially recover from that), and the neighborhood was so safe that I felt comfortable with my teenage sons going out on their own at any hour of the day (those late night Seven Eleven trips are a necessity, you know). The people were so friendly, and the pace felt a little more slowed down. It was just a wonderful place to stay for longer, and something new to do every day. We had time to slow down and just enjoy being together in a place very different from where we’re from.

We got to do so many fun things during this leg of our journey. We went up the Skytree, shopped at Don Quijote (now THERE’S an assault on the senses, sheesh), found all the Kit Kat flavors known to man, strolled through the temple areas at night, went to a capybara cafe, took a cooking class and made our own sushi, visited the Godzilla head in Sinjuku, attended a building “lightshow” that featured a Godzilla battle (that was, no exaggeration, on of the coolest things I’ve seen), drank all the matcha, did a “do it yourself” matcha experience, drank more matcha…

… and mostly just spent time together. We were very busy and yet had all the time in the world to just sit and talk. And as always, those moments where the entire family (minus my oldest, sadly) was able to just sit together and laugh was the highlight. It’s funny how some things don’t change even half a world away.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little window into our family’s trip. Once the jet lag goes away, I’ll be back on track breaking down draft picks and gearing up for some offseason film reviews. I appreciate you all so much. And on that note…

Happy Anniversary, and Thank You All

Six years ago on June 15th, I wrote the first article on the Chief in the North Newsletter. I’ve talked before about the circumstances that led to me starting this website, so I won’t do that here. But I will say, once again, that I never dreamed that this place would become what it is now. It’s allowed me so much freedom to write about things that interest me, and so much ability to not worry about clickbait and algorithms and all that stuff that makes sports media so tiresome, and I’m so very grateful.

I’m very aware that none of it would be possible without all of you. The community that’s formed here, and the support I get from it, has been an incredible honor. I take very seriously all of you trusting me to deliver content you’ll either learn from or be entertained by (ideally both), and I hope I’ve done so more often than not.

Without going too far down a rabbit hole, last season was a particularly tough one. Of course, the Chiefs went from perennial powerhouse to a mediocre team, and that was a decidedly “not fun” development. But on a more personal note, this last year was the toughest of my adult life for a number of reasons (mostly self-inflicted, per usual) that I won’t bore you with here. I can honestly tell you that there were days it was quite difficult to get out of bed, let alone get to work. I’ve never really experienced that before, and it was a struggle. To be even more candid, it actually reached a point where several people who watch Only Weird Games reached out, saying I did not seem myself. They were absolutely right, and they’ll never know how much it helped hearing a sympathetic message even as I denied there being a problem or hid being the idea that I was “just a little tired.”

That’s life, you’ll go through it at some point if you haven’t already (and let me tell you, when you do, it’s going to be OK, and you’re not alone even when you feel like it. Email/DM me any time, because, and I’ll say it again, you are NOT alone). It can be hard sometimes. But you guys, with your support, made a really tough time just a little bit easier. And I can’t thank you enough for that, for being just a tiny ray of sunshine during a time where it was scarce. It meant a lot, even if you didn’t know how much you were propping me up on the hardest days.

Here’s hoping this upcoming season is the best one yet. For the Chiefs, for this site, and for all of you. But regardless of what happens, I know that this place will continue to be a little slice of happiness and peace. And that means more to me than any amount of subscribers ever could.

Happy Anniversary, and thank you all.

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I’ve got the film reviewed for Jadon Canady reviewed, and I’ll write that sometime soon when I get a spare moment. But I thought today it might be fun to go a different route.

First of all, I have to say that I never, ever thought I’d be able to take a trip like this. I didn’t leave the United States (not including Canada, which is about a 3-hour drive from where I grew up) until my late 30’s. I never thought I’d have a chance to bring my family places like this, or see the things I’ve seen this week. And I’ve been able to do so in large part thanks to all of you. Your support over the years has meant the world, and your patience in waiting for content as we go on an adventure is deeply, deeply appreciated. When I get to do things like this with Jas and the kids (Mason [18], Cole [15], Isabelle [13], and Lucas [10]… Our oldest, Tucker [20] stayed home because he’s out of the house and a working man now… MAN they’re old… MAN that went fast) it’s in large part because of your support as I do this weird and wonderful job. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Anyways, let’s talk about Japan, shall we? I’d love to share some pictures and memories, and talk about the places we’ve gone so far. So consider this a “Japan film review” for those who are interested in seeing a few sights and have considered traveling to this unique and incredible place. I’ll talk a about the cultural differences as well, as it’s been really interesting to adjust to a place so unlike where we’re from (and in some ways, not so different if you’re from Minnesota… I’ll explain later). If this is something you’re not interested in, feel free to skip! If you are, and you enjoy what I write here, I’ll do a part 2!

Our itinerary went as follows: Tokyo for several days, Hakone, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and back to Tokyo in a different section (Asakusa). Today we’ll talk about Tokyo, a different culture, and Hakone.

Tokyo Part 1 and a Different Culture

We started the trip off in Tokyo, flying into Haneda Airport. It is, as you can imagine, an absolutely massive place given its status as a large international airport in one of the largest cities in the world.

The good thing about it is that it’s compartmentalized, like a lot of things here, so that you’re not necessarily overwhelmed with the size of the airport as soon as you get off the plane. Going through customs was an experience as always, but what stood out the SECOND we arrived (when compared to visiting Italy or Mexico) was how absurdly organized everything was. There was a very specific system for getting through customs that allowed for hundreds of people to get processed very quickly.

That’s very typical of what we’ve found here in Japan. There’s a system for everything, and everything is highly intentional. It’s detailed, planned out, and orderly. However, that can be a double-edged sword for someone who has never been here before. Because what comes with a highly ordered system is a presumption of KNOWLEDGE of that system. And because the systems are often so efficient, things move fast and someone who is trying to figure out what the system is can feel overwhelmed trying to keep up.

That said, we made it through and found our way to the streets of Tokyo. And with it being late at night, we took public transport straight to our house and stopped at a convenience store for food.

I’ll circle back to public transport in a moment, but let’s talk about Seven Eleven, Lawson, Family Mart, and convenience stores in Japan.

If you’ve read about traveling to Japan, you’ve likely read about the convenience store food and how it’s simply on another level from most other places, including America I, a longtime fan of Kwik Trip and Casey’s, did not believe it.

The hype is real. They are so clean, so bright, and so wonderfully nice. The variety of available quick meals is incredible, and the quality is absurd. You can buy all sorts of bread-based snacks that range from sweet to salty to meal-adjacent stuff like a chicken or fish sandwich. You can buy dumplings that would be considered high-end restaurant quality here. And all of it is DIRT CHEAP (much of the food at restaurants is cheaper than what you’d expect as well, but in particular “on the go” food is much, much cheaper here than it is in America). And seriously, it’s so good. The “pancakes with maple syrup and margarine” that you can buy at any Seven Eleven are life-altering, for starters.

Since we only spent a couple days in Tokyo that first time around (right by the airport), I’ll share a few more pictures and use this section to talk about some of the cultural differences that stood out to me. The rest of this will be more “look at the cool things in (insert place we visited)!”

The cultural differences are vast and apparent. The expected orderliness, consideration, and thoughtfulness (it’s a very “the good of the group” society) is baked into everything. A few examples:

• When riding escalators or moving sidewalks, everyone who is standing still stays to the left in order for those who are in a hurry to walk/run through on the right. There aren’t signs for this basically anywhere, it’s just what everyone does. Even if it means forming a line to get on the escalator on the left side while the right side remains empty and delaying yourself.

• Lines are actually single file. That may sound obvious, but think about what I just said and picture the last time you waited in line for a train, subway, amusement park ride, whatever. The line inevitably becomes staggered and grouped as people try and work their way forward or nudge ahead. In Japan? Everyone just silently finds a spot to get into single file. It’s astonishing.

• The clean streets (including our first stay, which while near the airport was much more a neighborhood than a tourist spot… in that I literally didn’t see a non-Japanese person for a full day) are not a myth. While it’s not spotless, it’s strikingly cleaner than larger cities I’ve been to elsewhere.

• People don’t walk across the crosswalk when the light is red. They just don’t. Like, basically ever. I think I’ve seen it twice with thousands of people regardless of the street/traffic. And once it was clearly a foreigner.

• Everyone is willing to cede way, or give space, with a polite bow. If someone inconveniences you in any way you’ll get (the vast majority of the time) an apology and a bow.

That last part has been interesting for me, a Minnesotan of the last 20 years, as “no, after you” is a massive part of our “culture” here in the great white north. “Minnesota Nice” isn’t a myth. And so I’ve found myself in several “polite-off” moments with people as we each tried to allow the other to go first. It’s a hoot to say, “no, please, after you,” and them to reply in Japanese (which I don’t speak) in kind, and both of you making the same gesture that is universal across cultures. Sometimes I give way, sometimes the other person gives way, and the one who has given way and been allowed forward then thanks the other profusely for the honor of going first with multiple “Arigatou gozaimasu” (a more polite way of saying thank you) and bows.

Honestly? It rules. It’s so polite, so thoughtful, so intentional. And it becomes easy to immediately buy in to that value system of trying to consider others. The gigantic markets, the huge transit systems, etc, all work as well as they do because of this desire to put other peoples’ convenience first.

On the flip side, there’s this… I don’t know how to say it because “pressure” is the wrong word… but strong inclination to ensure that you don’t stand out by inconveniencing others. This goes back to the “system” conversation from earlier. Normally, in the US, I wouldn’t balk at the idea of slowing down to understand a system. Here? Because that risks slowing someone else down, it’s hard to do. There’s no spoken rule, and no one is impolite about things, but you can SENSE it when you’ve committed a faux pas and caused someone else an inconvenience, and you feel a sense of shame for it even if no one says anything.

And let’s talk public transit. I think, for people who are from a larger city and are more used to public transportation, it may have been an easier hill to climb. For us, it’s been pretty difficult. For as efficient as the system is, it’s not intuitive to me or my wife (which is odd, because our brains work so differently that usually at least one of us understands something!). The way things are explained don’t always clarify things completely, and in the rush it’s tough to keep up.

We’ve found that the “Go” app (a taxi service) has been an absolute lifesaver in a pinch, as it translates for you, let’s you pick the destination, takes care of payment, and has a very well-functioning map. It’s worth noting that taxis here, especially outside of Tokyo, have been MUCH cheaper than America (though still more expensive than public transport, of course). In Hiroshima we took a cab ride from the port to our hotel, which was nearly a 20-minute cab ride, and it cost about $13. For the convenience that’s a terrific price (again, those prices go up in Tokyo).

A few other interesting things to note if you plan on visiting:

• While the cities here are loud, it’s fascinating how quiet things are on the subway, train, bus, etc. What few conversations are had are relatively hushed, and most people stay silent throughout. Part of the “politeness” culture that is so prevalent.

• You don’t walk and eat here, generally, as it’s not considered polite. It’s a little less of a “hardline” rule in most cases, but in certain spots (like the Nishiki Market in Kyoto) there are signs everywhere. What that means is when you grab your Kobe beef tempura on a stick, you stand there (MAYBE they have a few tables or standing tables) and eat before moving on.

• Garbage is dealt with entirely differently here. Garbage cans are few and far between in public, and you’re expected to carry your stuff with you and plan for that. Additionally, EVERYTHING is separated here into burnable, non-burnable (another example of a system that’s hard to get, as everyone else seems to know what those terms mean and, well, you don’t at first!), as well as bottles and then aluminum cans and glass bottles in their own categories. They take it quite seriously, and when you walk by stores at times you can see a worker going through the garbage and separating stuff out that was thrown away incorrectly.

• Vending machines are everywhere, and have an incredible selection of delicious drinks that cost anywhere from 50 cents to a dollar. They also have ice cream, smoothies, snacks… and again, they’re everywhere. And in all of them you can get a Pocari Sweat on a hot day (think of it as their version of a Gatorade, with a totally unique flavor).

• Candy here hits DIFFERENT. When I share some photos from Tokyo Part 2, I’ll talk more about that. But it’s a genuinely different experience in terms of flavor and variety.

All right, I think that’ll do it for “10,000 feet in the air” conversations about Japan. Let’s look at Kyoto a bit.

Hakone

The second stop on our trip was Hakone, a more rural area southwest of Tokyo and famous for its beauty and terrific views of Mount Fuji. Getting there was a bit of an adventure, as you eventually have to go from trains to buses to walking the more rural you get. And depending on where you’re staying, there aren’t going to be the same food options (most people get a “food package” when they stay at a place with an onsen… a hot spring bath that we’ll talk about in a bit). But the beauty is incredible.

We were lucky enough to have a terrific view of Mt. Fuji right from our hotel room AND we were lucky enough that there were not clouds blocking it for virtually our entire stay.

We ended up staying in a very traditional Japanese-style room that kept us, shall we say… close together! But the view was worth it, and it really is a wonderfully pretty countryside area even outside of Fuji.

Hakone has some really cool things to visit and see, such as Lake Ashi (which has beautiful foothills covered in forest all around it), where you can take a “pirate ship” ferry across to a nearby smaller town. You also have the skywalk nearby, which features breathtaking views and a sky garden that Jas in particular loved. It’s definitely a very touristy area, but it also is enough of a “country” feel that I felt comfortable as a northern Minnesotan (where most of our small towns are touristy ones given all the lake visitors).

It also has all the food options you’d expect at multiple delicious restaurants, as well as some fruit stands where you can by fruit that’d cost 15 bucks here for about 5 dollars. There’s a ton of walking, but a ton of beauty in every step.

If you’re someone who loves to visit places that are bit more serene and scenic, I could not recommend Hakone highly enough if you’re traveling to Japan. Make sure you take a couple of days so that you have time to do the skywalk, the ropeway, the pirate ship, the multiple paths, and the nearby shrines and other interesting places to visit.

This has already become much longer than I intended. I understand this isn’t at all the type of content you’re used to here. If you enjoyed this, let me know and I’ll do a part 2 that’ll talk about Kyoto, Hiroshima, and our (now-ongoing) second (much longer) stint in Tokyo in a real cool area (Asakusa). I’ll also try to answer any questions I can if you want to put some in the comments (I’ll answer either in the comments themselves or in part 2).

I hope you enjoyed reading this, as it was so important to me to share some of this with you all. You’ve been such a big part of our family’s journey for years, it only seemed right to try and bring you along a bit on a once in a lifetime-type trip. Thank you all for everything!

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