The Kansas City Chiefs are a controversial team coming into this season, as several NFL executives duly noted.
The Kansas City Chiefs are trying to rebound from a 6-11 season, but they’re still considered contenders in the eyes of most experts. But Mike Sando of The Athletic did his annual poll of NFL executives about the Chiefs this year, and they have their doubts.
The Chiefs were ranked six among AFC contenders in a list of ten, with the Denver Broncos ranked second in the list while the Los Angeles Chargers were eighth, just to cover the other AFC West contenders.
The split among the execs mirrors those expressed by both fans and experts. On the one hand there’s the presence of coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, with one exec who had the Chiefs rated third naming a specific win total accordingly.
"Yeah, Andy Reid and a healthy Patrick Mahomes?" the exec slotting Kansas City third said. "I'll take my chances with them coming away with 11 wins."
But not everyone was as impressed with the changes the Chiefs have made going forward. The Chiefs swapped out their secondary, and they also have uncertainty in the offensive line.
"Mahomes coming off the knee, they lose the corners in (the offseason) — those are all good players, right?" said an exec who had the Chiefs ranked fifth. "I'm a little skeptical how they are going to replace those corners. We know Mahomes is good, but I don't know how healthy he is."
Another mentioned the issues at tackle, as the Chiefs neglected that position on offense when they traded up to take cornerback Mansoor Delane.
"They need tackles, and we don't know if Mahomes can move," another exec said. "That's one team that could really go either way."
What may save the Chiefs in this situation is the state of the rest of the NFL West. Those same executives had their doubts about the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Chargers, even with Denver’s 14-3 record last year.
"Sean Payton does a masterful job of making his teams feel they are better than where they are, and that exudes through their play," one exec said.
Another, meanwhile, thought they were overranked at No. 2, but the strength of the Broncos defense is hard to ignore.
"As much as I don't buy Denver," one exec said, "they have the defense, they have the head coach, they have the quarterback (Bo Nix) healthy, they added Jaylen Waddle. I don't know about their run game or Houston's run game, but I trust the continuity of those defenses."
