These Bye Week Awards Show Why Chiefs Are Undefeated

The Kansas City Chiefs are getting plenty of early accolades, which isn’t surprising given that they’re undefeated. Jesse Newell of The Athletic did a breakdown of who’s standing out in his bye week breakdown, and these are the categories he came up with for the players who are standing out the most. 

Team MVP: Kenneth Walker III RB

As Newell duly noted, it’s a major upset that this one isn’t quarterback Patrick Mahomes, especially given how well Mahomes is playing. He showed early on that he can make plays, then dominated late against the Las Vegas Raiders last week in the Chiefs’ 30-27 win. 

But Walker has been one-upping Mahomes, which is actually making the running back an early MVP candidate as well. Walker is breaking tackles at an historic rate, and he’s consistently breaking off long runs, which is something Mahomes actually predicted in training camp. 

The running back is also helping the Chiefs reimagine their offense. Kansas City used to be based on Mahomes, the short passing game and deep strikes when they were available. Now opponents have to pick their poison when the choose what to stop, which is giving the Chiefs options that weren’t available last year. 

Breakout Player: Kahlil Benson, OT

Coach Andy Reid took a big gamble this year, and it’s paying off. He’s never started a rookie left tackle in his career, but Benson is doing far more than showing he belongs. Benson hadn’t even taken a snap at the position in college at Indiana, which makes it even more shocking. 

Benson’s big strength has been in run bloking, where Newell described him as a “mauler.” That description goes down to “serviceable” as a pass blocker, as the tackle struggled against Miami, but according to Newell, the rookie tackle had one of his best games of the season against the Raiders. 

Top Rookie: Mansoor Delane

This choice isn’t unexpected given the draft capital Kansas City gave up to get Delane in the first round. But it wasn’t looking good early, as Delane struggled with a shoulder injury he sustained in OTAs, and he was sporting a non-contact jersey in minicamp, then struggled to get on teh field in training camp. 

Now Delane is making plays in the passing game, and he’s showing a level of physicality he wasn’t able to show during the summer. He’s trending toward becoming a shutdown corner, which is exactly what the Chiefs had in mind when they drafted him.