The Kansas City Chiefs have several rookies expected to play a big role as they shoot for a "perfect" season.
The Kansas City Chiefs are going young this season, especially on defense, and several are going to play a major role. Expectations are high, which raises an interesting question: What does a perfect season look like for each of the Chiefs most important rookies?
Mansoor Delane, CB
Delane is probably the Chiefs most important rookie, but his performance is going to be tough to quantify. He’ll probably be targed some early on, but there’s some uncertainty there because the Chiefs will also have a new starter on the other side in Nohl Williams.
Interceptions will be a lot to expect, but it’s realistic for Delane to show early signs that he’ll be a shutdown corner. That means erasing the other team’s best receiver, or allowing the Chiefs to eliminate being targeted on one side of the field.
Penalties will be another part of Delane’s game to watch. The Chiefs had him wearing oven mitts in camp to avoid holding penalties, and the refs will be watching that carefully as well.
R Mason Thomas, Edge
Thomas’s perfect season will be much easier to quantify. The Chiefs drafted him to get sacks, so that’s the number to watch. Six or more would be perfect, but the Chiefs are expecting at least three or four, and they’d love it if one or two of those were strip sacks given that he’s already shown the ability to do that in the preseason. Tapeheads will be watching to see if Thomas gets lost over-running the passer or failing to set the edge as those were occasional problems for him in college.
Peter Woods, DT
Measuring Woods’ performance will also be tough, as he’s expected to be a rotational player at a position where sacks are rare and tackles aren’t a good yardstick. One way to measure Woods’ contriubitions will be to watch the sack numbers of fellow defensive tackle Chris Jones. Part of the idea in drafting Woods was to free up Jones from double teams, so if Jones has double-digit sacks total and Woods is on the field a lot, there’s a connection there that could be causative.
Cyrus Allen, WR
Allen is a late-round receiver who came out of nowhere to make a splash in training camp, and it’s usually wise to temper expectations for those kinds of players. But Allen seemed to develop a connection with quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and given the question marks surrounding the rest of the receivers, 30+ receptions from him would be pretty close to perfection.
