Kansas City Chiefs Roster 2020 Kansas City Chiefs Roster

Top Chiefs Roster Questions of 2020

What does bringing in Tyrann Mathieu do for the team?

The Chiefs defense wasn’t very good last year and one of their first moves in the offseason was to address just that. Tyrann Mathieu was brought in on a 3 year, $42 million deal that will help shore up the safety spot. However, he can do more than just that after spending the 2018 shuffling around the entire defense for Houston. He’s so versatile over the field and can offer Kansas City many different looks depending on what scheme they decide to play.

Mathieu also brings a veteran presence to the team and should be a defensive anchor for the next few years to come. He’ll certainly help turn around a unit that ranked in the bottom half of the league and look to be a constant starter for the Chiefs. While he might not be especially skilled a tone particular position, Mathieu offers all around skills and can essentially fill in whenever and wherever needed.

Will the Jaguars defense continue to be one of the best?

Last year, no Chiefs rookies did much and they definitely looked to change that with the 2019 draft class. Without a first round pick, they had to wait until pick #56 to draft Mecole Hardman who is likely going to be used all around the field and on special teams. The rookie wide receiver will likely see action behind Tyreek Hill. Next up is Juan Thornhill, the 63rd overall pick. The defensive back from Virginia will look to slot next to Mathieu in the secondary and play a big role in reshaping the Kansas City defense.

Khalen Saunders will join the defensive line that’s already littered with a few other players. He’ll get a good shot at the starting job and should be able to put together a fairly solid rookie season if given that opportunity. However, Thronhill is likely the best bet to be productive in year 1 as he’s the only rookie guaranteed a starting job. With such a talented offense, Hardman might be pushed to the second unit and Saunders might be benched in favor of veteran run stoppers. 

Is Mahomes really this good?

After playing just one game in 2017 serving as Alex Smith’s backup, the Chiefs finally gave Mahomes the starting gig in 2018 and he made the most of it. He compiled 5,097 passing yards and 50 TDs that led to his MVP award. He was absolutely brilliant in every game as he completed 66% of his passes and had a league leading QBR of 82. In addition to being a great passer as highlighted by some amazing on the run throws, Mahomes was a great dual threat QB. He rushed for 272 yards and 2 TDs on the year. 

Whether or not Mahomes can repeat that production is entirely up in the air. On one side, he’s young enough to continue developing and has the chance to continue exposing defenses in his second year as a starter. On the flip side, defenses may have figured out all the tricks and will begin running different defenses to counter Mahomes. Whatever the case may be, the future looks bright for the MVP as he enters 2019 as one of the highest rated players in the league.