The Kansas City Chiefs are set to face the Chicago Bears in preseason Week 1.
This is one of the more competitive 90-man offseason rosters that the Chiefs have fielded in recent years. There are plenty of players who are talented enough to make the 53-man roster, but they aren’t all yet locks to make the team. Several players who are on the roster bubble will need a strong performance in the preseason in order to make their case. That will all start against the Bears on Saturday, in a game where the starters are expected to play their least amount of snaps of the entire preseason.
Here’s a look at four players on the roster bubble who need a strong performance against the Bears in preseason Week 1:
WR Josh Gordon
Gordon is coming off what was a disappointing 2021 NFL season in Kansas City. He finished the year with just a handful of catches on over a dozen targets with 32 receiving yards and a score. The team ultimately opted to elevate Daurice Fountain to the 53-man roster over Gordon in the playoffs because Fountain provided more value on special teams.
The Chiefs have a crazy amount of competition at the wide receiver position right now and few spots on the 53-man roster. Gordon hasn’t been getting a ton of repetitions during practice and he knows that the preseason is going to be big for him to show his growth.
“That’s when it’s time to do what we get asked to do,” Gordon said, via KC Sports Network. “That’s what I came here to do. When the lights are on — I want to do it at practice first for sure — but you can’t always get it right in practice. You don’t always have the time, the reps, the opportunity. You’ve got to take the mental reps and what’s based on the opportunity I have and then just go show improvement. So, come the preseason games, that’s what I hope to do.”
A big preseason performance in Week 1 could go a long way toward proving that last season was an aberration and that he’s ready to successfully contribute to the team.
RB Ronald Jones II
During the team’s final training camp practice ahead of preseason Week 1, Jones was relegated to snaps with the third-team offense during team drills. He was working behind rookie RB Isiah Pacheco and third-year RB Derrick Gore. Even working with the third team, Jones’ snaps were about as sparse as they had been all training camp. This isn’t the first time it happened that way either, with Jones being fifth in the pecking order earlier in training camp as well.
Basically, it feels like Jones hasn’t made much headway with the coaching staff during training camp. Eric Bieniemy suggested Jones is a good runner, but he doesn’t yet do everything they require of the running back position. Bieniemy said Jones has accepted the challenge of doing things out of his comfort zone, but he needs to keep working at it in practice and throughout the preseason.
Andy Reid commented on the practice repetitions, saying that some days Jones will get more work in practice and others he won’t. He also emphasized that the veteran running back will get a chance to play in the preseason. Will Jones’ preseason showcase be about him making his case for the roster or will it be about building value for a potential trade? That remains to be seen.
DT Taylor Stallworth
Stallworth was back at practice on Thursday after missing several practice sessions with a knee contusion, but he came back to some new competition. Free agent DT Danny Shelton is expected to join the team after the first preseason game, providing Kansas City with another run-stuffing defensive tackle to work alongside Derrick Nnadi.
So far, Stallworth has managed to have a very quiet training camp at a position where the Chiefs don’t exactly have a lot of depth. He was known as a pressure-producing defensive tackle last season with the Colts, having played just a small portion of the team’s snaps. A flashy performance in Week 1 could go a long way toward securing Stallworth a spot, at least through the team’s gradual roster cuts that begin next Tuesday.
CB Chris Lammons
We’ve already seen Kansas City say goodbye to one veteran cornerback in Deandre Baker this offseason. That should get a veteran player like Lammons, who has primarily been a special teamer, concerned about his job security.
There is a bit of a youth movement going on at the cornerback position in Kansas City this offseason. The Chiefs have given rookies Joshua Williams, Jaylen Watson and Nazeeh Johnson every opportunity to earn their keep. They’re also taking long looks at players like Dicaprio Bootle, Lonnie Johnson and Brandin Dandridge.
There’s also the fact that Lammons has some unresolved legal issues stemming from participation in a Las Vegas assault involving Saints RB Alvin Kamara. He could ultimately be suspended, which could leave the team looking at other options. A big performance in the preseason, however, might force the Chiefs to look past that.
