The Kansas City Chiefs are back home in the confines of Arrowhead Stadium to face the Washington Commanders in preseason Week 2.
Andy Reid plans to amplify the snaps of his starters this week, with the units on offense and defense playing closer to a full half compared to just a series or so last week. While we’ll get a longer look at the starters, there will be much less time for depth players to make an impression on the coaching staff. The stakes are higher for both the starters and the depth guys in this game, making every repetition count that much more.
Here are six of the things that fans should keep an eye on during the game:
Heavy personnel usage
Twitter has made a bit of a fuss about the amount of heavy personnel (21, 12, and 13 personnel) the Chiefs’ starting offense used in their lone series of preseason Week 1. PFF’s Sam Monson suspects that this is Kansas City’s response to their struggles with two-high coverage last season.
Chiefs starting offense ran a bunch of 2 back or 2 TE formations in Preseason Week 1.
What do we notice about Chicago's D in response?
Not 2-high look to be seen. Wonder if KC is planning on countering the 2-high coverages by forcing teams out of it by personnel. pic.twitter.com/B6lFsR7W1F
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) August 18, 2022
While this certainly could be a solution for Kansas City, it’s hardly a pattern yet. NFL teams don’t like to show their full deck of cards in the preseason, so this might simply be a happy accident. There are a lot of vanilla route combinations and personnel packages because teams don’t want to reveal too much of their scheme.
With the starters set to play an increased number of snaps against the Commanders, this is certainly something to watch for. If the trend persists this week, perhaps it indicates that the team will continue to use heavy personnel at a higher rate during the regular season.
Receiver rotation with Smith-Schuster, Hardman likely out
JuJu Smith-Schuster is still dealing with a sore knee and is unlikely to play in preseason Week 2. Andy Reid didn’t rule out Mecole Hardman after his groin injury during the penultimate training camp practice, but I’d be surprised if he actually suited up this afternoon. With both players absent from practice, it meant more Justin Watson and Skyy Moore playing with Patrick Mahomes and the starters. There were also some first-team reps for players like Daurice Fountain, Josh Gordon and Corey Coleman. The injuries could really provide the team to assess their receiver depth in the best possible way and how the rotation plays out could give us some idea of how things could play out come final roster cuts.
Rashad Fenton & Jody Fortson back in action?
Fenton and Fortson were actually back participating in practice in a limited capacity ahead of preseason Week 1, but neither player was given a single snap in the game as they worked their way back from their respective injuries. Both players have resumed practicing in full since and should be available to make their preseason debuts.
On the defensive side of the ball, Fenton’s return has been a welcomed addition. He’s played with a bit of an edge during practice and seems ready to have a big year as one of the team’s projected starters at cornerback. Fortson’s 2021 season was cut short by injury, but it doesn’t appear to have impacted his abilities. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes named the fan-favorite tight end as one of his standout players during the team’s training camp.
Danny Shelton's debut
We’ve seen the former first-round draft pick participate in some 9-on-7 and one-on-one drills during training practice as part of his acclimation plan. He’s been absolutely dominant going against some lesser competition during those occasions. Will Shelton actually get some snaps during the game, though? When he met with the media early in the week, he said he would be ready if the coaches decided to play him on Saturday. If he does end up playing, keep an eye on whether he’s playing with the first, second, third, or fourth team defense.
Improved play from offensive line depth?
Outside of the starting offensive line, the Chiefs didn’t get much great play out of their depth in preseason Week 1. There was a huge failure to open up running lanes leading to some poor performances by the depth running backs. When Shane Buechele and Dustin Crum dropped back to pass, there was quite a bit of pressure, especially for the latter signal caller. Coach Andy Heck will surely be looking for improvement in this regard, as will the front office staff. It feels like it’s not out of the realm of possibility that this team finds itself looking for more offensive line depth come cutdown day, especially if they don’t see marked improvement from a few specific depth players.
Can anyone increase their trade value?
Could the Chiefs look to give some players more showcase opportunities with the first and second-team offense and defense in order to build up trade value? If the plan was to let Ronald Jones dominate the lesser competition, that didn’t happen in preseason Week 1. He had to deal with some very poor run-blocking against the Bears and his four carries result in just a single yard gained. On the defensive side of the ball, the team looks to have quite a bit of defensive tackle and linebacker depth. It might behoove them to allow some players at both positions to get some premium snaps and build up that value ahead of final cuts.
