The Kansas City Chiefs have made a few roster moves ahead of their Week 6 game against the Buffalo Bills.
In an expected move, the Chiefs placed DT Tershawn Wharton on injured reserve. Wharton suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Week 5 against the Las Vegas Raiders. They made a transaction earlier this week to sign Taylor Stallworth to the 53-man roster from the practice squad, who will likely replace Wharton in the defensive line rotation.
We have activated Practice Squad player CB Dicaprio Bootle.
We have activated Practice Squad players S Zayne Anderson and LB Cole Christiansen via Standard Elevation.
We have placed DT Tershawn Wharton on Reserve/Injured. pic.twitter.com/cl8gAMThZp— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) October 15, 2022
Taking the spot on the 53-man roster vacated by Wharton is CB Dicaprio Bootle. The undrafted free agent corner out of Nebraska was running out of practice squad elevations, so it makes sense to sign him to the 53-man roster. He was elevated to the 53-man roster in Week 2 and Week 3, primarily playing special teams snaps. He has recorded just one assisted tackle on special teams this season.
For the first time in several weeks, the Chiefs are not elevating a kicker from the practice squad. Harrison Butker has returned to the lineup, which means Matthew Wright will remain inactive and on the practice squad. If Butker suffers a setback during the game, it’ll be S Justin Reid who is called upon to replace him.
The two players the team elevated from the practice squad this week are S Zayne Anderson and LB Cole Christiansen.
Anderson is being elevated to the 53-man roster for the first time this season. The former undrafted free agent was last signed to the 53-man roster in December of 2021, appearing in four regular season games and playing 62 snaps on special teams. Unless there are injuries during the game at cornerback and safety, it’s a safe bet that both Bootle and Anderson will primarily be used on special teams in Week 6.
This is Christiansen’s first time playing with the team since signing to the practice squad back in September. With Elijah Lee running into a similar problem to Bootle with practice squad elevations, Christiansen gets the call-up this week. He’ll likely be called upon to play special teams in place of Lee this week.
As we reported earlier, CB Trent McDuffie was not activated to the 53-man roster from injured reserve. He will not play during Week 6.
