ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs have an extensive list of players they’re particularly eager to evaluate in next Thursday night’s preseason opener against the Cincinnati Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium. I’ll be examining many of those names in upcoming blog posts, but many are young players trying to win a job in the starting lineup or on the regular-season roster.

One player on the list who doesn’t fit into either category is Eric Fisher. The first player picked in last year’s draft, the Chiefs are committed to him as their starting left tackle.

Fisher had surgery in January to repair a balky shoulder and sat out the team portion of offseason practice. He has been held out of certain drills at training camp, most notably the one-on-one snaps in the pass-rush, pass-block drills.

That would indicate the Chiefs are still a little skittish about exposing Fisher’s shoulder to the stress that pass-blocking puts on it. The Bengals game would be a good test for Fisher, his first real test since last season.

That’s assuming Fisher plays against Cincinnati. The Chiefs might eventually decide to hold him out.

“As of now, I’m ready to go,’’ Fisher said. “I’m going to do what I’m told.’’

Fisher maintained his shoulder is 100 percent. That well may be, though it still appears to bother him at times. Count the Chiefs among the ones who want to see Fisher get a real test.

“Everything feels real good. Obviously there is going to be some soreness every now and then. It’s just something you fight through. That happens with any injury.’’