We’ve told you the roster moves made by the Kansas City Chiefs and analyzed them. Now it’s time to look at the 53 players who remain and analyze the roster. Keep in mind the Chiefs may make more moves before they get to next Sunday’s opener against the Tennessee Titans at Arrowhead Stadium.
Quarterback – Alex Smith, Chase Daniel, Aaron Murray. Tyler Bray's knee and ankle injuries were very convenient for the Chiefs. They allowed them to put him on injured reserve and preserve Bray for next season but also keep their other three quarterbacks. And all this time we thought it would be Murray going on IR.
Running back – Jamaal Charles, Anthony Sherman, Knile Davis, De’Anthony Thomas, Cyrus Gray, Joe McKnight. Not sure what the Chiefs are going to do with all these backs, particularly since Charles plays so much. But if the Chiefs thought McKnight, the last running back on their depth chart, was better than, say, an extra offensive lineman, this was a good move. Thomas will get use other than out of the backfield.
Wide receiver -- Donnie Avery, Frankie Hammond Jr., Junior Hemingway, A.J. Jenkins, Albert Wilson. With only five bodies here and Hemingway and Jenkins coming off injuries, the Chiefs will be thin against the Titans. It will be interesting to see what Hammond does in his first regular-season NFL game. Dwayne Bowe comes off the suspended list after the game.
Tight end – Anthony Fasano, Travis Kelce, Demetrius Harris, Richard Gordon. The Chiefs are also heavy at this position. It was surprising to see them keep Gordon. Then again, it's obvious the Chiefs plan to use a lot of their multiple tight end formations.
Offensive line – Eric Fisher, Jeff Linkenbach, Rodney Hudson, Zach Fulton, Jeff Allen, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Ryan Harris, Mike McGlynn, Eric Kush. The makeup at this position has changed dramatically since last year and even since the start of training camp . Only Hudson remains the starter in the same position as last year. Only Hudson and Fisher began training camp as starters at positions where they will open against Tennessee.
Defensive line – Allen Bailey, Mike DeVito, Jaye Howard, Dontari Poe, Vance Walker. The Chiefs went light at these positions. Howard and Walker are versatile backups so they could be able to get away with it. Perhaps Mike Catapano, on the non-football injury list, will return later in the season.
Linebackers – Justin Houston, Derrick Johnson, Josh Mauga, Tamba Hali, Dee Ford, James-Michael Johnson, Frank Zombo, Josh Martin, Joe Mays. Mays recently had surgery for his injured wrist, so it would be a surprise if the Chiefs didn’t put him on short-term IR.
Cornerback – Marcus Cooper, Sean Smith, Chris Owens, Ron Parker, Phillip Gaines. Interesting that at least for now, the Chiefs replaced Brandon Flowers only with in-house candidates.
Safety – Eric Berry, Husain Abdullah, Daniel Sorensen, Kelcie McCray. The backups, Sorensen and McCray, are inexperienced. That could be a problem if Berry’s injured heel continues to act up.
Specialists – Cairo Santos, Dustin Colquitt, Thomas Gafford. Let’s see how their decision to keep the undrafted rookie Santos and release veteran Ryan Succop works out. Lots of untested kickers looked good in training camp but wilted in the regular season. Santos has a strong leg and the Chiefs aren’t afraid of going with a rookie.