The preseason gives Arrowhead fans slightly more reason for optimism this season, but there are still questions as to whether a Kansas City squad that has stumbled to back-to-back 5-11 seasons will be able to crest the .500 plateau. Failure to reach at least that level will virtually ensure John Torres' firing this year as word out of KC HQ is the Torres is on a VERY short leash this fall.
There are a lot of changes for Kansas City fans this season, so here's to getting everyone caught up:
QB -- The Dave Cox era will officially begin from Day 1. Cox completed 82.5 percent of his passes in the preseason and will get the start under center. Chester Singleton, who had thrown for 4,300 yards over the last two seasons will serve as backup.
RB/FB -- Mark Prendergast has been the picture of consistency for the past two seasons, rushing for a reliable 850-900 yards and receiving for another 250ish. The Arrowheads will again look to him to provide the ground attack this season. A good sign would be seeing him become a better finisher with his legs as he has just 3 rushing TD's to show for his two seasons. Scott Willis has just one catch in two seasons, but he will get the nod at FB this year. If preseason is any indication, look for Willis to be used as a blocker and as a swing threat out of the backfield.
TE/WR -- Daryl Bracco comes to town from Cincinnati where he was seldom used. In the preseason, he caught 12 ***** for the Arrowheads, averaging nearly 10 yards a reception. Bracco looks to be an integral part of the offense in KC. Out wide, Ryan Paxton's numbers dropped from 66 to 46 receptions last season, but he will be out there as the No. 1 wideout for another season. Former Bengals Gregory Thompson and Jeffrey Cannon will serve as the Arrowheads' No. 2 and 3 wide outs, respectively. Benjamin Gore, owner of another hot preseason, will try to carry that spark into the regular season for the first time in his career as the No. 4.
And in case you're a little nervous by all these new Bengal names on the roster, we'll just add to that anxiety by noting that Cincy went 4-12 last season with the No. 24 offense in the league. That said, the Arrowheads were No. 28 last year, so technically we ARE raiding a more successful program.
OL -- Cano, McEachern, Barnard, Flynn, Bass...the Arrowheads' offensive line has a career 69 starts between them. Cano and Bass account for 55 of those starts on the outside edges. Flynn is a brute strong rookie out of Stanford who will be a fixture along the front line for many seasons most likely. Barnard comes in to KC from Arizona after being a third-round pick in the 2019 draft.
DL -- Nathanael "General" Patten will be a rookie at LDE while Baltimore pick-up Billy "The Nuge" Nugent was expected to nail down the RDE slot, but will instead start the season on the injury list and is likely to miss at least a couple games to start things off. Up the middle DT's Levi Jolly and Joel Wall are a pair of new faces who can hopefully save an Arrowhead defense that was just downright bad a year ago against the run (29th in the league, 141.6 ypg against)
LB -- Thomas Hall (SLB) started nine games for the Arrowheads last season, amassing 75 tackles, 2 INT and a sack. Dan "The Minister" Parson only threw up 96 tackles as a rookie last season while also earning a sack and 2 INT's. Will Dover (WLB) is another first-round selection in the linebacking crew that is hoping to have even more room to roam with the help that was signed in front of them.
DB -- Donald Fuller has had nine interceptions for Los Angeles (A) over the past two seasons. Kansas City fans are hoping he'll continue that trend in an Arrowhead uniform. If so, that will leave Albert Green and his 6 interceptions from a season ago to roam free once again and force opposing QB's into a terrible decision for which CB to challenge. The last defensive slots will be nailed down by the Chamberlain brothers. Older brother Joel (SS) joins the backfield after being signed from Carolina in the off-season. The Arrowheads went the same route with Green a year earlier that that appears to have worked out in their favor. Younger brother James (FS) was a 4th-round selection out of Holy Cross who has just developed enough in the preseason to move him in front of Martin Owings, a half-time starter for the past two seasons who many thought would get the full time starting nod this season.
OVERALL: Well, we thought Kansas City would improve last season, but then came the offensive collapse. Hopefully the scoring will see an uptick so that an energized defense can relax a little and not feel like every score they surrender is life-or-death. That said, there were still concerns in the preseason as the Arrowheads were only 2-2 overall. The call here is for an 8-8 record...management has shown patience with Jon Torres, but that patience is clearly wearing thin. It could be playoffs or Black Monday casualty after Week 16 for Torres.