I figure the best case scenario is a Tanoh kind of 'emergence'.

Tanoh was gonna get cut if he didn't make huge strides and at least turn himself into a viable rotational player. And that's pretty much exactly what happened.

Speaks could turn himself into a viable rotational player; someone that can play 30-40% of the snaps and maybe a little more if injury needs arise. And if he can be at least slightly below average in those snaps, that's at least an NFL player.

I don't think those expectations are unreasonably high.

Obligatory Speaks Sucks.

The bigger problem is still Watkins, IMO.

Watkins is a pure luxury item, but Reid prefers offense. Jones makes a far bigger impact on the D than Watkins makes on the O, but Veach (and Reid) elected to pay Wakins instead of Jones. And that's money that could've been tossed in on the franchise figure to get Jones up near that $20 million mark.

The Chiefs set the bar with Clark's deal. They needed to have gotten Jones done at a similar time or they were always going to run into this problem.

I've struggled mightily to figure out Reid's philosophy here.

Reid adheres to a shell concept which means that he builds around his tackles on the OL and cuts corners on the interior. So to observe what the team DOES, it says that the Chiefs value edge pressure more than interior pressure. They go cheap on the IOL because they appear to believe it's easier to scheme around and/or overcome interior pressure.

But then when Reid speaks he says that the emergence of the quick passing game makes interior rushing more important than ever and probably the most critical thing you can get.

Okay...well we have that in Chris Jones but the team seems far more willing to pay the edge guy than the interior guy, even though the interior guy has been the better player over the course of the last 2-3 years.

And frankly, interior pressure is more rare. Those guys are harder to get than an edge rusher, IMO.

Based on what Reid says, it's bizarre to me that they won't pay the guy (especially when they're willing to throw money at Watkins/Clark and seem to think Hitchens is worth keeping around).

I don't get it.

Still bothers me that we brought him back on an incentive laden deal. He’s going to be upset if he doesn’t get targets and he’s never going to get them with how he disappears for games at a time. We should have brought back Robinson cheap and increased Hardman’s snaps.

I can only assume they value Watkins more for his presence than his production?

Statistically, he's nothing to brag about, but it seems like the offense is more open with him on the field though. He's still a legit threat to hurt you, moreso than Hardman or Robinson currently are, and I think defenses are forced to plan differently, which plays into Reid's hand. That's the only reason I can think of anyway. Hardman will probably make him expendable, but maybe they just don't see him at that level just yet?

It's a cap league and hard decisions that you don't really enjoy making are necessary for the long-term health of the organization.

Moving on from Watkins is one that should've been made, IMO.

You can't carry luxury items if you also hope to have premier talents at 6+ spots on the field.

I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm simply saying what I assume is the reason why they kept him. If we have a season, we'll see if they made the right choice or not.

You both are correct. You can't afford the luxury most of the time in this league BUT you make exceptions when you as a coach see the difference a player makes with just his presence on the field and how handicapped a defense is when this player's presence and ability confirm the handicap in the defense either in that player's actual production or indirect production as the decoy. Reid goes back and forth with his play calling making Hill or Watkins the decoy and it drives defenses NUTS !!

The good news, if there is any, is that Watkins is here for 1 more year. You could sign Jones and Mahomes to deals that have smaller cap hits in year one.

Keep ****ing doubting Breeland Speaks.

Speaks is beginning to look the part- now he needs to prove it on the field.

Still a fat slow pos IMO.

It'd be nice if the Chiefs could hit on one of the earlier picks they've invested in over the last few yrs...KPass, Speaks, Nnadi, Saunders etc

Gonna need at least one of those players to really step up if Jones is walking after this season.

He knows he’s fighting for his NFL career at this point. He should have been bulking up like this last year, not showing up to camp out of shape saying that he shouldn’t have been a fatass.

But this is good news bc Speaks was a good DL in the SEC. He was not used well playing LB as a rookie. I think he’s got a shot.

Veach already had the best offseason in franchise history last year. If his one red mark turns out to be productive, then he’s a ****ing God.

Frank Clark was injured and still had 12 sacks in his last 13 games. Frank Clark also tied Von Miller for most sacks in a postseason run with 5. Frank Clark additionally had 3 game ending big plays in the playoffs to help us solidify playoff wins.

Frank Clark also changed the culture and made this defense aggressive and tough.

And yet mouth breathing reeruns like yourself question if he deserves to be paid elite money.