The NFL mandates that teams go from the initial 90-man preseason rosters to the final 53-man version by Tuesday, August 30, at 4 pm ET. That means that after the Kansas City Chiefs preseason opener vs. the Chicago Bears, Andy Reid and company now have two weeks to fine-tune the bottom of the Chiefs roster. For players on the bubble, a high-quality showing in the Chiefs preseason Week 2 game against the Washington Commanders (Saturday, August 20, 4 pm ET) is crucial.
When that second Chiefs preseason kicks off on Saturday, here are four players Chiefs fans should be watching. If they don’t have a good game vs. the Commanders, their days in red and gold could be over.
Chiefs players who must impress in preseason Week 2
RB: Ronald Jones, Derrick Gore
The Kansas City Chiefs roster is one of the few left in the NFL that carries a fullback. For that reason, Andy Reid will likely only have three half-backs on the Chiefs depth chart this season. After one Chiefs preseason game this year, those three look like Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Jerick McKinnon, and rookie seventh-rounder Isiah Pacheco.
The RBs didn’t play with Patrick Mahomes in the first Chiefs preseason game. That makes an accurate assessment of where they are at hard to get. That said, neither Jones nor Gore played well vs. the Bears.
Jones had the most carries on the team (four) and only produced one yard. Gore had two carries for -2 yards but did provide a six-yard catch.
With the way the backs have played in Chiefs training camp and what they did in the preseason opener, it’s hard to see the position battle going any other way than above. The only chance Gore and Jones have is to produce a big game vs. the Commanders.
WR: Josh Gordon
With JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mecole Hardman, and Skyy Moore already written in pen on the Chiefs depth chart, only two more wideouts will likely make the team.
In the first Chiefs preseason game, Justin Watson led the team in receiving with five catches for 45 yards and a touchdown. Right behind him was Daurice Fountain, with three catches for 24 yards. The in-game stats aren’t all that matter, though. Camp performance does too, and those two are starting to seperate themselves from the rest of the unit.
One player who has not impressed yet is veteran All-Pro WR Josh Gordon. The former Browns pass-catcher didn’t have a catch on three targets this weekend and has made some drops in camp practices.
We are now nearly a decade removed from Gordon’s incredible 2013 season where he looked like the best WR in the league. He’s only played 45 games since then, and it looks like time and rust have taken their toll. Gordon could have a great game in the Chiefs preseason Week 2 matchup, but if not, his time with the team may be over.
DE: Joshua Kaindoh
The Chiefs roster picture at defensive end changed a lot two weeks ago. That’s when the team signed veteran pass-rusher Carlos Dunlap. The former Seattle Seahawks and Cincinnati Bengals DE has 96.0 career sacks and recorded a solid 8.5 sacks last year. Dunlap makes the Chiefs roster, no problem (and probably takes a starting spot on the Chiefs depth chart, at least to start the season).
This is bad news for at least one Chiefs DE. Who that will be is still up in the air.
The most likely candidate to get cut thanks to the Dunlop signing is second-year pass-rusher Joshua Kaindoh.
In the Chiefs preseason opener, Kaindoh played 38 snaps but didn’t contribute a single statistic. Meanwhile, his biggest competition, Malik Herring, had a nice day recording two tackles, two assists, and 0.5 sacks.
The race for the last Chiefs roster spot at DE is far from over, but Kaindoh needs to play much better in the Chiefs preseason Week 2 game against the Commanders if he wants to be around for the preseason Week 3 game against the Packers.
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