Chiefs training camp preview: How will Patrick Mahomes utilize his new weapons?

Tom Brady breaks down the Chiefs’ odds of a Super Bowl three-peat What can stop a Chiefs three-peat? Jets, Bengals, Chiefs sit atop Jason McIntyre’s Super Bowl tiers

Henry McKenna

AFC East Reporter

It’s every team’s goal to win a Super Bowl every year. But it’s actually a realistic goal for the Kansas City Chiefs to win a Super Bowl every year.

Why not another? Why not back-to-back-to-back?

Tom Brady breaks down the Chiefs’ odds of a Super Bowl three-peat

The Chiefs have set that standard for themselves with quarterback Patrick Mahomes, coach Andy Reid, tight end Travis Kelce and general manager Brett Veach. And really, it’s all about Mahomes, whose all-time talents have quite literally changed the game.

The Kansas City roster has changed since last year. The Chiefs have made some sacrifices on defense to bring in a few offensive talents. So let’s get a sense of how Kansas City’s dynamics are shifting heading into the 2024 season.

Who’s new?

WR Marquise “Hollywood” Brown
TE Irv Smith Jr.
P Matt Araiza
QB Carson Wentz
RB/WR/KR Louis Rees-Zammit
WR Xavier Worthy (rookie)
OT Kingsley Suamataia (rookie)
TE Jared Wiley (rookie)
S Jaden Hicks (rookie)

Who left?

OT Donovan Smith
CB L’Jarius Sneed
S Mike Edwards
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
LB Willie Gay P Tommy Townsend
RB Jerick McKinnon
QB Blaine Gabbert
C Nick Allegretti
WR Richie James
TE Blake Bell

What’s up with the quarterback?

There is no question about Mahomes’ celebrity status anymore. His presence makes headlines, which was how we knew he spent the offseason touring Europe with his family. He attended a Taylor Swift concert in Amsterdam with Travis Kelce and Bill Belichick. Mahomes went to England, where he watched Wimbledon and the British Grand Prix (Formula 1). The Mahomes family also stopped over in Spain and Portugal to check out the beaches and in Switzerland to check out the mountains. Basically: a bucket-list trip.

Even with a dazzling Eurotrip, Mahomes was present for OTAs and minicamp. And after carrying an offense that dealt with growing pains at the receiver position last year, he has expressed excitement about having Brown and Worthy in the mix.

[McKenna: Chiefs rookie WR Xavier Worthy is exactly where he was meant to be]

Speaking of which …

The most important new guy: WR Hollywood Brown

Given how many starters the Chiefs lost on defense, they’re going to need Brown to help Mahomes put up more points than the team did last year. Kansas City scored the 15th-most points per game (21.8) in 2023 — which isn’t really up to snuff for Reid and Mahomes. The Chiefs defense consistently bailed them out, with 17.3 points allowed per game, second-best in the NFL.

Brown needs to be a spark on offense. Here’s the tricky thing, however: He has only one 1,000-yard season. He doesn’t have to be a bona fide No. 1 option — that’ll still be Kelce. But Brown will need to be a big-play threat on the perimeter, with receiver Rashee Rice serving as the offense’s possession receiver. So it’s a lofty projection to think Brown’s production will land in that 1,000-yard range after he finished with 574 yards last year.

Brown will need to benefit from the Mahomes effect. The Arizona Cardinals, Brown’s former team, have been in rough shape for a few years, with quarterback Kyler Murray dealing with an ACL injury and a poor supporting cast. It’s certainly an upgrade for Brown. But given how badly the Chiefs need a speedy receiver, expectations are sky-high.

The most important guy who’s not there: CB L’Jarius Sneed

The Chiefs placed the franchise tag on Sneed but eventually traded him to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for a seventh-round pick this year and a third-rounder next year.

Sneed was the team’s top cornerback and had the best season of his career.

“I don’t think anybody is going to replace LJ Sneed,” Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said in May. “I thought LJ had a remarkable year in everything that he did. There are some shoes there to fill, whether we do it with one person or two people or shift guys around, we’ll see.”

The truth is that Sneed’s absence is one of many that Kansas City will work to manage. Willie Gay played the seventh-most snaps on defense (57.4%) and Mike Edwards played the eighth-most snaps (57%). They are crucial pieces that now need replacing.

And let’s not forget Donovan Smith, whom the Chiefs signed in 2023 to start at left tackle but dealt with injuries and didn’t play consistently enough for them to re-sign. Kansas City drafted a rookie in the second round (Kingsley Suamataia) to compete with last year’s spot starter: Wanya Morris.

What can stop a Chiefs three-peat?

The position battle to watch: Left tackle

Suamataia and Morris will duke it out to line up opposite Jawaan Taylor, the team’s right tackle.

Morris played 340 snaps in 2023, with the bulk of them coming during Smith’s injury at the end of the regular season. Morris held up just fine, given he was a third-rounder and not expected to have such a sizable role in his rookie year. But he didn’t put up film that undeniably proved he was ready to take over the job in 2024. Otherwise, Suamataia wouldn’t be a Chief.

As a draft prospect, Morris was projected to be a swing tackle — the third guy on the depth chart — rather than a pure starter.

Suamataia played an even split of right and left tackle in his two years at BYU, but given the Chiefs’ need, Kansas City seems intent on developing him on the left side.

“He’s a prototype left tackle with his athleticism and length,” Chiefs assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi said after the draft. “But he has the versatility to play both, which is good, and we’ve actually seen it.”

It’s a question of how quickly Suamataia can convert his ideal measurables into an NFL-ready product. And given Morris is only entering his second year, there’s plenty of room for development for him, too.

The guy facing the most pressure: CB Joshua Williams

Sneed played 1,142 snaps on the perimeter in 2023 and just 29 in the slot, according to Pro Football Focus. And Trent McDuffie played 608 in the slot and 368 on the outside, fewer than Williams and cornerback Jaylen Watson.

So it’s clear that the Chiefs are going to have to make some changes in Sneed’s absence.

McDuffie will almost definitely play more on the outside. Defensive back Chamarri Conner, who played well at safety, can help play nickel when McDuffie shifts to the perimeter. But there are still plenty of snaps up for grabs outside the numbers. And it feels like Kansas City expects Williams to jump into the starting lineup. He’ll have to stand his ground against Watson. We’ll see how that position battle plays out in camp. But Williams is the favorite. And if he can hold onto the position, that’s a tough spot to sit in. The Chiefs will put a big burden on Williams to lock down some of the best wideouts in the NFL.

That’s a tall task for a 2022 fourth-round pick out of Fayetteville State.

The strongest breakout candidates: DB Chamarri Conner, LB Leo Chenal

Conner played well at just about every position in which Spagnuolo deployed him in 2023. He was a cornerback at Virginia Tech when the Chiefs drafted him in the fourth round last year. But he has played slot, box and free safety in the NFL. And he has been a massive surprise in the quality of his play.

Conner played so well, in fact, that it’s fair to wonder whether Bryan Cook’s job is safe when he returns to the field from an ankle injury that ended his season in 2023. But even if Cook takes the job back, Conner will still see the field as a safety and a slot defender. He’ll be the Chiefs’ utility outfielder — and that’s a role in which he shined last season. It’s easy to imagine he’ll do the same this year and, maybe, he’ll get more attention for his success after the departure of Sneed and Edwards.

While Leo Chenal isn’t a one-for-one swap for Gay, now a New Orleans Saint, the 23-year-old linebacker looks poised to benefit from Gay’s departure. Chenal has made steady improvements during his two years in the NFL and last season managed 65 tackles and three sacks as the fourth man in a group that typically only had three linebackers on the field.

The Chiefs are asking more of Chenal this offseason, and he’s answering the call.

“He’s evolving — especially in the pass game,” middle linebacker Nick Bolton told reporters when asked about Chenal. “[For] a lot of guys coming out of college — including myself — it’s a little bit different in the pass game. Run game, blitzing — some of those small tangibles you can kind of pick up pretty easily. But the pass game — the spacing, the route concepts, the quarterback play — is a lot different.

“Seeing him evolve and get better in that aspect of it definitely makes us feel great. … I’m expecting good things from him.”

Chenal was the highest-graded linebacker and defender in the 2024 postseason, according to PFF. Given how much the Chiefs will need a big spike in snaps, it’s easy to imagine he’ll see his production blow up.

Jets, Bengals, Chiefs sit atop Jason McIntyre’s Super Bowl tiers

The guy who’s in a bad position: WR Rashee Rice

Rice is facing multiple charges in Dallas in relation to his role in a multi-vehicle car crash. He could get prison time and at some point a suspension from the NFL. That news comes in an offseason when the Chiefs added a top-tier free agent (Brown) and a first-round draft pick (Worthy) to the receiver group. Rice might have had an excellent rookie season on the field, but it’s clear he’s put himself in a bad situation.

Fantasy football sleeper: None?

I don’t want to sell you on something I don’t believe in. There’s too much uncertainty surrounding these three receivers to know whether one of them will be trustworthy and, given the offense and the quarterback, they’re all ranked quite high. The same is true of Kelce, Mahomes and running back Isiah Pacheco. There’s no “sleeper” in an offense that has everyone’s attention.

Worthy is worth a flyer if you can get him at 96th overall, where FantasyPros.com has him ranked. Given Rice’s uncertain situation and Brown’s inconsistency over the past two years, Worthy could be a fun player to bet on. But he’s a risk there when passing on a guy like Courtland Sutton, 99th overall, who put up 10 touchdowns in that abysmal Denver offense last year.

How they win the Super Bowl

Patrick Mahomes does what he does best.

*checks notes*

Yeah, that’s all.

How they miss the playoffs

It’s hard to imagine that being possible.

In the AFC West, the Broncos and Chargers look like their rosters are in rough shape, and I don’t think the Raiders can compete for the division title with Gardner Minshew or Aidan O’Connell at quarterback. No, it’s the Chiefs’ world. The rest of the NFL is just living in it.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.

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