Building from the ground up can be ruthless. Forget building from square one, simply getting to Square One is unforgiving by itself. Kennison, Wiegmann, Wilson, many others... gone like the wind. Blown out by change.

It's trimming the fat. Not just losing the players that don't fit, but managing the players that do.

It doesn't make everybody happy, including those players that stick around. In the past week, both Napoleon Harris and Damion McIntosh have poo-poo'd their new roles on this team in 2008. McIntosh is projected to move over to right tackle and Harris will have to re-earn his place as starting MLB over Donnie Edwards and a slew of younger players.

Mr. McIntosh, are you happy about playing right tackle?

“I played left tackle for eight years. I’ve never played right tackle. You tell me if it’s hard or not,” McIntosh said. “They ask me to do something, and regardless of whether I like it or not, I’ve got to try it.”

Mr. Harris, how does earning your position sound to you?

“I am an employee of the Kansas City Chiefs,” he said.

A happy employee?

“I am an employee of the Kansas City Chiefs,” he repeated.

Less than shining endorsements of what the franchise is trying to accomplish.

But any fan of team sports knows the answer to this minor malcontent: You are not bigger than the team. Especially a team as dedicated to its longterm goals as the Chiefs. You either find a way to fit your cog in the machine or you will be discarded. The Chiefs are in a position where they can tinker with everything, and assure that the best possible pieces are in the best possible places.

McIntosh did an admirable job on an otherwise lousy OL last year, but he is probably not a Super Bowl LT. Albert might be. Nap Harris lead the team in tackles, but he is probably not a Super Bowl MLB. Who that is remains to be seen. Will Harris kick it in another gear? Will Nate Harris or Pat Thomas dethrone him and become one? Dare I even think about USC's Rey Maualuga in next year's draft?

Now we see how McIntosh and Harris adjust. If they can find their places on this team, wherever and whenever those places are, they survive as Chiefs. If not, this team's fat-trimming is far from over, and Harris and McIntosh could end up in the rebuilding effort's tire tracks.

Yesterday, the Kansas City Chiefs began their first day of off-season training activities. The practice sessions are voluntary but only the laziest of the lazy NFL players will skip these. Team unity will be especially important for this Kansas City Chiefs team, with such a disproportionate amount of new players coming onto the scene this season.

Josh Looney of the mothership has a bit of info on the OTAs as well. Notably, Looney says that the Chiefs have "90-some" players participating in the activity sessions, while only eighty will be heading to training camp in River Falls, WI, this summer.

Looney also mentions that rookie Branden Albert lined up left tackle while Damion McIntosh manned the right tackle spot. This lineup is a definitely possible Week 1 starting tackle lineup. It's also good to see the Chiefs aren't waffling on Albert's position, which would only serve to retard Albert's NFL progress at the position.

Here a few bits of news I grabbed from The Kansas City Star.

Herm said, "We were lopsided as a football team. We’ve got a bunch of young guys now. We’ve got some middle-aged guys that are good players, and we’ve got a group of guys that have 10 or more years of experience, but not that many."

I can already tell that the "we've got a young football team" is going to be the #1 Hermism of the 2008 season. Get used to it.

The Chiefs sealed off their practice to the media but said everyone except Wesley and rookie safety Ron Girault participated. Girault has college class commitments at Rutgers.

I would say the Chiefs are void of contract/holdout drama but that's only because we went through it all last year with Larry Johnson. The fewer the veterans, the less sense of entitlement you're going to have. Another by product of Herm's young team. Wesley is going to be released soon so his absence isn't unexpected.

Herm also commented that Larry Johnson made it through the practice without incident and participated fully in the session. Herm Edwards mentioned yesterday that the Chiefs planned on using Johnson less than in the past during the off-season.

LJ's contract should ease his mind as he bursts through holes but others aren't sure.

The other six veterans are starters: Tony Gonzalez, Brian Waters, Damion McIntosh, Alfonso Boone, Donnie Edwards and Patrick Surtain. One veteran privately expressed reservations about playing for a team undergoing such a massive rebuilding project during one of the final seasons of his career.

Okay, let's guess who this veteran is. Gotta be Tony Gonzalez. It has to be. He's the only veteran who's publicly displayed any sort of apprehension towards the team's new direction. But Gonzalez has also recently said he does not want to be traded and expects he has three to four more years in the NFL. So, it's up to who you believe at what time. But I'm guessing that veteran who spoke to Adam Teicher was TG.

On top of the mini-camp in early June, the Kansas City Chiefs have fourteen more practices scheduled in the month of June, Teicher reports.

Note: In Austin, TX, now and I'm still adjusting to my posting schedule, among finding a place to live, learning the city, etc. Please bear with us over the next few days. We'll get back to our regularly scheduled posting soon enough.

Yesterday, the Kansas City Chiefs signed former Georgia offensive linemen and 2007 6th round pick Ken Shackleford. The Bulldog was drafted by the Rams but was also scouted by the Kansas City Chiefs before the 2007 draft.

Truly a massive player at 6'5" and 330 pounds, Shackleford is one of those late round tackle prospects that has "developmental" and "project" attached to his name. Another way to look at those adjectives is that Shackleford has the physical size and the minimum amount of required athleticism for teams to believe he can improve with NFL level coaching and conditioning. He's a low-risk investment, if you will. This description of Shackleford is floating around the Internet in various forms - "A better-than-advertised athlete with the size and strength to play at the next level, Shackleford is a developmental prospect who could surprise if he hits on all cylinders."

Most if not all teams take on a developmental tackle or two each year, if only to keep on the practice squad. The Chiefs last attempt at a project offensive lineman was Ramiro Pruneda, who was signed in January '07 and subsequently cut right before training camp.

In 2005 while at Georgia during his junior season, Shackleford's play fell off dramatically after three family members died in a short period of time.

After a strong start in 2005, Shackleford fell out of the offensive tackle rotation as the deaths hit home. In the words of offensive line coach Neil Callaway, Shackleford "really kind of went in a little tailspin" after his aunt, Penny Shackleford, succumbed to cancer, and his grandfather, Eddie Holiday and a great-grandmother, I.V. Phillips, died.

Shackleford rebounded during his senior season to start every game for the Bulldogs at split tackle. He was the least experienced offensive linemen his senior year but was touted as the linemen with the most NFL promise.

Shackleford is little more than training camp fodder for the Kansas City Chiefs. But his size, any player of that size, will intrigue scouts and teams to give him at least a training camp shot. His signing shows a trend this off-season in Kansas City linemen signings - They like guys that have experience playing multiple positions. Little is settled on the Chiefs' offensive line and there will likely be a significant shake up in the positions that Damion McIntosh, Brandon Albert and even Brian Waters will play. Nearly every linemen on the roster has experience, whether NFL or college, playing multiple positions.

The starting offensive line in Week 1 of the 2008 season will not be set in stone. Expect a lot of rotations and a lot of position switching this year.