**UPDATE SAT. 5 PM** Final cuts have been made. Head here.

Of course, the 53 players on the team after 5 PM central time tonight won't be the exact roster for opening day. After the NFL roster deadline hits this evening, expect the Kansas City Chiefs to pick up one or two players off of the waiver wire.

I've run through the roster and made my decisions on who I think will be cut. Interestingly enough, while researching this and reading others cut lists, most of them are in agreement about 95% of the time.

The only differences I've seen in people's cut lists are the tail ends of the linebacker and line rotations. A little LeRue Rumph here. A little Anthony Alabi there. Maybe throw in some Sippio. (Update: Sippio apparently has been cut)

There isn't anything groundbreaking in this post because it's pretty easy to pick about 90% of this roster with about that same certainty.

QB: Brodie Croyle, Tyler Thigpen and Damon Huard

No surprises here. The Chiefs will carry three quarterbacks on the final roster no matter what and these are almost assuredly the three they will keep.

Cut: None

RB: Larry Johnson, Kolby Smith, Jamaal Charles, Jackie Battle and Dantrell Savage

Dantrell Savage hopefully makes this team as a kick returner but I've included him in the running backs section. LJ, Kolby and Jamaal Charles are all 100% safe. Battle may not make it because of roster numbers but he's probably safe too.

Cut: None

WR: Dwayne Bowe, Devard Darling, Will Franklin, Maurice Price and Jeff Webb

Despite not catching a pass this preseason, Devard Darling is still accomplished enough to get the nod over Arthur, Joachim, McMahan and Sippio. If you make an argument against Darling, you have to make an argument for one of those guys making the team and I don't think you can. Maybe you can make an argument for Bobby Sippio but I think you're splitting hairs at that point.(Update: Sippio has apparently been cut)

Cut: Jabari Arthur, Sergio Joachim, Kevin McMahan and Bobby Sippio

FB:Mike Cox and Chris Manderino

Word on the street is that the Chiefs like Manderino's special teams play, which is great for him because Mike Cox has the starting fullback spot nailed.

Cut: None

TE: Tony Gonzalez, Brad Cottam and J.P. Foschi

TG and Cottam are locks to make the roster and we'll give Foschi and his GA Tech roots the nod over the injured Mike Merritt and Michael "What happened to people being excited about me?" Allan. Allan may spend his final year on the practice squad before permanently falling off into obscurity. My future money says this is another D3 experiment that will not succeed.

Cut: Michael Allan and Mike Merritt

O-Line: Branden Albert, Brian Waters, Rudy Niswanger, Adrian Jones, Damion McIntosh, Herb Taylor, Barry Richardson and Wade Smith

I think those first eight offensive linemen I listed are definitely going to make the team. Beyond that, I think we could see another player dropped at a different position in favor of another offensive linemen. That linemen may not even be on the team right now and there is no way the Chiefs are satisfied with the depth they have on the offensive line.

Cut: Travis Leffew, Tre Stallings, Will Svitek, Anthony Alabi, Edwin Harrison and Rob Smith

D-Line: Turk McBride, Tank Tyler, Glenn Dorsey, Tamba Hali, Alfonso Boone, Ron Edwards. T.J. Jackson and Brian Johnston

After Ron Edwards, you're entering a pretty blurry area on the defensive line. TJ Jackson and Brian Johnston both had their names called more than a few times last Thursday against the Rams and that may be enough to distinguish themselves from the other defensive linemen.

Cut: Johnny Dingle, Jason Parker and Derek Lokey

LB: Derrick Johnson, Pat Thomas, Donnie Edwards, Demorrio Williams, Weston Dacus and Nap Harris (Int'l player Aden Durde will be on the practice squad but not count for a spot)

Nap Harris seems to be on everyone else's cut list and he certainly is a possible roster casualty. One of the cuts listed below could out value Harris on special teams, making the decision to keep him even more difficult. Donnie Edwards of course makes the final cut but how durable will he be in his 13th season? He's already tweaked a hamstring.

Cut: EJ Kuale, Steve Octavien and LeRue Rumph

CB: Patrick Surtain, Brandon Flowers, Brandon Carr, Dimitri Patterson, Tyron Brackenridge and Maurice Leggett

The first four CB spots are taken with Brackenridge, Barksdale and Leggett battling for the final one or even two spots. Can't say I've seen much of any of those three this preseason, making my analysis a bit strained. Brackenridge will probably get the nod because the Chiefs liked him enough last year as an UDFA to play him a bit and neither Barksdale nor Leggett has distinguished themselves.

Cut: Rashard Barksdale

S: Jarrad Page, Bernard Pollard, Jon McGraw and DaJuan Morgan

The safety position isn't difficult to figure out. Page and Pollard will start with McGraw and Morgan rotating in and out. The Chiefs don't need five safeties on the team.

Cut: Khayyam Burns

Special Teams: Nick Novak, Dustin Colquitt and J.P. Darche

Again, no surprises here. The Sams v. Savage competition is pretty much even but I'll throw my support behind the younger, less Drummond-like Dantrell Savage. My gut says Sams makes the team though but I can't bring myself to post that.

Cut: BJ Sams and Connor Barth (he's still on the roster so we'll include him for good measure)

We've already had a few threads about the roster cuts so use this spot to make any last minute predictions. I'll update you on the cuts as soon as I hear about them.

With all of the attention on so many of our rookies, we on Arrowhead Pride, as well as most fans and the major media, have primarily been focused on the offensive line, the defensive line, wide receivers and the secondary. The linebacking unit is the only unit on this team for which Herm hasn't Drafted. Shall we call it the Bill Belichek strategy? Or shall we call it a low part of the totem pole on a team full of needs?

Whichever way you take it, Gretz has a fantastic insider interview with Gunther Cunningham about the state of the thus-far struggling, shallow linebacking corps. This is an absolute must-read if you're concerned about the middle of the defense.

Two of the bigger revelations in the interview:

(1.) Demorrio Williams (who is playing the strong side with DJ on the weak, depth chart fans!) has been given better chances to rush the passer.  He's even been lined up at DE in the two-minute defense, and apparently has devastated McIntosh in the process. Gretz has done nothing but rave.

(2.) Newly re-converted LB Oliver Hoyte has just made the 53-man roster. Of course, Gunther did not say as much, but Gunther has gushed about Hoyte's performance on special teams, which is the harbinger of who makes the roster if you're on the bubble. Scribble it onto your depth charts right now: Hoyte makes the team. Probably as a reserve special-teamer, but who knows? Apparently he's a camp favorite.

It's really hard to determine who's going to be on the final 53-man roster at this position when the smoke clears. Every single year during the Herm era, the Chiefs have taken a couple UDFAs at this position due to their special teams performance -- I expect this year's version to be the same.

So let's sort out the LB depth chart together, after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

By my count, the Kansas City Chiefs have 89 players currently on their roster, which will have to be trimmed to 80 players by the time they arrive in River Falls, WI, for training camp.

We have approximately fifteen positions on the team that have competition going into camp, so we'll be reviewing each position every day or every other day or so until the start of camp. Just like last summer.

First up today, the linebacking corp.

The Chiefs currently have ten linebackers on their squad, they'll start three and probably keep six total for back up and special teams. So, out of the ten, which six stay and which four go? Or, why would the Chiefs keep less/more than six?

Weston Dacus
Donnie Edwards
Nap Harris
Nate Harris
Derrick Johnson
EJ Kuale
Steve Octavien
LeRue Rumph
Pat Thomas
Demorrio Williams

Our three starters are going to come from these four guys - Edwards, Johnson, Williams and Nap Harris. So I'll include those four in my six. And for the other two, I'm going to give Nate Harris and Pat Thomas the nod simply because of their slight seniority.

I know we don't have much to go on as far as on the field experience and you know I don't get too excited over the fresh UDFA blood coming in.

Your thoughts on the Chiefs linebackers this summer?

Note: To you newbies, the community projections are a great place to jump in for the first time. Remember, be respectful and make sound arguments and you'll be rewarded with an intelligent and lively discussion.

CB Jason Horton	DE Jason Parker	S Khayyam Burns	LB E.J. Kuale	K Conner Barth
CB Maurice Leggett	DE Johnny Dingle	S Ron Girault	LB Lerue Rumph
CB Will Poole	DE Jonal Saint-Dic		LB Steve Octavien
	DT Derek Lokey		LB Weston Dacus
	DT Maurice Murray
***	***	***	***	***
G Chris McDuffie	RB Dantrell Savage	FB Mike Cox	T Ken Shackleford	WR Jabari Arthur
G Edwin Harrison	RB Kalvin McRae	FB Steven Jackson		WR Kevin McMahan
G Ian-Yates Cunningham
G L.J. Anderson

 

Above are the current undrafted free agents on the Kansas City Chiefs roster. There may be one or two guys in the waiver wire flux but we can manage for now.

I'm only going to say two of these players make it - FB Mike Cox and K Connor Barth. Cox because he's a former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket and played under Chan Gailey. Barth, because, well, we don't have many other options at this point. We need to invest in a kicker and that investment will be mainly one of time. Barth seems to have that mental stability that Justin Medlock did not.

So, in my opinion, only two of these guys make it on to the roster. History says that number is about average when it comes to undrafted free agents.

Within an hour of the conclusion of the 2008 NFL draft, the Kansas City Chiefs had signed Nebraska linebacker Steve Octavien.

"They’re giving me $10,000 right off the bat," Octavien said of his signing bonus. "It was the best opportunity I would have had."

Octavien didn't even watch the NFL draft this year. He knew that a player with the injury history he had would be a tough sell as a draft pick.

"Anytime there are questions about injuries," Octavien said, "you fall off everybody’s board real quick."

In 2004, in his only year at Wiliam Rainey Harper College, Octavien only played in four games due to a shoulder injury. Then, in the opening quarter of the '05 season, now Nebraska Cornhusker Octavien broke his leg and didn't play another down the rest of the season.

Octavien played in in every game in 2007, leading the team in tackles, tackles for loss and quarterback pressures. It was his first injury-free season since high school. He started eight games in '07, three at weak-side linebacker and three at strong-side linebacker.

Throughout his Nebraska career, it appears as if Steve Octavien had his fair share of energized comments and quotable statements. On September 22, 2007, the Cornhuskers came out of Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE, with a one point win over lowly Ball-State. The crowd booed the play of the Nebraska defense, prompting Steve Octavien to say this about the fans - " They’re not on the field. We’re the ones putting in the hard work. If they don’t like it, they don’t have to come out and watch the games."

A few days later, Octavien made an emotional, mature and honest apology, stirring Corn Nation to pen this:

Perhaps Tuesday the Huskers found their defensive leader in the form of Steve Octavien. Some leaders are not born, but make themselves in time of crisis. Two common items to overcoming a crisis are communication and unity. Finding himself in the middle of one, Octavien has seized the opportunity and used both items to bring things back together. Husker fans should recognize that and respond this weekend with the support that he deserves. If it all comes together there's still time to have a good Husker football season. I hope it does, because there are few things better than watching a leader be born.

A leader, eh? The Chiefs could use one of those. Now, it's not going to be Steve Octavien because undrafted free agents don't exactly have much clout in the locker room, even if he is a natural leader. But this team is young and wary. Hopefully an interesting story line will develop this off season about a leader on defense (or offense). We really have no "leaders" to speak of. Donnie Edwards was expected to fill that role I suppose but as far as I can tell he hasn't. Tony Gonzalez is a frustrated leader when he speaks, which makes his influence much less. Larry Johnson isn't that type of guy. Beyond that, there's really no one who speaks and everyone listens. A player who can change the attitude of the team with one quote. A natural leader. We simply do not have one now. The time is quickly approaching for one.

Okay, back to Steve Octavien. Check out this draft profile of Octavien, which is worth a watch if you're truly interested in the guy.

As far as personal priorities, Steve Octavien is already thinking about sharing his wealth. Just not in the MC Hammer, Shawn Kemp traditions.

If his dream of playing in the NFL doesn't pan out, Octavien has talked with Husker team chaplain Matt Penland and his Lincoln, Neb., church about a project in South Africa. His own vision is to someday open an orphanage and homeless shelter in Haiti, where his parents were born. "I know they have major problems," Octavien said. "They're the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. My roots are from there, so it's a place I want to help out. "That's something I can't do without money from football. I've just got to use the tools God gave me."

As far as Octavien's chances of making the Kansas City Chiefs' opening day roster, I'll put it this way. He is one of eleven linebackers currently on the roster. Donnie Edwards, Derrick Johnson, Nap Harris and DeMorrio Williams are the clear cut top four players at the position, with a mix of 2007 special teamers and UDFAs from last month's draft filling out the roster. Octavien's hope in making this team is entirely based on being a special teams stand out.

Lucky for him, linebacker is a position that seems to translate well to special teams play.