The Kansas City Chiefs have released their first unofficial depth chart of the 2010 season. With the first preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons just five days away, here are the highlights of the first depth chart:
- C Rudy Niswanger, TE Leonard Pope, RB Thomas Jones, S Jon McGraw and LBs Corey Mays and Demorrio Williams are on the first team.
- Shaun Smith is not listed as a nose tackle but as the second team defensive end behind Tyson Jackson.
- Javier Arenas is the kick and punt returner over Dexter McCluster right now.
The complete depth chart is after the jump. Remember, though, it's just the first week of preseason. None of this, for better or worse, is set in stone.
OFFENSE
WR: Chris Chambers, Jerheme Urban, Quinten Lawrence, Jeremy Horne, Verran Tucker
No surprise here. Chambers will be the starter without a doubt and Urban will be fighting for time as the third receiver.
LT: Branden Albert, Barry Richardson, Tyler Eastman
Looks like if Barry Richardson makes the team he's going to be the swing tackle. He's been seeing time on the left and right side.
LG: Brian Waters, Ikechuku Ndukwe, Lemuel Jeanpierre, Darryl Harris
If Harris weren't injured, he'd be the second guard on this list.
C: Rudy Niswanger, Casey Wiegmann
Interesting. Niswanger has been taking nearly every first team snap at this point.
RG: Ryan Lilja, Jon Asamoah, Dan Santucci
No surprise here either. Asamoah may be groomed to take over this spot if Waters leaves in the next year or two and Lilja takes his spot.
RT: Ryan O'Callaghan, Colin Brown
Brown hasn't seen much time if any on the left side during camp so it'll be interesting to see if he can fill a backup role at any other positions.
TE: Leonard Pope, Tony Moeaki, Jake O'Connell, Cody Slate, Leroy Banks
The Chiefs love Pope so he'll probably enter the season as the starter but Moeaki is having a good showing early on.
WR: Dwayne Bowe, Dexter McCluster, Terrance Copper, Lance Long, Rich Gunnell
McCluster, like Urban, is trying to be the third option here.
QB: Matt Cassel, Brodie Croyle, Tyler Palko
Surprised?
FB: Tim Castille, Mike Cox
Cox was the starter last year so Castille made some nice gains in the offseason. He seems a little more athletic than Cox.
RB: Thomas Jones, Jamaal Charles, Kestahn Moore, Jackie Battle, Javarris Williams
Jones/Charles, Charles/Jones...it doesn't matter really. It's interesting that Williams is the last option here. He was a 2009 draft pick.
DEFENSE
LDE: Tyson Jackson, Shaun Smith, Alex Magee, Dion Gales
Smith has recently started seeing more snaps at defensive end. I'm surprised that Magee, a 2009 third round pick, is third on the depth chart here.
NT: Ron Edwards, Derek Lokey, Garrett Brown
No Shaun Smith?
RDE: Glenn Dorsey, Wallace Gilberry, Bobby Greenwood, Jeffrey Fitzgerald
No surprises here. It's Dorsey's job with Gilberry in on nickel stuff.
LOLB: Mike Vrabel, Andy Studebaker, John Russell
Again, no surprise. It'll be Vrabel as the starter with Studebaker spelling him and coming in on certain packages.
LILB: Corey Mays, Jovan Belcher, Justin Cole
Same as last year with a new third option.
RILB: Demorrio Williams, Derrick Johnson, David Herron, Cory Greenwood
Same as last year with a new fourth option.
ROLB: Tamba Hali, Cameron Sheffield, Pierre Walters
Good for Sheffield moving on up ahead of Walters, who was a 2009 UDFA.
LCB: Brandon Flowers, Maurice Leggett, Mike Richardson, Jackie Bates
When Flowers missed time over the offseason, it was Leggett who took his spot. Looks like he's nailing down Flowers' backup job.
RCB: Brandon Carr, Javier Arenas, Travis Daniels, Ricky Price
Arenas will do more nickelback stuff but if Carr should go down, I imagine he'd be able to beat out Price. It'll be interesting to see how Daniels, a veteran, fits in.
SS: Eric Berry, Reshard Langford, DaJaun Morgan
Langford was picked up off the Eagles practice squad on Christmas Day 2009. Probably not a great thing for Morgan that he's already being passed up.
FS: Jon McGraw, Kendrick Lewis, Donald Washington
My prediction from early on was that McGraw would start the season as the starter. This is step one.
SPECIAL TEAMS
P: Dustin Colquitt, Ryan Succop
K: Ryan Succop, Dustin Colquitt
KO: Ryan Succop, Dustin Colquitt
PC: Thomas Gafford, Cory Greenwood
KC: Thomas Gafford, Cory Greenwood
H: Dustin Colquitt, Tyler Palko
PR: Javier Arenas, Dexter McCluster, Quinten Lawrence
KR: Javier Arenas, Dexter McCluster, Quinten Lawrence
McCluster has seen more time as a kick/punt returner during practice but that's because they don't have as good of an idea of his skills as they do Arenas, who was among the better return men in college last year.