The Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers will complete their 2011 preseason schedule on Thursday night and the fourth preseason game is usually the one in which the starters play very little and the bottom of the roster guys play quite a bit so the coaching staff can get one final evaluation on them before the big cut down day on Sept. 3.
That will all go down on Thursday night. For the Chiefs, we'll see a bunch of the guys the average fan may not have heard of (but those on Arrowhead Pride have been talking about for weeks). It's also an opportunity for us to learn a little bit more about the Packers bottom of the roster.
I talked with Brandon from SB Nation's Acme Packing Company -- I know him from spending Super Bowl week together in Dallas last year -- and asked him to name a player on both offense and defense that Chiefs fans will know by the end of the game.
On defense:
He started the first four games as a rookie, until he blew out his knee early in the season, so he's not a complete unknown, But this might be a big year for returning SS Morgan Burnett. He let WR Reggie Wayne run right past him during their last preseason game for a touchdown, so he has some learning to do, but he's another ball hawk and may get tested early to see if he's a weak spot in the secondary. If he performs like the coaches expect, he could be an early season leader in INTs.
On offense:
The Packers are bringing the 2010 offense back healthy and intact, except for a ho-hum change at left guard, so there won't be many new faces. I don't expect he'll get a lot of playing time, but rookie 3rd round RB Alex Green looks like a young Ryan Grant to me.