The Kansas City Chiefs have released their first depth chart of the 2011-12 season as they prepare for Friday night's preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We'll be mining the depth chart for interesting developments at every position.
Right now we'll be doing quarterback, where QB Matt Cassel is the unquestioned starter. Here's the current QB depth chart:
First: Matt Cassel
Second: Tyler Palko
Third: Ricky Stanzi
So Cassel is the starter, we know that. We can focus on the backup situation now. The question becomes whether the Chiefs will carry two or three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster.
Palko has a little more experience than Stanzi in the fact that he's been in the league before but still he's only thrown six career passes in a regular season game so experience can't be a significant advantage for him.
Stanzi likely isn't safe on the practice squad so I think he's on the 53-man roster. I've suggested that the Chiefs bring in a veteran quarterback to compete with Palko but it doesn't appear they're going to be doing that, at least not right now. So without a veteran in the mix, I think Palko makes this team and the Chiefs carry three quarterbacks.
It's a little risky to go with six career pass attempts behind your starting quarterback but the Chiefs, like last year, could be banking on Cassel staying healthy. He was pretty damn healthy last year missing one game after an appendectomy -- one ugly game -- so if they roll with Palko and Stanzi I hope Cassel stays even healthier in 2011.
So my predicted final depth chart looks like this:
First: Matt Cassel
Second: Tyler Palko (or a veteran that comes in, competes and wins the job)
Third: Ricky Stanzi