Harlan: Chiefs roster has a 'very solid reputation' around the league

Kevin Harlan is in Kansas City because he lives here but also to call Sunday's game between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers. So I listened especially close to his segment on 810 WHB earlier this week where he had a few interesting things to say about the game but what really perked my ears up was when he went into the reputation of the Chiefs roster around the league.

It's a good one, according to Harlan ... outside of one major question mark (you can probably guess).

Here's what Harlan said on Kevin Kietzmann's show earlier this week:

"I think the Chiefs are right in there. The Chiefs roster is solid. It is young.

"Around the league, among personnel people and scouts, it has got a very solid reputation. Many people when picking the Chiefs did so with a look at all the rosters certainly in the division and figured the only big question mark was Matt Cassel.

"One, can he stay healthy? Two, with his fifth or sixth coordinator -- if you want to look at it going back to New England -- in the last six years, where is his head at? How is he going to to operate?

"When you talk to him face-to-face as we did [earlier this week] you come away with a guy who has not lost one ounce of confidence, feels very confident in what the offense is trying to do and probably more than anything else he seems glad there is calm and a settled feeling around him.

"Because, if you look what he's gone through and all the coordinators....I know on the surface it may look like, 'Well yeah but he should be able to perform' and there probably is a point to that. But for a quarterback, and I don't think he's wired like some of these guys, too. He's not, I don't want to say he's not as resilient, but he's just a different kind of guy. He's really kind of like a regular guy. He's the kind of guy if you asked him over on Friday or Saturday night to watch games he'd fit right in with any group, and you wouldn't blink, and he wouldn't stand out as an NFL quarterback, to his credit. He's just a different guy.

"I truly believe in a lot of ways he has been dragged this way, and shoved that way, demeaned, propped up and shoved again, pushed ... he's just been all over the place.

"So when you talk to scouts they say the big question is with the Chiefs is not their roster, not the talent they assemble, but it's the quarterback, so often is the case. I don't know if they'll go as far as he takes them but if he gets to to a certain level, and he can just maintain, and not have the inconsistency, I think this is going to be a very enjoyable team to watch the rest of the year."