Ricky Stanzi has Andy Reid's Chiefs offense 'down pat', competing with Tyler Bray

It's time for your KC Chiefs third quarterback battle update.

And it's a good one.

Dan Pompei of National Football Post has his weekly (and excellent) NFP Sunday Blitz article posted and under the "Things I didn't used to know" section he has a surprising update on the Tyler Bray vs. Ricky Stanzi battle for the Chiefs third quarterback (behind Chase Daniel who is behind Alex Smith).

Let's walk through this one by one.

"Ricky Stanzi might have the early edge over Tyler Bray because word out of Chiefs camp is he has Andy Reid's offense down pat."

The last Stanzi vs. Bray update

Not once has this story line been brought up this offseason. This is great news for Stanzi and for the Chiefs. The harder this decision is, the better the team will be for it.

Also interesting is this answer from Mocking The Draft's Dan Kadar earlier this month on Bray vs. Stanzi: "If you're judging off natural physical ability, it's Bray. If your guess is based on the ability to comprehend and execute a playbook, it's Stanzi."

Nailed it.

"But Bray looks like he has more physical talent. In fact, there are those in the Chiefs offices who believe Bray throws as well as any quarterback in the draft."

So it's a question of the mental side of the game vs. the physical side. When you frame it like that, this decision becomes awfully interesting. I think we can learn a little bit from Andy Reid here.

"If Bray gets in line and conforms to be a professional, he will be difficult to beat out."

Bray has never been in the NFL and Stanzi has never played any meaningful snaps. Bray gets the potential tag because he's younger but both players are total unknowns right now. For most of the offseason I have believed Bray would win this competition. Why else would the Chiefs sign him unless they thought he could win the job? This new report puts a little more faith in Stanzi.

Important to note (again): We have no idea how well Stanzi can or can't play. We can guess. But he has no experience.

"The Chiefs are hopeful that will happen under the direction of Reid, Brad Childress, Doug Pederson and Matt Nagy, and with help from Smith and Daniels."

I now understand the frustration of Mizzou fans all those years when someone spelled or pronounced it Chase "Daniels". I see it all the time now.

More reading:

Desmond Bishop visits KC

Luke Joeckel signs with Jaguars

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