Kansas City Chiefs stock up, stock down through four games

Stock Up

Jeremy Maclin: Maclin has done his part to ignite the passing game, scoring a WR TD to shut down one annoying stat, and putting up some big gains that would lead box-score analysts to believe the Chiefs are throwing the ball well. Maclin is your classic "Growth" stock, with momentum on his side. The risk is that the numbers are fudged (meaning he's picked up some garbage time stats) ... we need to see him consistently involved in the game plan early and often for Maclin to be an impact player.

Eric Fisher: Fisher's stock was clearly at an all-time low early in this season. He got moved to RT, wasn't playing and questions / rumors were flying about his toughness. To his credit, Fisher stepped in when fully healthy and has played two solid games on the right side. He's had a couple of lapses but by most accounts has graded out as one of the Chiefs top o-linemen. We need to see if he can sustain and continue to improve to show that it wasn't a "dead cat bounce". He's what some would call a "fallen angel" and might be a good value stock going forward.

Marcus Peters: Peters is your classic start up. He's shown tremendous potential but isn't yet a consistent, established brand. The future is bright for the young CB, he's been as good or better than we expected thus far. Once he's able to consistently shut down his man AND make the big plays we've seen so far, he could be a star.

Jaye Howard: Howard is playing like he wants that Allen Bailey money. He's been fantastic against the run, and has shown ability to get to the QB. He's arguably the Chiefs best d-lineman at the moment, and well on his way to becoming a blue chip player.

Justin Houston: Houston is still playing at a VERY high level, even after getting paid. He's an elite player in the league, and appears to be establishing  himself as a vocal leader for the Chiefs.

Jamaal Charles: Charles has shown no signs of slowing down in his 29th year. The offense works best when it flows through him. Aside from the heartbreaking fumbles vs Denver, Jamaal has been Jamaal. And that's a very good thing.

Stock Down

Andy Reid: Offensive play calling, preparation, personnel, in-game adjustments ... all have been lacking, and all point to one guy. "I'm responsible" - Andy Reid. I don't think this was just coach-speak. The head coach is responsible for putting all the players in position to succeed. He's the Portfolio Manager here, and he needs to do a better job.

Jamell Fleming / Marcus Cooper / CB Ron Parker: I'm lumping these guys together here. The Chiefs have had a clear problem with trotting out one DB that the opposition can exploit each week then not making the in-game adjustments to to mitigate the problem (if there is an adjustment to be made). None of these guys are "trash" as Chiefs Twitter would have you think based on recent comments but none of them are capable of shutting down receivers without help. And they aren't getting help.

Bob Sutton: See previous comment. The defense is getting picked on each week with a weakness that clearly shows up on game film and the Chiefs are unable to adjust. That's on the coaches. Sutton is looking like a 60-40 portfolio that doesn't rebalance and doesn't use alternative investments. He's gotta do a better job of diversification.

Dontari Poe: Hopefully, we're just watching a guy work his way back from surgery but Poe hasn't had near the impact we have come to expect from him thus far. Poe is CAT... a solid industrial stock with a stellar track record that is suffering at the moment. We'll see if this is a long-term trend or just a "buying opportunity".

Donald Stephenson: If I had written this piece after Week 1, Don would have have been at the top of the "stock up" section. But after the last couple of weeks, left tackle is once again a weakness of the OL. Stephenson is in a contract year, so he needs a better performance just as much as the Chiefs need him to perform better.

Knile Davis: It appears Davis is being ignored in favor of Charcandrick West.  No offensive snaps since Week 2 is pretty surprising since in some of the Chiefs most successful game plans of 2014 featured Charles and Davis as a 1-2 punch. Maybe it was just game planning or an undisclosed injury but Davis will be one to put on the watch list (or a milk carton) going forward.

Stock sideways (not trending up or down)

Alex Smith: Smith played arguably the worst half of football of his career vs Green Bay but looked a bit better vs Cincinnati. The QB will always be a lightning rod for criticism but generally, he is what he is. He's a utility stock that generally pays steady dividends to the team and is considered "low risk." Utilities can be a solid part of a diversified portfolio but if all you own are utility stocks ... your total return (upside) is likely to be limited, and there's always a chance you end up with Worldcom.

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