Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 5/28

Chiefs OTA Observations 5/27: Day Two Notes from The Mothership

If there's one thing that can be taken away from Wednesday's Chiefs practice, and in actuality, all of the Chiefs practices throughout the year, it's that everything coach Andy Reid does during their limited time together on the field has a purpose.

"It's one of the great things about Andy Reid," Voice of the Chiefs, Mitch Holthus, said on Wednesday. "We might not see some of this stuff until late November, but everything being done here is going to come up at some point during the season and it's going to help us win a game.

"Coming into year three with Reid, these players can all now see the purpose for what is being done this time of the year. All of these things are coming up later in the season, and that now has an effect on how these guys might view these practices early in the offseason."

What We Learned from Day Two OTA Press Conferences from The Mothership

With tight end Anthony Fasano departed to the Tennessee Titans, Travis Kelce said he has stepped into the first team position.

"I come in and take the role, it's as simple as that," he said. "It's not like it's a hidden secret or anything. I'm probably the most comfortable in the offense for being on the field for an entire year. We have Richard Gordon, who's a vet, who knows a lot and understands the game very well and we'll go from there, but it's clearly my room and I'm going to go ahead and take the bull by the horns and lead us to success."

Chiefs LB Derrick Johnson Explains Moment He Knew He Was Back from The Mothership

"There was one time they threw the ball out to Knile (Davis) in the flat and I tracked him down pretty good," Johnson explained.

"Then, the next play, Jamaal (Charles) caught a ball on me, so I guess I went back down a little bit. But football is never perfect, that's one of the best things about it. It's always going to humble you, even if you have a good play here and there.

"I've got a lot of work to do, but I'm excited."

Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles: "I just want to change the game with the running backs" from The Mothership

Despite his franchise-leading fifth season of at least 1,000 yards rushing last year, Charles said he's looking forward to playing with this new offensive line group in 2015.

"I just feel comfortable because I feel like I have a Pro Bowl guard [Ben Grubbs] in front of me," Charles said. "I've got Jeff (Allen) back and we went to the playoffs with him. We've got Fish (Eric Fisher) who is developing more in his third year, we've got Donald (Stephenson) and he played a whole season and did a great job when Branden (Albert) and Fish were going at it and battling for depth at the position.

"So now, I feel way comfortable these guys are getting focused and it's time to get the step on now."

NFL Network Analyst Bucky Brooks: Chiefs Rank in the NFL's Top Ten Most Talented Teams from The Mothership

NFL Network analyst Bucky Brooks recently put together an article analyzing the league's top ten most talented rosters headed into 2015.

Here's what he said about the Chiefs, who came in at sixth on the list:

Two Current Chiefs Named to the "NFL Top 100" on Wednesday Night from The Mothership

For the fifth consecutive season, the NFL is revealing its top 100 players headed into the coming season on "NFL Top 100," a program on the NFL Network. The rankings are voted on by fellow players in the NFL.

On Wednesday night, the league revealed numbers 70 to 61.

First, at 70, linebacker Tamba Hali:

Chiefs CFO Dan Crumb Eager for His Second Warrior Combine Event from The Mothership

Chiefs CFO Dan Crumb, who will be making his second appearance in 2015, recently recalled last year's experience.

"I liked the idea; I liked what they were doing," Crumb said of deciding to get involved. "It's an opportunity for you to sort of get a baseline—you can figure out, OK, health-wise, where am I at?

"You really don't have much of an opportunity to do that on your own, and this was really a great opportunity to just see where I stand and what I need to work on."

The event, which has helped raise money for prostate cancer research and has assisted in raising awareness for prostate cancer each year, allows men to partake in the actual drills that college athletes participate in at the NFL Combine.

KCChiefs.com Photo Gallery: Phase Three OTA Offseason Workouts Day 2

KCChiefs.com Video: Press Conference: Mike DeVito

KCChiefs.com Video: Press Conference: Eric Kush

KCChiefs.com Video: Press Conference: Travis Kelce

KCChiefs.com Video: Press Conference: Dee Ford

KCChiefs.com Video: Press Conference: Zach Fulton

KCChiefs.com Video: Press Conference: Ben Grubbs

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce embraces leadership role from Chiefs Digest

What Kelce lacks in age, he more than makes up for with his experience and production in the Chiefs' offensive scheme.

The 6-5, 260-pound Kelce led the Chiefs in receptions (67) and yards receiving (862) in 2014 and his five touchdown catches tied for the team lead.

Kelce also spent the past two seasons learning from Fasano, arguably one of the league's savviest veterans at the tight end position, on paying attention to the little things on and off the field.

"I was telling someone earlier that was probably the biggest thing that I learned from Fasano," Kelce said. "Coming out here and detailing my work, just becoming better and better every single day on the small things."

Big expectations fit Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce well from ESPN

His success last season might have caught a lot of people by surprise, but not Travis Kelce. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end was a revelation to everyone but the Chiefs, who drafted him in the third round in 2013, and himself. Kelce has that kind of confidence in his ability.

The expectations this year on Kelce, inside the Chiefs' practice facility and out, are for more, a lot more than the 67 catches, 862 yards and five touchdowns he had last season. Anything short of the numbers posted annually by former Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez might be a disappointment.

Chiefs' Charles says he wants to play another six years -- and don't count him out from FS Kansas City

"So I want to play another six years. So my formula is just to keep on taking my diet and you know, the times change, the future changes. Football is changing. I've been seeing guys that play at (age) 37-38 playing in the trenches, and that's somewhere where you don't want to play. So I just want to change the game with running back, I want to last longer. Take this as a real job and then when I retire, I'll be happy where I end my career at."

Hey, as manifestos go, we've heard worse.

And if there is a superstar inside the Chiefs' camp, still, Charles is it. He's not the best player on the roster anymore (that's contract-unhappy outside linebacker Justin Houston) and he might not even be the most irreplaceable (imagine this passing game without Jeremy Maclin, keeping the arsenic at a safe distance), but speedy No. 25 remains the first one snapped up in 99.99993 percent of fantasy football drafts every August, and that comes with cache.

Diving catch attempt shows Chiefs what Jeremy Maclin is all about from ESPN

The Kansas City Chiefs received a glimpse of what wide receiver Jeremy Maclin is all about during the early stages of the first offseason practice of the year. Maclin, without pads and in a workout that was technically voluntary, dived with both arms outstretched in a futile attempt to make a catch of an overthrown deep pass.

Maclin risked injury to catch a pass when it didn't matter, but that's part of what the Chiefs knew they were getting when they signed Maclin to a five-year contract worth $55 million in free agency.

Opportunity knocks for Chiefs center Eric Kush from Chiefs Digest

A three-year apprenticeship has potentially reached its end if Eric Kush has anything to say about it.

The 6-4, 313-pound Kush, who joined the Chiefs as the first of two sixth-round draft picks in the 2013 NFL Draft, sat behind center Rodney Hudson the previous two seasons.

But the starting job is available with Hudson signing a free-agent deal with the Oakland Raiders in March, and Kush found himself taking first-team repetitions when the Chiefs opened organized team activities (OTAs) Tuesday.