I’m stealing an idea from Blogging The Boys who stole it from Dave Dameshek of NFL dot com. Who are the five biggest Jenga pieces on the Kansas City Chiefs roster? You’ve played Jenga before (I hope). You’re taking one block away at a time and hoping the whole thing doesn’t come tumbling down. Which Chiefs players would make the whole team come tumbling down? I think 3-4 of these are pretty obvious with some room for discussion on one or two of them.
QB Alex Smith
It’s the quarterback. The Chiefs would not be as good this year if Patrick Mahomes or Tyler Bray were starting. They don’t have the experience Alex does and if this team has a guy like Alex they are a playoff contender. You’re hoping down the road Mahomes can become the guy to put you over the hump but he’s not there this year.
TE Travis Kelce
The offense runs through him. He draws double teams, he can block and he’s what Andy Reid would call an energy giver. I don’t think we’ll see much disagreement on this one.
WR Tyreek Hill
Jeremy Maclin would’ve been at this spot last year but then the Chiefs went off and won 12 games with Tyreek making a bigger impact than Maclin. So Tyreek is here now. I could see a little disagreement here because he’s not an every down player (yet) but his impact is significant.
S Eric Berry
I struggled between him and someone like Justin Houston, who may make a bigger impact on the field. But Berry is different. He’s the heart and soul of the team, even moreso than a guy like Houston who many on the roster respect. Pass rusher is more important than safety but not when that safety is Eric Berry.
CB Marcus Peters
I would probably put him ahead of Berry in terms of importance to the team if we had to rank them (which thankfully we do not). Peters plays a premium position and he’s elite at that position. Plus, he creates turnovers, the most important thing a defensive player can do. Peters is like the Kelce of the defense for me. Gotta have him.