Let’s talk about the snap counts from the Kansas City Chiefs 30-12 preseason win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday night.
Quarterback
QB Patrick Mahomes: 26
QB Alex Smith: 19
QB Tyler Bray: 14
QB Joel Stave: 8
The Chiefs got all four quarterbacks in as expected. Alex Smith led two scoring drives and Patrick Mahomes led two scoring drives. Both looked really sharp. I thought Mahomes would’ve kept going through the rest of the third quarter but the Chiefs brought Tyler Bray in.
Offensive tackle
OT Mitch Schwartz: 32
OT Eric Fisher: 32
OT Jah Reid: 28
OT Donald Hawkins: 28
OT Joe Cheek: 7
OT Josh James: 7
OT Isaiah Battle: 7
The Chiefs backup tackles ... not good! Once again, it appears they struggled. I’m not sure how big of a problem this is considering they are backups and the Chiefs really like their two starters. This could be a position where they’re looking for help on cut down weekend.
Center
C Mitch Morse: 32
C Mike Person: 23
Not much to say here. Zach Fulton would I think take this job if Morse ever went down. I hope we don’t have to find that out.
Guard
G Laurent Duvernay-Tardif: 31
G Andrew Tiller: 28
G Zach Fulton: 26
G Jordan Devey: 21
G Bryan Witzmann: 18
G Damien Mama: 14
Witzmann and Fulton continue to be in a position battle and Parker Ehinger remains out. I think this job goes to Witzmann for now. I need a full re-watch to evaluate his performance in this game but last week he had that one bad snap against Solomon Thomas and otherwise held his own. The Bengals blitzed more in this game.
Tight end
TE Gavin Escobar: 30
TE Demetrius Harris: 23
TE Travis Kelce: 20
TE Ross Travis: 18
TE Orson Charles: 15
The Chiefs quarterbacks and running backs will get all the hype after this game but how about those tight ends? Escobar with the catch of the day (from Mahomes’s throw of the day), Harris with two touchdown catches (two!) and Kelce with that catch on a drop dead gorgeous pass from Alex Smith.
Running back
RB CJ Spiller: 26
RB Kareem Hunt: 16
RB Charcandrick West: 15
FB Anthony Sherman: 9
RB Devine Redding: 8
RB Spencer Ware: 2
Ware came out almost immediately. It looks like that was a planned move by Andy Reid. Kareem Hunt stepped in and had 11 touches on two drives. There is a spot for the other backs on this team but to me it was Hunt who stood above everyone else. He looked more dynamic. Speaking of dynamic, CJ Spiller has that juice! That first carry of his around the right side he showed that burst we’ve seen from him before. Spiller is making this team. And then there’s Charcandrick West who went over 100 and had a couple of chunk plays. Is he making this team?
Wide receiver
WR Chris Conley: 30
WR Tyreek Hill: 26
WR Demarcus Robinson: 20
WR Marcus Kemp: 14
WR Jehu Chesson: 13
WR Seantavius Jones: 12
WR Albert Wilson: 10
WR De’Anthony Thomas: 8
WR Greg Dieter: 8
WR Tevin Jones: 7
WR Robert Wheelwright: 3
WR Tony Stevens: 3
So many receivers. Who stood out? I saw Jehu Chesson make a great special teams tackle. That might be where he makes his contributions in 2017. DAT didn’t play much but he got three catches out of it, including a couple of broken tackles and a touchdown. DAT is not a 1,000 yard guy but he can make this team.
Safety
S Steven Terrell: 36
S Leon McQuay: 28
S Daniel Sorensen: 25
S Ron Parker: 25
S Eric Murray: 22
Eric Berry remains out. Is someone gonna tell me when we should be worried about that? It’s hard to give much analysis on the safeties from the TV view.
Cornerback
CB De’Vante Bausby: 36
CB Kenneth Acker: 27
CB Phillip Gaines: 26
CB Marcus Peters: 25
CB DJ White: 18
CB Ashton Lampkin: 16
CB Steven Nelson: 16
CB Larry Scott: 4
CB Trevon Hartfield: 4
Gaines was picked on in this game. Peters came out with a minor injury but should be fine. Like the safeties, I need another look to really understand how they did.
Defensive end
DE Jarvis Jenkins: 30
DE Tanoh Kpassagnon: 28
DE David King: 25
DE Rakeem Nunez-Roches: 21
DE Allen Bailey: 21
DE Ricky Ali’ifua: 10
DE Marcus Swain: 2
Allen Bailey, that’s what I’m talking about! The Hulk looked good again. I’m glad he’s back. Tanoh also got in on the action with a sack. The Chiefs d-line has some fun potential.
Nose tackle
NT Bennie Logan: 16
NT Cam Thomas: 15
Good to see Bennie Logan make his preseason debut. We’re still missing Roy Miller so I think our nose tackle analysis is a little short until we see him. Logan had a nice run stop early on.
Outside linebacker
LB Frank Zombo: 27
LB Dee Ford: 25
LB Justin Houston: 25
LB Marcus Rush: 8
LB Earl Okine: 8
Dee Ford had two offsides penalties on the first drive. I noticed a couple of Houston rushes that affected the quarterback. Tamba Hali was active for this game but did not play.
Inside linebacker
LB Kevin Pierre-Louis: 21
LB Josh Mauga: 20
LB Ukeme Eligwe: 18
LB Derrick Johnson: 15
LB Ramik Wilson: 14
LB Terrance Smith: 14
LB Justin March: 4
Justin March really jumps out here. I don’t think anyone is beating out KPL, Mauga, Eligwe, DJ or Wilson. If they keep five, it’ll be those five. If not, who do you take out?