Arrowheadlines: Eric Bieniemy knows what to expect from Clyde Edwards-Helaire

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Kansas City Chiefs counting on Clyde Edwards-Helaire to be himself in 2021 | 247 Sports

Speaking with the media Thursday, Bieniemy revealed the progress of Edwards-Helaire.

“Well, the thing is just making sure that he has a better understanding of exactly what we’re doing,” Bieniemy said on Thursday. “When you come in as a rookie, obviously, everything is brand new — and every week is a new playbook for you, in a sense. And so, he’s had an opportunity to get a season under his feet. Now, obviously, he’s had an opportunity to get out here and listen, be a part of the meetings. And so, everything is starting to make more sense to him. And so, with him growing with the wisdom that he has obtained in our system, it’s going to help him to know exactly what we expect him to do when placed in those certain situations.

“So we’re counting on Clyde to be Clyde. Clyde is a tremendous kid. And on top of that, he’s a hell of a football player. He’s going to accept any role and accept any challenge that’s placed upon him.”

One non-QB each NFL team can’t afford to lose to injury in 2021: Travis Kelce, DeAndre Hopkins crack the list | CBS Sports

Kansas City Chiefs: TE Travis Kelce

After the Super Bowl, you might be tempted to point to the O-line, but after adding Orlando Brown Jr., Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey and Kyle Long, they are better positioned to handle an injury at any of those spots. Tyreek Hill going down would severely threaten their WR depth, but Kelce has long been Patrick Mahomes’ favorite target, and that counts for a lot.

Biggest NFL Position Battles Developing in 2021 | Bleacher Report

Kansas City Chiefs: Offensive Line

The New England Patriots put together an eye-opening offseason to the surprise of many. The Chicago Bears may have salvaged the franchise’s current standing with a single draft pick. Both of these may be true, yet the Kansas City Chiefs achieved something more impressive than any other team accomplished.

The Chiefs completely rebuilt their offensive line in a few months to a level we’ve never quite seen.

Patrick Mahomes’ pummeling at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super LV couldn’t go unanswered. Chiefs general manager Brett Veach and head coach Andy Reid did everything to improve Kansas City’s starting front five and the unit’s overall depth. As a result, Kansas City will have significant competition up front, particularly on the right side.

“There’s going to be a battle on the right side,” Reid told reporters. “There are a bunch of guys that can play, and we’ve always done this: We take the five best and throw them in there.

“So, we’ll see how it all sorts out.”

The left side will be set with Orlando Brown Jr. on Mahomes’ blindside and Joe Thuney lined up at guard. From there, things remain undecided.

Veteran Austin Blythe will compete with second-round rookie Creed Humphrey at center. Kyle Long can push the returning Laurent Duvernay-Tardif out of his right guard spot. Right tackle is the most unsettled with Mike Remmers still on the roster and Lucas Niang’s return after the rookie opted out of the 2020 campaign.

Not only is Kansas City’s front line improved, but the group is also much deeper overall to make an already near-unstoppable offense even better.

Winners: C, Humphrey; RG, Long; RT, Remmers

Ranking the NFL’s worst-to-first candidates in 2021: 49ers, Falcons, Broncos ready to rise? | NFL.com

3 - Denver Broncos

AFC West · 2020 record: 5-11

To be clear, I’d still pick Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs to win the AFC West over Aaron Rodgers’ Broncos, if that hypothetical trade were to occur. But I really dig a lot of the Broncos’ offseason activity thus far, specifically the cornerback additions of free agent Kyle Fuller and first-round pick Patrick Surtain II. The former already has excelled under Vic Fangio (when the two worked together in Chicago) and the latter has the refined game to shine under the coach in Year 1. I love the gobs of young talent at the offensive skill positions, too. Courtland Sutton’s healthy return to a receiving corps that includes Jerry Jeudy, K.J. Hamler and Tim Patrick provides explosive potential in the passing game, and second-round pick Javonte Williams’ addition to the Melvin Gordon-led backfield is quite promising, too. But back to the quarterback position ...

If it’s Drew Lock or Teddy Bridgewater, the Broncos easily have the worst quarterback in a division that includes Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Derek Carr. In fact, they might have the worst QB1 situation in the league. Rodgers makes Denver a Super Bowl contender. Without him? Also-ran status.

Every NFL Team’s Smartest Move of the 2021 Offseason | Bleacher Report

Kansas City Chiefs: Trading for OT Orlando Brown Jr.

Brown stands out because he’s the most accomplished player among the acquisitions and plays a key position on the front line. Although the former Baltimore Raven logged most of his career snaps at right tackle, he wanted to play left tackle, which paved the way for a trade to Kansas City.

Brown played well on the left side in place of Ronnie Stanley for the majority of the 2020 season, and he earned his second Pro Bowl nod. The fourth-year veteran will fill a void on the Chiefs offensive line following Eric Fisher’s departure to the Indianapolis Colts.

Around the NFL

All the news about the Aaron Rodgers drama may come to head this week | Mile High Report (Denver Broncos SB Nation site)

At this point, we’ll start seeing one way or the other what the reality of the situation is.

Here’s the key thing I’m looking for as a fan who wants to see Rodgers in orange and blue: What happens with Rodgers missing OTAs and do the Packers front office fine him?

If the Packers fine him, I see Rodgers as likely to put his foot down and finally say publicly what he has to date been coy about when in front of the cameras.

But if they don’t, the possibility is very real that all of this was just a bag of drama and Rodgers will end up leveraging this situation into a bigger paycheck with the job security he wants in order to finish his career.

I can’t help but think back to some of the drama he’s had in the past with his family and think that the smoke we saw right before the draft has something to it. I still very much have hope to see another HOF QB in orange and blue in my lifetime and think that hope is very much something that is not just possible, but likely.

Tyrod Taylor on role with Texans: ‘It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to be able to go out and lead’ | NFL.com

Last September, Taylor was starting for the Chargers ahead of 2020 No. 6 overall pick Justin Herbert until suffering a punctured lung following a pregame injection in Week 2. He would make just one more appearance all season as Herbert went on to win AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

“I definitely use it as a motivation,” Taylor said. “There’s no bad feeling towards like whatever happened in the past. You learn from it, you move forward. I don’t believe in holding on to things. I just, like I said, I’m more so thankful and grateful for the opportunity to be able to lace the cleats up, put the helmet on and go out and make plays. It starts of course this time of year and then will carry on into the season. But yes, definitely more motivated than I’ve ever been.”

Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB coach believes Tom Brady’s knee was ‘nagging nuisance’ all season | ESPN

“I don’t think he was 100 percent last year,” Christensen said, relaying a conversation he had with Brady the morning after the Bucs won Super Bowl LV. “His quote, or close to a quote was, ‘Hey, I’m gonna get my knee fixed up and I’m gonna be better next year and you’re gonna be excited about that.’

“Performance-wise, you wanna feel good. I think that thing was a nagging nuisance to him, having to tape it every day, just make sure he had that thing loose. So I think he’s excited about just feeling good again.”

Chicago Bears could soon be for sale: Owners having internal discussions about maybe selling team, per report | CBS Sports

At this point, selling the team would basically serve two purposes. First, it would allow the McCaskey family to cash-in on their investment. The Bears are worth an estimated $3.5 billion and if that’s what they end up selling for, it would create a huge profit for the family. To put the team’s current value in perspective, just consider this: George Halas only paid $100 for the team in 1920.

By selling, it would also potentially put the Bears in better shape for the future. Soldier Field is in serious need of a facelift, but that’s not going to be easy to pull off due to the high cost that would come with trying to renovate the stadium. If Soldier Field can’t be updated, there’s a chance the Bears could move outside of Chicago to Arlington Park, but that would only happen if the team can get a new stadium built there. Whether they fix Soldier Field or build a new stadium, it’s not going to be cheap and bringing in a deep-pocketed owner would help the cause.

In case you missed it at Arrowhead Pride

Patrick Mahomes says he would have been able to play in a game Thursday

“If there was a game, I would be able to play in it, I think,” he told the media via Zoom conference call after the team’s sixth voluntary organized team activity (OTA) session. “At the end of the day, there’s still some stuff I’m going to have to work through — I’m going to have to continue to rehab and continue to keep strengthening that stuff, but it’s good to be able to get out there a little earlier than the schedule had me and be able to get some work in.”

The work is key for Mahomes — especially in this offseason, as he projects to be playing behind at least four new offensive linemen when the season begins. When he began his career, the offensive linemen helped him learn Andy Reid’s system. Now he is enjoying the opportunity to teach them.

“When I first came into the league, I had a lot of veteran guys with Eric Fisher, Mitchell Schwartz and Mitch Morse — all these guys that were helping me when I was at the line of scrimmage,” described Mahomes, “helping me communicate and get us all on the same page — and then to be able now to have a new group of guys that obviously are extremely intelligent and know how to play the game of football and stuff like that, but to show how I communicate and how I do things at the line of scrimmage and us build that chemistry again. I think it’s really cool and it’s just going to really help us in the long run as we continue to learn each other and learn how each other thinks while we’re out there on the field.

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