Arrowheadlines: Apparently, Travis Kelce needs to do ‘a little more’ to be inducted into the Hall of Fame

The latest

Active NFL players who are Hall of Fame LOCKS: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Aaron Donald top the list | NFL.com

Meanwhile, Patrick Mahomes has been a starting quarterback in the NFL for four years. He’s been simply brilliant, leading his team to Championship Sunday — at least — in each of those seasons. It’s been such a special start to his career, in fact, that I won’t argue with anybody who wants to make the case that he’s Canton-bound even if he falls off the face of the Earth tomorrow. I’m just not ready to do that today — not with my limited real estate here.

I still need a little more from Mahomes’ teammate, Travis Kelce. He’s definitely on an HOF path, though. And while we’re on the tight end position, you won’t find Rob Gronkowski below because he’s retired (... at least for now). But yeah, Gronk is clearly getting a gold jacket.

2022 NFL training camps: First-stringers who could lose starting jobs | NFL.com

Clyde Edwards-Helaire

Kansas City Chiefs · RB

The don’t draft running backs in Round 1 hive has been on a told-you-so bender with CEH, who started all 10 games he played last season but averaged only 4.7 yards per touch and made two costly fumbles in a pair of early-season losses. Edwards-Helaire is off the physically unable to perform list, only spending a day there in camp, but he’s up against it to prove he’s Kansas City’s best back. Ronald Jones arrives capable of unseating him, and Jerick McKinnon was the Chiefs’ best all-around back by the end of last season.

One ‘secret superstar’ for all 32 NFL teams entering the 2022 season | PFF

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: CB RASHAD FENTON

Fenton was the Chiefs’ best-graded cornerback last season, and he now has three-straight NFL seasons with a PFF coverage grade of at least 74.4 to start his career. Fenton allowed only one touchdown all season and gave up just 8.7 yards per reception from the 52 targets sent his way. The team allowed Charvarius Ward to leave in the offseason, opening up an opportunity for Fenton to step into a bigger role as an every-down player, something his play so far has earned.

On this Mt. Rushmore of special teams coaches, KC Chiefs’ Dave Toub is the ‘first face’ | Kansas City Star

Toub is entering his 19th season as a special teams coordinator, his first nine with the Chicago Bears. There, he coached return specialist Devin Hester, among others.

In Kansas City, players like Tyreek Hill as a return specialist and kicker Harrison Butker have helped Toub’s teams maintain their ranking.

This season the Chiefs are looking to replace such special teams regulars as Marcus Kemp, Dorian O’Daniel, Ben Niemann and Daniel Sorensen. On Tuesday, Toub praised the training camp performances of current Chiefs special-teamers Justin Watson, Noah Gray, Bryan Cook, Deon Bush, Elijah Lee and Daurice Fountain.

Gosselin selected two Mt. Rushmores for special teams coaches: one for historical significance and the other for performance. Toub is the “first face” on the performance Mt. Rushmore.

Latest Win-Loss Predictions for Every NFL Team | Bleacher Report

Kansas City Chiefs

It’s unclear whether the defense will be able to keep that up this year. While first-round defensive end George Karlaftis may help bolster the Chiefs’ pass rush, the they didn’t add a notable veteran run-stopper to plug holes on the interior. They gave up the second-most yards per carry (4.8) in 2021.

The Chiefs lost cornerback Charvarius Ward in free agency, too. Opposing quarterbacks will likely target rookie first-rounder Trent McDuffie on the boundary. They also replaced versatile safety Tyrann Mathieu with Justin Reid, who’s missed at least 14.3 percent of his tackles in each of the last two years.

It’s hard to doubt head coach Andy Reid, Mahomes and Kelce considering their combined success over the last five years. It won’t be pretty, but the Chiefs will find a way to win 10 games in a much tougher AFC West division and five 2021 first-place teams on the schedule.

Projection: 10-7

Around the NFL

Arizona Cardinals WR Marquise Brown charged with criminal speeding | ESPN

Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves confirmed that Brown was arrested at 7:05 a.m. on State Route 101, which surrounds three-quarters of the Phoenix Metro area. He was booked in the Maricopa County Jail and released on his own recognizance Wednesday evening following a brief hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court.

Brown’s next court appearance is set for Aug. 23.

No other details were immediately available.

“We are aware of the situation regarding Hollywood Brown and have reported it to the NFL office as required,” the Cardinals said in a statement. “We will comment further as appropriate.”

NFL to appeal Browns QB Deshaun Watson’s six-game suspension | NFL.com

“The NFL notified the NFLPA that it will appeal Judge Robinson’s disciplinary decision and filed its brief this afternoon. Commissioner Roger Goodell will determine who will hear the appeal.”

The NFL had until Thursday morning to appeal the suspension.

Robinson, a former federal judge, ordered Watson’s six-game suspension on Monday, writing in a 16-page report that the NFL successfully “carried its burden to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Mr. Watson violated the (personal-conduct) policy” by engaging in “sexual assault; conduct that poses a genuine danger to the safety and well-being of another person; and conduct that undermines or puts at risk the integrity of the NFL.”

Cowboys sign ex-Vikings LB Anthony Barr to one-year contract worth up to $3 million | NFL.com

Anthony Barr has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Cowboys, the team announced.

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport later reported Barr’s contract is worth up to $3 million.

Barr has spent the entirety of his career in Minnesota, where the Vikings made him the ninth-overall pick of the 2014 NFL Draft and watched him become a Pro Bowl linebacker on an annual basis from 2015-2018. Barr nearly left the Vikings in 2019, agreeing to a lucrative deal to join the Jets before second thoughts drove him back to Minnesota

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

In his first training camp, George Karlaftis is absorbing all the knowledge he can

“They’re trying to take me under their wing,” he said, “from Frank and Chris [Jones], to Mike [Danna] and Turk [Wharton] — everybody in the group is coming together as one. Obviously Frank helps me out after every practice, Chris helps me out in his own way... we’re trying to have the strongest group possible, trying to bring everyone along.”

Karlaftis has a strong foundation. Measuring at nearly 6 feet 4 and 266 pounds during the NFL Combine, he possesses the natural strength to be a very powerful player. That was apparent in his college tape — and he’ll rely upon it at the start of his NFL career.

“I’m a power rusher,” he declared. “You see guys around the league, the speed guys and the power guys; the speed guys are like Von Miller. If you really look and study the game, you see that over half the guys’ sacks come from power. So from that alone, [when] you hear that Von Miller has over 100 sacks, probably 60 or 70 of them are from power. So why wouldn’t you just hone in on that?”

But Karlaftis likens his own game to that of Khalil Mack.

“My coach my freshman year at Purdue, he told me ‘speed to power,’” Karlaftis recalled. “That’s the only move he taught me when I enrolled in spring ball. So I worked that nearly every single day, and I based my whole game around that.”

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