Arrowheadlines: 3 Chiefs make top 10 of NFL’s Top 100 Players list

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NFL’s ‘Top 100 Players of 2023’: Five things the voters got wrong | NFL.com

1) “Oh well” to the Chiefs

Get this: The reigning Super Bowl champions, having logged a 14-3 regular-season record and a fifth straight AFC title game appearance, boast just three of the league’s top 100 players — at least, according to the players themselves. Even stranger, all three of them (Mahomes at No. 1, Travis Kelce at No. 5 and Chris Jones at No. 10) are in the top 10. So “top-heavy” were the Chiefs in 2022 that they were tops in the NFL come season’s end. (Huh!) Who was left out and looked over from K.C.’s championship squad in this year’s exercise? How about left guard Joe Thuney and center Creed Humphrey, second-team All-Pros on the line that held off Philly’s prolific pass rush in Super Bowl LVII? Or Nick Bolton, whose 180 combined tackles and 108 solo takedowns ranked second in the league, behind Foye Oluokun? Don’t forget L’Jarius Sneed, who was just the seventh DB this millennium with at least three picks, three sacks and three forced fumbles in the same season.

2023 NFL Roster Bubble: Biggest Names Who Could Be Cut | Bleacher Report

Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs made Clyde Edwards-Helaire a first-round draft choice in 2020, and the LSU product was supposed to become the every-down dual threat that Kansas City had been missing.

Things haven’t panned out that way, however. Edwards-Helaire has been hampered, at times, by injuries. He also lost the starting job to seventh-round draft choice Isiah Pacheco last season.

Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon should form the top tandem for the Chiefs in 2023, and undrafted rookie Deneric Prince may already be trending as the No. 3 back.

“Deneric Prince should be written in ink on the Chiefs’ 53. Locked in as the kick returner and does not drop a pass,” Pete Sweeney of SB Nation tweeted on July 30.

Prince’s ability to play on special teams is important because it’s something that Edwards-Helaire simply doesn’t do. In his three seasons with Kansas City, the 24-year-old hasn’t recorded a single special-teams snap.

While cutting Edwards-Helaire would save only $865,726 in cap space, it would make room for a player who can fill multiple roles, like Prince.

Top 10 quarterbacks entering the 2023 NFL season | NFL.com

1 - Patrick Mahomes

Kansas City Chiefs

In what world is Patrick Mahomes not the No. 1 quarterback in the NFL right now? There’s no discussion to be had. I could be here all day listing Mahomes’ on-field production and accomplishments, but I’ll just leave you with this: Mahomes is the only player in NFL history to win multiple Super Bowls, Super Bowl MVPs and regular-season MVPs before turning 28 years old (which he will do this September).

Quarterback Tiers: Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady and the rest of the best of 10 years | The Athletic

To smooth out extremes, I took the median of these averages, excluding from consideration votes for players who had started fewer than 10 games in their careers. This excluded Patrick Mahomes’ first season in the survey, when many voters placed him in Tier 4 as a matter of course because Mahomes had started only one game. The first QB Tiers season for Lamar Jackson and some others were also excluded.

Tier 1

A Tier 1 quarterback can carry his team each week. The team wins because of him. He expertly handles pure passing situations. He has no real holes in his game.

1. Patrick Mahomes

The two teams the Kansas City Chiefs could trade Chris Jones to | Marca

Chicago and Detroit are possible destinations for Jones

In terms of possible Chris Jones landing spots, the Chicago Bears stand out as one option given how much salary cap space they have this year and next.

Plus, the Bears’ GM Ryan Poles has Kansas City connections and was at Arrowhead when Jones was drafted in 2016.

Another option might be the Detroit Lions, who are looking to make a major leap forward this year and who want to do so with elite play on the defensive side of the ball.

Given that the Lions have a lot of draft capital and don’t necessarily need a lot of picks for the next few years, they might be able to offer the Chiefs a package that would be too good to turn down.

Predicting Every NFL Division’s Standings for 2023 Season Before Preseason Week 1 | Bleacher Report

Kansas City Chiefs: 13-4

Gee, this is a toughie—the Chiefs have only won the last seven AFC West titles and haven’t won fewer than 12 games in a season since 2018. Yes, the Chiefs have potential issues at wide receiver and on the back end of the defense. But they also have Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Andy Reid. The AFC West belongs to the Chiefs until someone takes it. And that’s not happening in 2023.

Is Patrick Mahomes already the best Chief to ever play the game? | NFL Draft Diamonds

1. Patrick Mahomes, QB (2017-Present): People may say it is premature, but I am sorry he is a beast. He has already won 2 Super Bowls, 2 NFL MVP Awards, 2 Super Bowl MVP’s and 5X Pro Bowler. He has the Chiefs in the race every year. He is the best ever in KC.

2.Len Dawson, QB (1962-1975): Dawson is perhaps one of the most iconic figures in Chiefs history. He led the team to victory in Super Bowl IV and was known for his leadership and accuracy as a quarterback.

3.Derrick Thomas, LB (1989-1999): Thomas was a dominant force on defense, setting the single-game NFL record for sacks with seven. He was a fearsome pass rusher and a nine-time Pro Bowler.

32 Teams, 32 Players: Intriguing Players for 2023 NFL Training Camp | The 33rd Team

Kansas City Chiefs: WR Justyn Ross

Justyn Ross was regarded as a potential first-round prospect after catching 112 passes for 1,865 yards and 17 touchdowns in his first two years at Clemson. However, doctors diagnosed him with a congenital fusion in his spine in the summer of 2020. He also dealt with stress fractures in his foot in 2021, which put his football future in question.

As a result, he went undrafted last year, and the Kansas City Chiefs decided to scoop him up and stash him on injured reserve as he recovered from his injuries. Ross remained in the building and was around the team last season.

Now fully healthy, Ross has earned considerable praise from Patrick Mahomes, and he has made several highlight catches in minicamp and training camp. The Chiefs have many receiver options on their roster, and Ross is vying for a spot.

Around the NFL

Buccaneers LB Devin White: Offseason trade request ‘a little bit selfish’ | NFL.com

Speaking to the media for the first time since making his trade request, White said on Monday that he is comfortable about his future in Tampa after talking with general manager Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles .

“I just wanted to be the guy here for a long time,” White said, per the Tampa Bay Times. “After just sitting down with coach Bowles and Jason Licht and just understanding their plans for me. … See how I can do better. Moving forward, we all came to an agreement, and that’s why I’m here now, just focusing on the season now.”

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Chief Roster: Andy Reid speaks on Chris Jones’ $1 million holdout

Just as in the previous 12 practices — and every voluntary (or mandatory) session of the offseason program that preceded them — the team’s star defensive tackle Chris Jones wasn’t present.

Now coming off what is arguably the best season of his seven-year NFL career, the 29-year-old is under contract through the coming season — but is currently negotiating with the team for an extension to that deal. Jones is not reporting to camp until he gets the contract he wants.

Asked on Monday when he expected Jones to check in — and how much practice time he would need before he could be ready to play in Week 1 — head coach Andy Reid had little to offer.

“I don’t know when he’ll be here,” said Reid, “but I tell you, any work that he can get will help him. Yes... it’s a pretty fast game.”

Under Article 42, Section 1 (b) (vi) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the players’ union, the accumulation of fines for missing practices is a pretty fast game, too. Already on the hook for nearly $99,000 after missing the team’s three-day mandatory minicamp in mid-June, Jones began adding $50,000-per-day fines to his tab when he failed to report to training camp on July 21. He’s now missed 18 days, so those camp fines now total $900,000 — and will continue to accrue for every day through September 3

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