The Way, Way, Way Too Early 2024 Roster Projection
11 repliesHere we go, this year’s (first) far too early Roster Projection, guaranteed to be way off and full of wrong selections, but it’s a start at this point in the blooming new springtime of upcoming OTA’s it’s at least a plausibly decent guesstimate of sorts.
I’ll be breaking down the roster by position, listing (to the best of my very limited knowledge) players who are LOCKS to make the roster, those who have at least a 50% chance, and the rest of the players who LIKELY will be not much more than warm bodies for Training Camp, although a number of them may find a home on the final Practice Squad. That said, almost anything can happen (and usually does), so take all “predictions” made here with a grain of salt (or several, around the rim of that giant glass of Margaritas).
Quarterback (3)
Locks: Patrick Mahomes, Carson Wentz, Chris Oladokun
Who? Ian Book
Running Back (3)
Locks: Isiah Pacheco, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Louis Rees-Zammit
50/50: La’Mical Perine, Deneric Prince, Emani Bailey
Camp Fodder: Hassan Hall, Keaontay Ingram, Carson Steele
Wide Receiver (3)
Locks: Hollywood Brown, Xavier Worthy, Justin Watson
50/50: Skyy Moore, Kadarius Toney, Justyn Ross
Practice Squad: Nikko Remigio, Cornell Powell, Jaaron Hayek
(Who Knows? *Rashee Rice: see Final Thoughts at end of post)
Tight End (3)
Locks: Travis Kelce, Jared Wiley, Noah Gray
50/50: Irv Smith
Camp Bodies: Gerrit Prince, Baylor Cupp
Tackle (4)
Locks: Kingsley Suamataia, Jawaan Taylor, Wanya Morris, Lucas Niang
Camp Fodder: Mike Caliendo, C.J. Hanson, Ethan Driskell, Chukwuebuka Godrick, Griffin McDowell
Guard (3)
Locks: Trey Smith, Joe Thuney, Hunter Nourzad
Who? Nick Torres
Center (1)
Lock: Creed Humphrey
Total Offensive Locks: 20
Total Offensive 50/50: 9
Total Offensive Camp Bodies (15)
Defensive End (4)
Locks: George Karlaftis, Mike Danna, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, *Charles Omenihu
50/50: BJ Thompson, Malik Herring, Truman Jones, Neil Farrell
Defensive Tackle (4)
Locks: Chris Jones, Mike Pennel, Derrick Nnadi, Tershawn Wharton
50/50: Matt Dickerson
Camp Bodies: Isaiah Buggs, Fabien Lovett Sr, McKade Mettauer
Linebacker (3)
Locks: Drue Tranquill, Nick Bolton, Leo Chenal
50/50: Jack Cochrane, Cam Jones, Curtis Jacobs
Camp Bodies: Luquay Washington, Swayze Bozeman
Safety (3)
Locks: Bryan Cook, Justin Reid, Nazeeh Johnson
50/50: Chamarri Conner, Deon Bush, Kamal Hadden
Camp Fodder: Trey Dean
Cornerback (3)
Locks: Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson, Joshua Williams
50/50: Ekow Boye-Doe, Nic Jones, Keith Taylor
Camp Bodies: Miles Battle, Kelvin Joseph, D.J. Miller, Christian Roland-Wallace
Total Defensive Locks: 16
Total Defensive 50/50: 14
Total Defensive Camp Bodies (10)
Special Teams/Other (3)
Lock: James Winchester (LS)
Lock: Harrison Butker (K)
Lock: Matt Araiza (P) or Ryan Rehkow (P)
Total Locks: 39
Total 50/50: 24 (including one Punter)
Total Camp Bodies (25)
Total Player Numbers: 87 (excluding *Rice and *Omenihu)
Final Thoughts
Rashee Rice: Already likely to miss a minimum of 8 games, then add the latest bit of nonsense and the guy’s a true “Wild Card” in any kind of prediction for the WR room … suffice it to say that Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney may now have a much better shot at landing on the active roster than they did just a couple of months ago and it wouldn’t shock me if the Chiefs wind up cutting ties with him altogether
Cap Space: according to Over The Cap, the Chiefs currently have $16M in cap space, which means BV has plenty of “wiggle room” to sign a free agent or two … WR? Defensive Line with Omenihu possibly out? Anything can happen and most likely will
Training Camp Surprises: it happens almost every year that some “unknown” player has a truly stand-out training camp and pre-season showing, and ends up being “so good” that he makes the final roster … will a UDFA do that this year? I’ve put at least a couple of UDFA’s in as 50/50, and no doubt a lot in that 50/50 category WILL make the team as Special Teamers and back-ups. Nobody knows, but it’s interesting when it does happen … time will tell
Nick Lowery, Brian Waters, Emmitt Thomas, Priest Holmes and Deron Cherry were all UDFA’s
… and THIS guy
The Numbers Game: as always, a good deal depends on how many players at each position Andy Reid and company want for Offense, Defense and Special Teams (beyond K, P and LS) … all of that will be decided by Reid, Spags and Toub
Computational Error: Rice and Omenihu should NOT be counted in the numbers to open the season (*Omenihu MAY be back, then again he MAY miss a few games in rehab) so 1 less (for now, at least) … 1 Defense … and fixed
… and with that: Time’s Yours
About Author
Watson isn’t a lock at WR. Other than that, the O looks solid
Yes he is. Unfortunately.
63 lock or 50/50 guys, so 14 50/50 guys will make it and 10 won’t. I’d say that’s a pretty good list.
I only have a couple nit picks:
Chris Oladokun (Lock -> 50/50)
Louis Rees-Zammit (Lock -> 50/50)
Lucas Niang (Lock -> 50/50)
Chamarri Conner (50/50 -> Lock)
Kamal Hadden (50/50 -> Lock, should be a CB not safety)
I have 25 50/50 guys with 15 spots, so more like 60/40.
yeah, Oladokun will make it as QB #3 … Emergency QB and otherwise a Practice Squad guy, so that opens a slot for someone elsewhere
some are kind of hard to call: Niang, for example, we all have hopes for him and he’s almost always around (as a back-up) and then that’s it, so who knows … Conner is likely a lock, you’re right
gonna be interesting to see how it all shakes out from here …
is it kickoff time yet?
BREAKING: Two witnesses that were in attendance at the club said that #Chiefs WR Rashee Rice did NOT have any physical contact with the photographer.
They told the Dallas News it was just a verbal altercation.
Rice could now be cleared by the police in their investigation.
Yeah I saw the same news. Hoping it’s true and that it’ll all be forgotten soon.
Definitely good news. Doesn’t help his car wreck but at least this seemingly won’t be added on top of it.
oops…
So what? My pitchfork is freshly sharpened, so let’s get him anyway!!!! We already agreed he’s a blight to society with no chance of redemption.
Worst that can happen is God sorts em out, right?
Not sure if I agree on everything(but who the Fuck am I?). But a good read. I won’t hold any misses against you, I’m sure I’ll read, and forget, another 30 or so predictions. Good work, though!
thanks Gump: to be honest, I’m not sure *I* agree with everything …
just hoping to get a little conversation going … toss out a few “new names” above and beyond the 2024 draft picks (we all know Worthy and Sumataia, but some of the UDFA guys are total mysteries to me, and to many others)
will be interesting (for me, at least) to look back on this list in mid-Sept when the 2024 season begins and see how many, how much I accidentally got right … and how much I got completely wrong