Kansas City Chiefs ranked as second best offensive arsenal

The Kansas City Chiefs were fun to watch last year for their explosive offense and it appears analysts are expecting the fun to continue in 2019. Bill Barnwell of ESPN ranked the Chiefs as having the second best offensive arsenal.

The article, which ranked all 32 NFL teams’ offensive arsenals, had the Kansas City Chiefs at number two, just behind the Los Angeles Rams. While Chiefs Kingdom probably won’t agree with the ranking because you know… homerism… the Rams do have a talented offense. Whether they have a better one than the Chiefs is up for debate though.

Here is part of what Bill Barnwell had to say about why he ultimately put the KC Chiefs’ unit at number two,

"The narrowest of margins separates the Chiefs from the top spot. On paper, though Damien Williams looked fine as Kareem Hunt‘s replacement in December and January, it’s hard to believe that the former Dolphins backup and Carlos Hyde are an upgrade on Hunt and Spencer Ware, who were Kansas City’s two leading backs this time last season."

Honestly, this is a valid argument.

Damien Williams did well in limited action last year, but he’s yet to carry the load for an entire 16-game season to this point in his career. We’ve seen in recent years how no name guys can become stars at the running back position in today’s NFL, so don’t be shocked if someone like Darrel Williams or rookie Darwin Thompson step up in the role this year.

Barnwell continued,

"If we assume Hill will be suspended for three games, there’s likely going to be a significant drop-off between the star wideout and rookie second-rounder Mecole Hardman. Fellow starting wideout Sammy Watkins is a perennial injury risk, with the former Bills standout missing 18 games over the past four seasons."

We’re still unsure of what will happen with Hill as far as a suspension goes, but even if he is suspended for a brief time, it’s not the end of the world for this offense. Yes, Watkins is injury prone and we don’t know what Hardman is going to provide, but Patrick Mahomes can get the ball to just about anyone.

Barnwell brought up Travis Kelce too, noting that he is one of the best tight ends in the league, but that even he isn’t enough to make this a better unit than the Rams. LA has the likes of Todd Gurley, Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods, and Cooper Kupp at Jared Goff‘s disposal, and two of those guys were hurt when the 2018 season concluded with Gurley getting limited playing time in the Super Bowl.

The Chiefs, despite some drama that’s transpired, haven’t had injuries with their offensive weapons (knock on wood please), so they’ve got that working for them.

As for the rest of Barnwell’s top five, he had the Rams at one, KC at two, Browns at three, Eagles at four, and Vikings at five. Those of you who read my content frequently know that I’m not jumping on the Browns bandwagon because they haven’t proven anything to anyone yet. The Vikings have two GREAT receivers and should probably be third on this list.

What do you think of Bill Barnwell’s list?