Kansas City Chiefs: Five Positions To Watch In Training Camp

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Tyler Bray (9) Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Everyone loves the back-up quarterback. Sometimes, he is the most popular guy on the team, especially if the team and starting quarterback are struggling.

Every team is one play away from having to rely on their back-up. A poor second string signal caller could be a disaster for a team challenging for a division title or playoff berth, if their starter goes down.

The safe play for the Chiefs is just to keep former Missouri Tiger Chase Daniel as the primary back-up. In his four years in the league, he has had very little playing time, but he did perform well in a meaningless, spot start at the end of the 2013 season.

Daniel is due to make $3.33 million. He is guaranteed $3 million but has already pocketed most, if not all, of that already. The Chiefs could cut him to save some money to help sign Alex Smith and/or Justin Houston.

If the Chiefs want to cut Daniel, they will need to see something from the other two candidates. Tyler Bray is in his second season as a Chief, and he saw no playing time as a rookie. Aaron Murray is a rookie drafted in the 5th round.

Bray and Murray will probably both need to have outstanding training camps to beat out Daniel.

The jury is out on whether either one can be a dependable NFL quarterback, starter or otherwise. Bray looks the part and appears to have many positive tools but he went undrafted in 2013, which does not instill a huge amount of confidence in his chances.

Murray is a proven collegiate winner but that doesn’t always translate into the NFL.

Bray and Murray will probably both need to have outstanding training camps to beat out Daniel. If one or both perform very well, the Chiefs could use the money they would save by cutting Daniel.