KC Chiefs: Expectations For Second Year Players

Kansas City Chiefs running back De’Anthony Thomas (13) – Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

De’Anthony Thomas is a player that a lot of Kansas City Chiefs fans are looking forward to watching this season. Drafted in the fourth round of last year’s draft, fans immediately knew where Thomas would shine for the Chiefs, and that was on special teams.

Thomas did just that, returning one punt for a touchdown and finishing the season with over 400 yards on punt returns and over 400 yards on kick returns.

Thomas will make a great slot receiver for Alex Smith and should be able to find the end zone a handful of times in 2015.

I had my beef with Thomas at times, especially on special teams. It would annoy the hell out of me when he’d take a punt from the two yard line rather than let it bounce into the end zone for a touchback. I get being aggressive, but it was frustrating nonetheless.

As for what year two has in store for De’Anthony, it turns out things are pretty well panned out for him thus far. Thomas has been practicing predominantly with the wide receivers and that appears to be his role headed into 2015, according to Terez Paylor of The Kansas City Star.

Thomas will make a great slot receiver for Alex Smith and should be able to find the end zone a handful of times in 2015. Last year, he saw the end zone twice, but neither time as a receiver. Once he did it as a running back and another time on a punt return.

The move to wide receiver makes sense for De’Anthony Thomas, and I imagine the offense will thrive as a result. Year one was an experiment to see where Thomas fit best, and clearly Andy Reid sees him working out best in the receiving game.

Don’t expect him to stop returning punts though. We all know that’s where De’Anthony shines.

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