KC Chiefs: Five Worst Case Scenarios For 2016 Season
Worst Case Scenarios – Number 1: Secondary struggles
This past offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs watched Sean Smith walk out the door and head to Oakland. They also saw Husain Abdullah retire at age 30.
The Chiefs have second year man Marcus Peters and third year man Phillip Gaines taking the starting cornerback spots and also drafted three corners in April.
All of this youth in the secondary is worrisome for several reasons. Elite quarterbacks (or even just good quarterbacks) can feed off of young corners and frequently will pick on them if they feel they can get the ball past them. Take Peyton Manning for instance. He absolutely torched Marcus Cooper and Jamell Fleming in the past few seasons and it wasn’t pretty.
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Having a young secondary can obviously end up being a good thing, but the early years could be a bit rough. Peters was Defensive Rookie of the Year last year, but it wasn’t all sparkles and glitter. He allowed over 1,000 yards in coverage and eight touchdowns, according to Pro Football Focus, which was often forgot about due to his ability to pick the football off.
Peters will have to fill the role of Sean Smith this year. He’ll need to step up and accept that responsibility and not allow as many yards.
Gaines, on the other hand, had a decent rookie year in 2014 and was hurt only three games into 2015 with an ACL injury. Who knows if Gaines will return as great as he was before the injury?
There’s also the three rookies in KeiVarae Russell, Eric Murray, and D.J. White. Russell is the only one in this batch who will even likely contend for a starting role, but you never know.
Having a young secondary could cause the Chiefs several games in 2016. Hopefully, Peters will return to form and Gaines will pick right back up where he left off.
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