Kansas City Chiefs: Cornerback depth is becoming a concern
By Ben Almquist
The Kansas City Chiefs have a strong roster for the 2017 season, but there are still some question marks. The biggest of those might be the depth in the secondary.
It’s next to impossible to put together an NFL roster without any holes in it. The Kansas City Chiefs have come just about as close as possible to pulling off the feat. However, there are still some concerns remaining. The biggest of those concerns right now has to be with the depth at cornerback.
For the most part, the starting corners on the Kansas City roster should be able to handle themselves just fine. Marcus Peters is a superstar, while Steven Nelson and Terrance Mitchell both hold up well in their assignments. However, should one of those players have to miss some playing time, it’s unclear how the Chiefs would replace them.
The group currently listed behind the starting corners consists of Phillip Gaines, De’Vante Bausby, DJ White, and Kenneth Acker. Of that group, Bausby has been the most impressive early on this year in camp. On the other end, Gaines was absolutely brutalized this past weekend against the Bengals, a trend continuing from 2016.
Phillip Gaines is getting worked tonight. pic.twitter.com/DnJSUaAdfr
— Chiefs Central (@ChiefsCentral) August 19, 2017
The Chiefs Will Need Their Depth
The biggest issue with the cornerback depth is that the Kansas City Chiefs will have to rely on these players at some point. Cornerbacks don’t get rotated out to take a breather during games. They generally don’t come off the field in sub-packages. Your starting corners play almost every snap of every game.
Playing that much means they are more likely to get injured than other players. That is especially true in today’s NFL where three-cornerback sets have become increasingly important. It is virtually impossible that the Chiefs will go the entire season without having to turn to their depth chart at some point.
Related Story: Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp 2017 Preview: The Secondary
When Kansas City does have to rotate their backups in, you can bet the opposing team will target them. We saw that a lot in 2016 until Terrance Mitchell stepped into the starting role. We saw it again this past weekend. Phillip Gaines was burned multiple times, giving up big first downs.
A Test For Brett Veach
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It is next to impossible that Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach hasn’t seen this. If he hasn’t, then you know the Chiefs coaching staff has. The leadership of the organization has to be well-aware of this problem. That means they, namely Veach, should be in the process of finding an answer.
The best approach to this issue would be to make a trade. This time of year, teams are trying to fix the issues on their rosters. That means there are more than a few teams that will be interested in finding a trade partner. The Chiefs have the assets to be an active partner. So it falls on Brett Veach to find a team with some good corner depth to offer.
Just getting one solid corner for the depth chart should be enough to help the Chiefs out. It’s unlikely that Kansas City would have to go deep into their depth chart. Having just one or two competent depth players should help the team stay on top if they have to deal with an injury.
The Kansas City Chiefs have built a strong roster for the 2017 season. Chiefs Kingdom has plenty of reason to be excited about the potential of this season. However, that doesn’t make the team flawless, and it is the job of the front office and coaching staff to plug the holes as they appear. Right now, the biggest hole is depth at cornerback.