Kansas City Chiefs: 53-man roster predictions following first preseason game
Defensive Line
Keep: Chris Jones, Allen Bailey, Xavier Williams, Derrick Nnadi, Jarvis Jenkins
Cut: Stefan Charles, Mike Purcell, Justin Hamilton, T.Y. McGill
Kansas City could easily keep six guys for the defensive line but I feel will only hold five to ensure another spot at a deeper positional group. Chris Jones enters year three in the NFL as already a monster for the Chiefs front line. While many fans believe he took a step backward in 2017, Jones saw more attention with less help in 2018 but was still very productive.
Allen Bailey remains as the starting defensive end opposite of Jones. Bailey is player that I was somewhat surprised to still be on the roster through the offseason considering he was almost invisible in the Chiefs defensive line last year. Given his contract, I thought he was a player that would be replaced by Brett Veach this offseason.
Xavier Williams was added this offseason to help stop the run while also get after the passer from time to time. Replacing Bennie Logan from 2017, Williams has impressed in training camp and was one of the few defensive highlights from the first preseason game. Consistently pushing the Texans offensive line backward and forcing mistakes has me very excited for the homegrown talent.
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Veach also added defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi through the draft to help against the run game. He doesn’t have much pass rushing abilities, but he is a hard body to move in the run game. Bringing that nasty and high motor to the defensive line is what Veach wanted, and he got that with Nnadi.
The last player I see making the roster in this group is Jarvis Jenkins given his experience with the defense. While he’s not a starting talent, he’s a player that has rotated in with the defensive line over parts of the last two seasons. If the Chiefs were to keep another lineman I would expect is to be Justin Hamilton.
The reason I don’t see the Chiefs keeping six defensive linemen is due to multiple reasons. Kansas City needs more roster spots in other areas of the defense that have more talented groups. Another reason is that outside linebackers Tanoh Kpassagnon and Breeland Speaks played defensive line in college. I could easily see Speaks spending more time along the defensive line if an injury occurs as Veach spoke about him moving inside for passing downs as it is.