Kansas City Chiefs: 55-man roster predictions 2.0

Linebacker (5)

Starters: Ben Niemann (WILL), Anthony Hitchens (Mike), Damien Wilson (SAM)
Depth: Willie Gay, Dorian O’Daniel
Practice Squad (2): Omari Cobb, Darius Harris

The only real surprise with this group is the fact that Willie Gay is not starting and maybe more specifically that he appears to be playing mainly at SAM in the base defense. Chiefs fans would like to think that he earns a starting spot pretty quickly into the season, but it appears as of now that this is the week one depth chart that we will see.

Safety (5)

Starters: Tyrann Mathieu, Juan Thornhill
Depth: Daniel Sorensen, Armani Watts, Adrian Colbert
Practice Squad (2): Chris Lammons, Rodney Clemons

This is another position group that shouldn’t change whole lot from last season. Colbert makes the roster as the only new member of the safety group. He gets the nod mainly due to Thornhill potentially not coming into week one at 100 percent and, also having a cornerback background, he could provide some cornerback depth while Breeland is serving his suspension and possibly even take over the Kendal Fuller role long term.

Cornerback (6)

Starters: Charvarius Ward, L’Jarius Sneed
Depth: Rashad Fenton, Antonio Hamilton, BoPete Keyes, Lavert Hill
Suspended: Bashaud Breeland

This is the position group I am the most uncertain of. The top six (counting Breeland) seem to be a lock, but it is Breeland’s replacement that is hard to predict. I went with Hill as a more direct placement, but this is the my most uncertain pick of the roster prediction. Hill would just stay on the active roster until Breeland finishes his suspension.

The Chiefs could also decide to use the extra roster spot for additional offensive line depth to start the season if they feel good about their cornerback depth or if they look at Colbert as more of a cornerback, they could keep an extra safety like Tedric Thompson for Thornhill insurance to start the season. There are a lot of places they could go here, but I gave the nod to Hill just because it is a direct replacement and Hill has some nice upside.

Other than the uncertainty of Hill making the roster, the only other surprise here could be Sneed starting opposite Ward, but at training camp this weekend he was the starting first team right cornerback for the majority of the reps and Fenton played almost exclusively in the slot. It appears that the Chiefs are going to throw Sneed into trial by fire and that is both very exciting and very scary for Chiefs fans.