KC Chiefs: Four personnel changes to implement prior to the playoffs

The KC Chiefs are the No. 1 seed in the AFC, but they can still get better.

There are quite a few small roster tweaks that could drastically improve the Super Bowl favorite Kansas City Chiefs. In this article, we will take a look at four potential roster moves that could make all the difference this postseason. We will begin with the most obvious, the one that seemingly everyone can see besides Coach Spagnuolo: Ben Niemann.

Personnel Changes for KC Chiefs – More Willie Gay/Less Ben Niemann

Is there really much more that should be said here? It seems like everyone who is invested in the Chiefs – except for Coach Spagnuolo – realizes these points about the Chiefs’ defense. Ben Niemann is not good at football and Willie Gay, at least in the small spurts he gets to play, seems to have the tools to be a very good player.

Say what you want about Niemann’s football IQ or leadership but it is not translating to success on the football field and it’s time (it’s been time) to get Gay some more snaps so that he is ready for the playoffs. I mean what really does it hurt at this point?

If the Chiefs give Gay all of Niemann’s snaps one game and it doesn’t produce good results and they’d rather have a bad linebacker play with Niemann on the field, then just put him back in the lineup the next week. At this point, however, it’s more than worth it to at least give Gay more action than he’s getting right now to see if he can be a playoff contributor.

Personnel Changes for KC Chiefs – More Juan Thornhill

Juan Thornhill hasn’t been the same since coming back from his injury, and I’m not campaigning for more Thornhill just for the sake of him being on the field more. The Chiefs would really benefit from him getting back to his old self enough to where the coaching staff feels comfortable with giving him more snaps. It may not happen this season, but if he could even get to 85-90% of himself prior to the playoffs it would be huge for the Chiefs.

Personnel Changes for KC Chiefs – Let’s see some DeAndre Baker

The Chiefs’ secondary has not been as bad as many people expected, but adding a first-round talent to the rotation is always a good thing. It’s been a long time since DeAndre Baker has played any real football so I get taking it slow with him, but it would be much more ideal to get him some playing time prior to the playoffs to see if he can be a contributor this postseason.

Chiefs Kingdom is super antsy to see him out there even though the secondary is actually playing fairly solid at the moment. The injury to Bashaud Breeland on Sunday could speed up this personnel change.

Personnel Changes for KC Chiefs – Offensive line shakeup

The offensive line hasn’t been disgustingly bad this season but it hasn’t been great by any means either. A lot of it has to do with the team dealing with injuries, but some improvements could likely be made just by a shakeup of the current depth chart.

Remember the success the Chiefs had on the ground in Week 6 against the Bills? That was the week where the offensive line was mixed up due to injuries. It was also the first week that we saw Daniel Kilgore who – at least in many Chiefs fans’ opinions – pretty clearly outperformed Austin Reiter at center.

That is the biggest and most clear offensive line change that needs to be made. The Chiefs also have Martinas Rankin coming back from injury and Stefen Wisniewski returning to Kansas City and both deserve consideration to get into the lineup prior to the playoffs. Rankin is probably KC’s highest upside interior offensive lineman and Wisniewski was one of the best linemen during the Super Bowl run last season.

What do you think of these potential roster moves, Chiefs Kingdom? Which ones would you love to see? Let us know in the comments.

Late season moves like these could be the difference between winning the Super Bowl and falling just short. They are in a great position right now, but should always be looking for potential ways to improve.