After a full preseason game, there are takeaways galore that Kansas City Chiefs fans can glean from what we watched Saturday afternoon. One position battle that has been ongoing through training camp has been the tight end position and finding the right depth pieces behind Travis Kelce and Noah Gray.
It's clear that, based on the personnel changes to both the offensive coaching staff and the running back room, the Chiefs plan to attack opposing defenses with a more balanced approach and hopefully a more efficient and explosive ground game. Which is why it remains baffling that general manager Brett Veach did not sign a designated blocking tight end to the unit.
Instead, Veach opted to trust in the ascension of their young guys. The two most notable contributors so far in camp who have distanced themselves from the rest of the pack are Jared Wiley and Jake Briningstool. Wiley enters year three and has done very little to this point in his career.
But Briningstool is somewhat of an unknown, basically redshirting last year for the Chiefs after going undrafted, and so far has flashed his talents. Yesterday was really the first real glimpse Chiefs fans got of what Briningstool could offer.
Second-year UDFA Jake Briningstool boosted his stock in Saturday's preseason loss to the Rams with multiple big plays
In Briningstool's first game action, he caught three passes on four targets for 29 yards and also provided key blocks to help open up running lanes for Emmett Johnson and Brashard Smith, who both put together solid days on the ground.
It was also notable that one of his catches came on a designed tight end screen that Briningstool took upfield for 10 yards and looked, dare I say, Kelce-esque. Okay, maybe that's an overreaction, but he looked good out there. His 6'6", 240 lb frame is certainly imposing when matched up with smaller corners and safeties.
While it's clear Kansas City lacks a specialized blocking tight end (Will Dissly remains a free agent, by the way, and would be a home run addition), they might just view both Briningstool and Wiley as guys who are capable of lining up as in-line blockers, as they are both towering figures at 6'6".
It's an interesting thought if it is the case, and one that could either go really well or really wrong. Either way, it was at least nice to see Briningstool in live-game reps and come out better from it. If he can prove to be a reliable depth piece this season and going forward for Patrick Mahomes, Jake Briningstool looks like another UDFA hit by Brett Veach and the Chiefs.
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