Training Camp Battles: KC Chiefs Style

For any team with a new regime, change is bound to happen. Add to that a 2-14 record the previous season, and it is safe to reason that no incumbent player is safe from a demotion.

“We want competition,” head coach Todd Haley said, “in as many positions as we can.”

Aside from QB Matt Cassel, whom GM Scott Pioli and Todd Haley personally brought in, every position is up for review.

Last year, the special teams was anything but special. The coverage units ranked near the bottom in both punt and kickoff returns, came in dead last in opponent's average starting point for drives, and missed the most field goals. As a result, many of the position battles found in the Chiefs training camp will be special teams positions.

Punt and Kick Returner

The Chiefs drafted wide receiver Quinten Lawrence out of McNeese State for the very reason of fixing special teams. Lawrence has game-breaking speed and is a threat to take it to the house every time he touches the ball.

“I’ve told everyone here that if you can be a better-than-average punt and kick returner, you’ve got a very good chance to make this team," Haley said. "I don’t know if we have one right now."

At Lawrence's pro day, he ran a 4.42 40-yard dash time, even with an undisclosed injury. He also put up 21 reps of 225 lbs. on the bench press, good for fourth place for wideouts at the combine.

Lawrence could be the odds-on favorite to win the punt and kick return duties simply because he was brought in by the current regime, but several people will be in the running.

Dantrell Savage, who shared the returning duties last year, is a very quick, shifty runner who is capable of making mincemeat out of would-be tacklers. He also has good straight-line speed, running a 4.40 forty-yard dash time coming out of college.

Despite Savage’s experience returning the ball last year, my guess is that Lawrence will win out at this position; he returned one punt his senior year, and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown.

Place Kicker

Another special teams position up for grabs is that of place kicker. Connor Barth played well as a rookie last year, making 10-of-12 field goal attempts, with one from beyond 50 yards.

The Chiefs, making the Mr. Irrelevant pick of this year's draft, selected kicker Ryan Succop out of South Carolina.

Succop is a kicker with a big leg and will immediately show the coaching staff this during kickoffs. The question will be whether he can regain the accuracy he showed prior to his senior-season injury, when he was hitting close to 80 percent of his field goal attempts. Last year he hit just 20-of-30, which is the reason he dropped so far in the draft.

Even with Barth showing good promise last year, Succop will probably be the one that makes the team. He has the big leg for both long field goals and kickoffs, and has the characteristic GM Scott Pioli loves in his players—versatility. Succop also punted while in college and would be valuable should current punter Dustin Colquitt go down with an injury.

Defensive End

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