Kansas City Chiefs: Full Position Breakdown and Depth-Chart Analysis at QB

The Kansas City Chiefs have added plenty of offensive players this offseason to help quarterback Alex Smith. Last year, a lot of fans and people in the media defended his struggles due to lack of help at offensive line and wide receiver.

The 2015 season should be a different story for Smith, as general manager John Dorsey and head coach Andy Reid worked hard this offseason in adding players to help improve the offense.

Smith was sacked 45 times last season, tying Matthew Stafford for the fourth-most in the league.

With a better offense in place, how will Smith do? What role do his backups play, and can they deliver if they need to fill in for Smith?

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

Alex Smith

Smith has been highly criticized for not throwing downfield often. Many of his short passes have resulted in defenders being able to swat them. He had 15 of his passes batted down, the fourth-most and only two away from being first, according to Pro Football Focus.

Though you rarely see Smith throw passes deep, his style of play has helped the offense.

In 2013, he completed 60.6 percent of his throws, ranking 21st. Despite the lack of talent at wide receiver, he got a lot of help from tight end Travis Kelce. As a result, he saw improvement, completing 65.3 percent of his passes and ranking 11th in the league as he finished behind Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers.

Smith brings a lot of value to an offense because of his limited turnovers.

Since 2011, he has had single-digit interceptions every season. In his first year in Kansas City, he committed 10 turnovers while concluding 2014 with seven giveaways.

Even though he has not benefited from having many reliable players, he’s managed to pull through and help the offense move the chains at times.

With the addition of former Pro Bowl guard Ben Grubbs, some strong competition at right guard with Paul Fanaika, Jeff Allen or Zach Fulton starting, and the selection of center Mitch Morse through the draft, Smith will have better pass-blocking in 2015.

As far as pass-catchers go, Smith may have one of the best supporting casts in the league. If the offense can play well together and reach its ceiling, he may lead one of the best offenses this year.

He has a playmaker in Jamaal Charles, who is backed up by scatbacks Knile Davis and De’Anthony Thomas.

Thomas will also play more at wide receiver, which will see better days after the team added former Missouri Tiger Jeremy Maclin, who was drafted by Andy Reid in Philadelphia. Given Jason Avant’s experience and familiarity with Reid, he could be an important piece to the offense. Albert Wilson and rookie Chris Conley are both young players with a lot of talent who are looking to contribute and develop as the season progresses.

Keep in mind that Kelce came through for Smith when he needed it the most and led the team in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches. Even with Maclin on board, Smith and Kelce will still connect often on the field.

Overall, Smith has done a good job with limited talent around him. In 2015, he will have more talent to work with, and it is reasonable for fans to expect a three-dimensional offense from the Chiefs this season.

Chase Daniel

Backups tend to be fan favorites, and fans will want them to play if the starting quarterback is underperforming. Whether Smith struggles or not, Chase Daniel will always be a local favorite because of the strong contingency of Missouri Tigers fans in Kansas City.

But Daniel has also impressed fans in his two starts with the Chiefs.

In Week 17 of the 2013 season, Reid benched all 22 starters since the last game was insignificant for his team in the standings going into the playoffs. Though the Chiefs did not squeeze out a win, Daniel and Kansas City’s second-team offense took it to San Diego’s starting unit and forced it to earn the win in overtime after a chip-shot field-goal miss by then-kicker Ryan Succop.

Daniel went 21-of-30 for 200 yards, one touchdown and seven scrambles for 59 yards in a game in which the Chargers had to win in order to make the playoffs that year.

In 2014, Smith was forced to miss the Week 17 match against San Diego because of a lacerated spleen.

Both the Chiefs and Chargers were battling for a playoff spot. Though neither team got in, the game felt no different than a playoff match, as both teams needed to win plus get help from a couple of teams to get through.

Daniel rose to the occasion, going 16-of-27 with no touchdowns or turnovers. But he threw the ball in places where only his receivers had a chance to make the catch, outplaying Philip Rivers. The Chiefs went on to win 19-7.

Though it's a small sample size, Daniel has entered two games against the same opponent during a critical moment in which the Chargers had to win if they wanted to play in the postseason.

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

Daniel delivered in both of those games, putting the Chiefs in position to win each time. He did it the first time with all backups, while he played with the first-team offense the second time.

If Smith were to go down with an injury, it is hard to know if Daniel could lead the Chiefs. While he had two good games the two times he did start, he does not have experience starting through 16 games, as he has been a backup in his six seasons in the NFL.

If anything, the Chiefs have confidence in Daniel, and his contract might be the best indicator of that.

He signed a three-year deal worth $10 million, one of the richest contracts for a backup quarterback. He will make $4.8 million in 2015, as Spotrac has him as the 23rd-highest-paid quarterback for 2015.

Aaron Murray

Outside of preseason games, there is little to go off of in terms of playing in the NFL when it comes to Aaron Murray. His first career preseason pass went 43 yards for a touchdown on a catch-and-run play to Kelce. But he threw an interception on the third play of the following drive. 

Murray had a decorated career at Georgia, becoming the first player in school and SEC history to throw for more than 3,000 yards in four consecutive seasons. He started 52 games in college.

Though he had a successful college career, he still has to earn a second-string spot. As of now, there is little reason to believe that he should be the primary backup.

If Murray wants to overtake Daniel’s spot, it starts with the preseason. If he excels and does consistently well each time he plays a preseason game, the Chiefs will give it some thought.

Given that Daniel is in the final year of his contract, Murray may get his chance to earn the No. 2 spot next year.

Tyler Bray

Fox Sports reported last month that the Chiefs are unsure if Tyler Bray will be available going into training camp, as he is recovering from a torn ACL he suffered this past winter.

Though Bray has been in the league one season longer than Murray, neither of them has yet to take an NFL snap. Bray was inactive for most of his rookie season in 2013, and his future with the team is uncertain. It is unknown if the Chiefs will carry three or four quarterbacks on the roster.

For Bray, he knows it is between him and Murray if the Chiefs keep just three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster. If his knee recovers by the time training camp begins, he will have a chance to earn a spot. If he is unavailable, the team may place him on injured reserve or the physically unable to perform list.

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