Kansas City Chiefs Updated Rookie Report
The 2014 NFL draft class has been quiet, and the Kansas City Chiefs have experienced that firsthand. In fact, the Chiefs have had more production from players who were drafted late or went undrafted compared to those taken early.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid and general manager John Dorsey came away with some bright-eyed talent. They hope this draft class will come together and bring the team a lot of success this season and in the future as well.
In this slideshow, we will review all eight Kansas City rookies and how they have done through the first five games of their careers.
OLB Dee Ford
1 of 8
Acquisition: Round 1, 23rd pick
No tackles, one quarterback hurry
We have not seen much of Dee Ford so far this season, as the Chiefs are primarily led by the dominance of Tamba Hali and Justin Houston. However, a team should always try and get its top draft pick involved as much as it can.
Ford has been involved a little bit, rotating in and making his presence known when given the chance. The Chiefs will go up against some high-profile quarterbacks in Philip Rivers (twice), Russell Wilson, Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger later this season. The Chiefs will need to apply as much pressure as they can in those games, which means Ford could see some action moving forward to help complement the starters.
CB Phillip Gaines
2 of 8
Acquisition: Round 3, 87th pick
Three tackles
Given how thin Kansas City is with its secondary, it is a little bit of a surprise that we have not seen a lot of Phillip Gaines on defense up to this point.
Instead, Gaines has been busy on special teams. Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star reported that Gaines is making an impression on special teams and has earned praise from special teams coordinator Dave Toub.
Expect to see more of Gaines on special teams and a little bit more on defense as the season goes on.
RB De’Anthony Thomas
3 of 8
Acquisition: Round 4, 124th pick
One catch, 17 yards, one touchdown
Two punt returns, 38 yards
De’Anthony Thomas electrified the crowd at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City’s preseason opener with his 80-yard punt-return touchdown. After he was hyped since the draft, Chiefs fans were relieved to see Thomas step up in the first exhibition game.
Fans were also glad to see Thomas make his regular-season debut last week after missing the first four games due to injury, and it did not take him long to make some noise either.
In his first career reception, Thomas scored a 17-yard catch-and-run touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers.
It is too early, but Chiefs fans can’t help but think that his debut was just a glimpse of what is to come. Thomas’ speed was a big topic by fans and the media in Kansas City coming out of the draft. Fans hope to see his speed continue to be put to good use.
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QB Aaron Murray
4 of 8
Acquisition: Round 5, 163rd pick
Inactive for all five games
Aaron Murray comes to the NFL with a lot of success coming out of Georgia. However, he had a quiet preseason but did well enough to be part of Kansas City’s 53-man roster.
With Chase Daniel as Alex Smith’s backup, Murray serves as the No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart and has not seen any action so far this year.
Murray may get an opportunity this year to play, but that opportunity is only likely to come if Smith or Daniel suffers an injury. The only other time Murray might get some snaps is during a blowout late in a game.
RG Zach Fulton
5 of 8
Acquisition: Round 6, 193rd pick
Two holding penalties, 0.75 sacks allowed for 4.25 yards
It was undecided what Zach Fulton’s role would be as a rookie going into this season. Landing a starting spot for a sixth-round pick is a reach, but it happened for Fulton.
Due to Donald Stephenson’s four-game suspension and several injuries, the Chiefs were forced to make early adjustments with the offensive line. That led to Fulton being the starting right guard.
For a rookie who was drafted late, Fulton is not doing badly, either. He has allowed a couple of sacks in which he and another offensive lineman were charged at the same time for allowing Smith to be taken down.
Although Kansas City’s offensive line has not done well, it has improved throughout the first five games. The unit did not allow a sack against San Francisco.
LG Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
6 of 8
Acquisition: Round 6, 200th pick
Inactive for all five games
There is not a lot that can be made about Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who played college football in Canada.
His athleticism earned him an NFL roster spot, and the team hopes he can be a reliable option as a fill-in guard if needed.
Duvernay-Tardif’s progress will take some time. For now, he is not expected to start anytime soon.
WR Albert Wilson
7 of 8
Acquisition: Undrafted
Active for one game, no statistics
Albert Wilson was active in the season opener against Tennessee, while Dwayne Bowe served a one-game suspension. Since then, Wilson has remained inactive.
While the first-team offense struggled during the preseason, Wilson caught seven passes for 49 yards and a touchdown. Due to his performance during exhibition games, he cracked a spot on the roster.
While Donnie Avery was injured and unavailable this past week, it came off as a surprise that Wilson was not in uniform against the 49ers. Like Duvernay-Tardif, we probably should not expect to see him on the gridiron anytime soon.
K Cairo Santos
8 of 8
Acquisition: Undrafted
5-of-7 field goals made (71 percent), longest field goal made from 45 yards
14-of-14 on extra point attempts
Through Cairo Santos’ first four kicks in two weeks, he missed half of them as fans questioned the decision to cut Ryan Succop.
One of Santos’ misses came against the Denver Broncos when he missed a 37-yard field goal after the Chiefs went 19 plays on a 10-minute drive.
Since then, Santos has redeemed himself. His two misses should not have happened. At this point, fans can just hope he learned from his errors and will limit them from here on out.
Statistics courtesy of Sporting Charts and Stats Hosted Solution.
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