Kansas City Chiefs 2010 Training Camp: Week One Impressions

One week of training camp is now in the books, and the Kansas City Chiefs and their fans have to be excited about what they've seen thus far.

After spending a full day watching practice in St. Joseph, MO earlier this week, I can say that while there are still areas with plenty of room for improvement, there are a few areas where the team already appears to have turned the corner.

Here are my early camp impressions through the first week:

Positives

• The young defensive secondary led by rookie safeties Eric Berry and Kendrick Lewis has been quite impressive thus far. Compared to last season, when veterans Mike Brown, Jarrad Page, and Jon McGraw were often a couple steps behind making the big play, this group has been flying all over the field making plays.
• The group of young tight ends in camp can catch the ball. In addition to highly regarded third-round pick Tony Moeaki, second year player Jake O'Connell, and rookie free agent Cody Slate have caught just about everything thrown their way. Slate, Marshall's all-time leading receiving tight end who also caught more balls than all but three other tight ends in NCAA division I last year, made a fantastic catch for a touchdown in Wednesday's practice before getting hammered by two defenders. The catch drew standing ovations from everyone in attendance.  
• Second-round pick Javier Arenas, in addition too looking very good in pass coverage, has been extremely impressive as a kick and punt returner. Unless something crazy happens in the next couple weeks, both return spots and the nickelback job are his to lose.
• The quarterbacks are looking good thus far. Whether it's starter Matt Cassel hitting his receiver in stride on a flag route, or backups Brodie Croyle and Tyler Palko rolling out and hitting their receivers on crossing patterns, the quarterback play has been good thus far in camp.
• The running backs, led by Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones, have looked as good as advertised. And while those two may have the top two spots locked up, in my opinion veteran Jackie Battle has a leg up on the others vying for a backup job. Battle looked both aggressive and explosive in the nine-on-seven drills I watched, hitting the hole hard and making tacklers miss.
• LB Derrick Johnson is playing like a man on a mission, which can only be a good thing for this defense. In fact, in addition to the play of Berry, I will go so far as to say that Johnson's play may very well be the catalyst this defense needs to make it respectable again.

Still Needs Work

• While Dexter McCluster has looked fantastic in receiving drills, and is the team's second-most dynamic player behind Charles, his return skills need some work. In Saturday's scrimmage in front of more than 10,000 fans, veteran punter Dustin Colquitt made McCluster look like Jose Canseco attempting to make a play on a routine flyball, when Colquitt's end over end punt ricocheted off DMC's facemask.
• The defensive line still needs to improve. While the team's linebackers, led by Johnson, Demorrio Williams, and Tamba Hali appear to have stepped it up, it doesn't appear as if former first-rounders Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson have figured out just yet how to take their games to the next level. By far, the most impressive pass-rusher thus far has been end Wallace Gilberry who tormented the quarterback numerous times in Saturday's scrimmage.

All in all, this Chiefs team is already ahead of last year's. The fact that training camp is a mere 45 minutes from most Chiefs fans, sparking huge turnouts for practices during the first week, has definitely gone a long way in giving the players and coaches some additional motivation.

This week, while the team continues to work on improving all facets of their game, the team's first test will come on Friday when they visit the Falcons in Atlanta.

Here's to hoping that offensive coordinator Charlie Weis calls a few pass plays to highlight the skills of tight ends O'Connell, Moeaki, and Slate to show former Chief and current Falcon Tony Gonzalez that there is "life after Tony" in Kansas City.