**UPDATE SAT. 5 PM** Final cuts have been made. Head here.

Of course, the 53 players on the team after 5 PM central time tonight won't be the exact roster for opening day. After the NFL roster deadline hits this evening, expect the Kansas City Chiefs to pick up one or two players off of the waiver wire.

I've run through the roster and made my decisions on who I think will be cut. Interestingly enough, while researching this and reading others cut lists, most of them are in agreement about 95% of the time.

The only differences I've seen in people's cut lists are the tail ends of the linebacker and line rotations. A little LeRue Rumph here. A little Anthony Alabi there. Maybe throw in some Sippio. (Update: Sippio apparently has been cut)

There isn't anything groundbreaking in this post because it's pretty easy to pick about 90% of this roster with about that same certainty.

QB: Brodie Croyle, Tyler Thigpen and Damon Huard

No surprises here. The Chiefs will carry three quarterbacks on the final roster no matter what and these are almost assuredly the three they will keep.

Cut: None

RB: Larry Johnson, Kolby Smith, Jamaal Charles, Jackie Battle and Dantrell Savage

Dantrell Savage hopefully makes this team as a kick returner but I've included him in the running backs section. LJ, Kolby and Jamaal Charles are all 100% safe. Battle may not make it because of roster numbers but he's probably safe too.

Cut: None

WR: Dwayne Bowe, Devard Darling, Will Franklin, Maurice Price and Jeff Webb

Despite not catching a pass this preseason, Devard Darling is still accomplished enough to get the nod over Arthur, Joachim, McMahan and Sippio. If you make an argument against Darling, you have to make an argument for one of those guys making the team and I don't think you can. Maybe you can make an argument for Bobby Sippio but I think you're splitting hairs at that point.(Update: Sippio has apparently been cut)

Cut: Jabari Arthur, Sergio Joachim, Kevin McMahan and Bobby Sippio

FB:Mike Cox and Chris Manderino

Word on the street is that the Chiefs like Manderino's special teams play, which is great for him because Mike Cox has the starting fullback spot nailed.

Cut: None

TE: Tony Gonzalez, Brad Cottam and J.P. Foschi

TG and Cottam are locks to make the roster and we'll give Foschi and his GA Tech roots the nod over the injured Mike Merritt and Michael "What happened to people being excited about me?" Allan. Allan may spend his final year on the practice squad before permanently falling off into obscurity. My future money says this is another D3 experiment that will not succeed.

Cut: Michael Allan and Mike Merritt

O-Line: Branden Albert, Brian Waters, Rudy Niswanger, Adrian Jones, Damion McIntosh, Herb Taylor, Barry Richardson and Wade Smith

I think those first eight offensive linemen I listed are definitely going to make the team. Beyond that, I think we could see another player dropped at a different position in favor of another offensive linemen. That linemen may not even be on the team right now and there is no way the Chiefs are satisfied with the depth they have on the offensive line.

Cut: Travis Leffew, Tre Stallings, Will Svitek, Anthony Alabi, Edwin Harrison and Rob Smith

D-Line: Turk McBride, Tank Tyler, Glenn Dorsey, Tamba Hali, Alfonso Boone, Ron Edwards. T.J. Jackson and Brian Johnston

After Ron Edwards, you're entering a pretty blurry area on the defensive line. TJ Jackson and Brian Johnston both had their names called more than a few times last Thursday against the Rams and that may be enough to distinguish themselves from the other defensive linemen.

Cut: Johnny Dingle, Jason Parker and Derek Lokey

LB: Derrick Johnson, Pat Thomas, Donnie Edwards, Demorrio Williams, Weston Dacus and Nap Harris (Int'l player Aden Durde will be on the practice squad but not count for a spot)

Nap Harris seems to be on everyone else's cut list and he certainly is a possible roster casualty. One of the cuts listed below could out value Harris on special teams, making the decision to keep him even more difficult. Donnie Edwards of course makes the final cut but how durable will he be in his 13th season? He's already tweaked a hamstring.

Cut: EJ Kuale, Steve Octavien and LeRue Rumph

CB: Patrick Surtain, Brandon Flowers, Brandon Carr, Dimitri Patterson, Tyron Brackenridge and Maurice Leggett

The first four CB spots are taken with Brackenridge, Barksdale and Leggett battling for the final one or even two spots. Can't say I've seen much of any of those three this preseason, making my analysis a bit strained. Brackenridge will probably get the nod because the Chiefs liked him enough last year as an UDFA to play him a bit and neither Barksdale nor Leggett has distinguished themselves.

Cut: Rashard Barksdale

S: Jarrad Page, Bernard Pollard, Jon McGraw and DaJuan Morgan

The safety position isn't difficult to figure out. Page and Pollard will start with McGraw and Morgan rotating in and out. The Chiefs don't need five safeties on the team.

Cut: Khayyam Burns

Special Teams: Nick Novak, Dustin Colquitt and J.P. Darche

Again, no surprises here. The Sams v. Savage competition is pretty much even but I'll throw my support behind the younger, less Drummond-like Dantrell Savage. My gut says Sams makes the team though but I can't bring myself to post that.

Cut: BJ Sams and Connor Barth (he's still on the roster so we'll include him for good measure)

We've already had a few threads about the roster cuts so use this spot to make any last minute predictions. I'll update you on the cuts as soon as I hear about them.

I make no promises that this is going to be a regular segment. Absolutely none.

1. Finally, we face a real offense! Are we about to be exposed? I believe this team is on the path to redemption, but it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Particularly for our defense: we boast little passrush, our best DT is a rookie, our LB corps is thin and may have a massive hole at MLB, and our secondary is talented but incredibly young. Everybody could hold their own against the laughably lousy Bears offense, but the Cardinals offense is another level of trouble: their QBs are uniformly more talented, their OL is bigger and better, their rungame doesn't depend on a rookie, and little needs to be said about their WRs. This unit may be too much to handle.

2. Will we generate any pass rush? The biggest deficiency in the Chiefs' solid defensive effort against the woeful offense of the Bears was a complete lack of pressure on the QBs. Demoting Boone and placing McBride on the strong side will definitely help matters, but it will not fix them. Our pass rush is in serious condition, folks. Hali will do what he does, but this far in his career he's proven to be an every-down DE that's good at a lot of things, but not great at any. He is no sack specialist. McBride has not generated much excitement (from anyone other than Adam Best). And if Johnston emerges as a DE in this league, it won't be this year. He needs time. If you want to keep your eye out on a sleeper, there's been some buzz around the quick Jason Parker, so keep your eyes on #92.

3. Will the right side of the line get their act together? The only obvious sack that the Croyle-led offense gave up against the Bears' blitz-free, vanilla defense was McIntosh simply getting beat around the corner. The only stuff of LJ occurred when Adrian Jones allowed a DT to slide through completely untouched to slam into Two-Sev six yards behind the line of scrimmage. This right side is leaky, and for their one game so far, they've struggled.

4. Can our corners handle the best WR tandem in the NFL? Boldin and Fitzgerald are Pro Bowlers, with a pair of good QBs to get the ball out. They will likely only suit up for a couple series before retiring for the evening. But the time they are on the field will tell us a lot about the character of our young guys. It seems inevitable to me that someone is going to get utterly embarrassed. That's not the issue for me. I'm more concerned with how our young guys would react. It helps to have a short memory at corner, and we're going to see exactly how tough, how focused, and how intense our corners can be. (For the record, Flowers has a great record of rising to the occasion.)

5. Will Herb continue to play well? The most pleasant surprise of the Chicago game last week was the emergence of Herb Taylor at LT, filling in for the still-injured Brandon Albert. It was pointed out to me tonight that Mike Lombardi agrees. The possibilities behind this are serious. We may actually have legit starting talent in Herb Taylor. What if we have starting talent in Barry Richardson? Dare I dream of the day that the Chiefs actually fastened down the right side of their line with a pair of 6th rounders?

6. Will Darling finally emerge? Among the many reports emanating from River Falls, and the performance we witnessed against the Bears, Devard "DVD" Darling has not generated much excitement from anybody that I can tell outside of Warpaint. Here at AP, we've all lost a degree of faith in him as we continue to be underwhelmed. The good news, really to all of this, is that it's just one preseason game into the league. But DVD's route-running looked sluggish and I never spied a moment, rewatching the game, where he had shaken off his coverage.

7. How many minds will Sippio have blown by the final whistle? After Gretz's enthusiastic defense of reserve WR Bobby Sippio, how can you not pull for this guy? The battle for the 5th receiving spot is still completely up for grabs. (Bowe, Franklin, Darling, and probably Webb are locks.) Price has looked fast and great at running routes. Jabari Arthur and Kevin McMahan got on the board last week. Hell, the Chiefs might elect to fill the 5th spot with either BJ Sams or currently-injured rookie Kevin Robinson, who are returners but teams virtually never keep five receivers + a returning specialist. Can Sippio fend them all off? My brain says Price... my heart says differently.

8. Can Savage or Battle make enough happen to sneak onto the roster? After studying my crystal ball, I suspect that the Chiefs are going to be working the hell out of Savage for the remainder of preseason. He will probably garner more carries than any other RB, as the Chiefs either wonder if he's worth moving the earth to try and fit him in our crowded backfield, or to dangle him as preseason trade bait. Jackie Battle has run strong, but that's why I suspect we've got no room for him. We've already got a guy who can run that strong, maybe you've heard of him. I see Battle and I think practice squad.

9. Which kicker will make the most of his chances? Second verse, same as the first. Neither kicker has been able to reach the endzone on kickoffs, which hasn't been pleasant. Barth has had his game opportunity so far, and nailed a decent 37-yarder. Here's hoping for more chances come this evening. I'm sure the Chiefs have Feeley (and worse yet... Morten Andereson) on speed dial.

10. Who can make a name for himself returning kicks? Nobody has really shown a Justin Phinisee-like presense returning kicks this preseason, which has got to make Kevin Robinson happy. Sams doesn't even appear to want the job. C'mon BJ! Throw caution to the wind! (Phinisee, who looked phenomenal in the 2007 preseason returning kicks for the Chiefs, is a free agent. I'm just saying...)