The Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver situation starts off exciting with the name Dwayne Bowe who had a highly productive rookie year.  Just shy of 1,000 yards, he proved to be exciting on AND off the field.  But after that, the 'ready-now' talent pool dries up.

With the addition of Mark Bradley, will anyone step up and put a stake in the #2 wide receiver spot?

Jeff Webb is perceived to be a Herm Edwards favorite considering his alma mater.  A 6th round draft choice just two years ago, Webb has been underwhelming.  But, as Herm would say, 'That's okay'.  What did we expect out of a 6th rounder?  A complementary role player.

Devard Darling was a 3rd rounder in 2004 and up until 2007 had been used almost exclusively as a return man.  Darling was non-existent in the preseason and has just one catch in three separate games for the Chiefs this year.  He's (allegedly) a speedster, so why isn't he being utilized more?

Will Franklin has been battling an injury which has limited to one catch in the regular season.  Still, he thrived while at Mizzou albeit in the spread offense.  We've been high on him for quite some time but reality needs to set in.  Rookie wide receivers are generally regarded as the lowest impact players in the draft.  Bowe is a huge exception to this rule.  Franklin's unlikely to catapult himself to the #2 spot this season.

Mark Bradley comes from an offense with a more putrid quarterback situation than the Chiefs with the Chicago Bears.  Grossman and Orton had trouble calling his number but then again they have that problem with a lot of receivers.  He was productive at Oklahoma and was expected to accrue similar success when the Bears used a 2nd rounder on him in the 2005 draft.  Was Muhsin Muhammad right when he said Chicago is where "receivers go to die"?  Or is Bradley another player waiting for the right opportunity?

Amid all of the hullabaloo over Larry Johnson' fiery comments about his role with the Kansas City Chiefs is a very valid point made by the running back - The Chiefs need to use certain players more, mainly because it just makes sense to do so. Larry Johnson had 416 carries two years ago because that's partly his style and part of what made him an effective running back. We shouldn't deny the ability of players in favor of some sort of scheme.

Larry Johnson

This one is pretty obvious in my opinion. I know the Chiefs have had to pass quite a bit in the first two games of the 2008 season but that is no excuse for Larry Johnson to only receive two carries in the second half of last week's game. The Chiefs only rushed the ball four times as a team in the second half on Sunday.

To be fair, Larry split his 22 carries in Week 1 equally over the first and second halves but last week's play calling was atrocious in the second half.

Is LJ being taken out because of insufficient pass blocking? Is he actually being phased out of the offense? The first one rings much more true than the second. I will say I agree with Larry - Get him the ball at least, at least 20 times a game and you can feel good about your play calling. That seems like a no-brainer to me but so have a lot of things this season.

Jamaal Charles

I know it's a bit odd to suggest Larry needs more carries and Charles does as well but I think you know what I'm getting at.

I'm suggesting Jamaal Charles get more carries at the expense of Kolby Smith getting fewer. Now, Kolby only has one carry on the season mind you but Charles has yet to be anointed the official #2 back and I'm going to assume that Kolby Smith still factors heavily into the game plan as far as the #2 RB spot.

I think we've all loved what we've seen so far from Jamaal Charles - the quick cuts, the darts in between the tackles and that feeling of anxiety you get while watching a super fast running back who he can break off a big run at any time.

Any WR not named Dwayne Bowe (And more Bowe too!)

Hopefully rookie WR Will Franklin returns this week and can take some of the heat off of Bowe but I haven't heard anything definite on that quite yet. I went over the lack of receiving options in my recap of last week's game and it has quickly become a growing problem inside my head. We're back where we've pretty much always been Chiefs fans, without a sold receiving corp. That should feel familiar.

Glenn Dorsey

It seems to me that in the four or five games I saw Dorsey play while he was at LSU, he made his mark in the games as a disruptive force behind the line of scrimmage. In the short first two games of Dorsey's career in the NFL, the Chiefs appear content to have him in more of a run-stuffing role on the line of scrimmage. Let Dorsey do his disruption act within the limits of the Cover 2 defense and hopefully we can see our rookie doing his sack dance against the Falcons this weekend.

Dantrell Savage

This is another obvious one, right?

Savage was inactive last weekend in favor of Eddie Drummond B.J. Sams who yet again showed us nothing. Savage may have the same luck with this special teams coverage unit but we can all agree that youth should be served at the kick return position. As long as Savage doesn't fumble the ball, why not let him get 10 yard returns instead of Sams?

By the way, after this post, I'm retiring my small personal campaign for Savage and against Sams. I'm tired of talking about it already.

Who do you think should be a bigger part of the game plan this weekend?

I'm not too sure what happened with Nap Harris. He was fine until today so he must have injured his knee in practice this afternoon. If Franklin and Price don't play, that means the Chiefs will have three, three healthy wide receivers.

A bit unnerving, no?

Check out the backups on the roster and Herm's press conference from today.

Patriots injury report is after the jump.

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To add to the already insane list of injuries this team has compiled this summer, add another one to the list: up-and-coming WR Will Franklin:

Rookie wide receiver Will Franklin left practice shortly before its end today with what he said was a right knee injury.

Franklin hobbled off the field with help from one of the team's athletic trainers. He later walked in the locker room without assistance.

I think one of you out there tempted the football gods. I don't know who it is yet, but I'm going to sniff you out and smite you myself before we lose the other half of our football team.

I'd get my affairs in order and get out of town if I were you. Make yourself right with Jesus and tell your closest you love them. You will be worm food by sun-down.

It was a rainy morning in River Falls, WI, and because of that, the Kansas City Chiefs worked out inside. Here are a few updates from UW-RF site and WPI. The AM practice pictures are here. The Chiefs should be taking the practice field around 3 PM for a more robust practice session.

• "Kansas City’s starting five on the offensive line remains, left to right, Branden Albert, Brian Waters, Rudy Niswanger, Adrian Jones and Damion McIntosh. Albert, KC’s second first-round pick, showed no ill effects from the ankle he sprained earlier this offseason, and was light on his feet."


• "The Chiefs rotated wide receivers with the first-team offense. Dwayne Bowe, Bobby Sippio, Devard Darling, Jeff Webb and Will Franklin all received reps with Brodie Croyle under center. Oliver Hoyte, Mike Cox and Chris Manderino split reps at fullback."


• "Dwayne Bowe is full of energy. With Jared Allen gone, he’s definitely the heartbeat of this year’s Chiefs team. Today he played free safety with the walkthrough defense (normally comprised of offensive backups), and playfully acted like he might deliver a big hit to anyone who caught a ball in front of him, including his cousin Bobby Sippio. Bowe stayed after the walkthrough for an energetic game of catch with tight end Tony Gonzalez and linebacker Donnie Edwards."


• "Head Coach Herm Edwards held a press conference at the close of practice. He discussed the importance of holding a walk-through versus a full-strength practice. "We have so many young guys; it’s good to give them a walk-through like this," Edwards said. He also said this morning’s walk-through would settle the players’ anxiety and serve as a teaching session. Walk-throughs also give the special teams’ players an opportunity to run more drills. The only injury Edwards said was affecting the team right now was the recovery rookie wide receiver Kevin Robinson. Edwards said that Robinson had his knee cleaned out about a month ago. "He’s on the mend," said Edwards, "but he should be ready to play in the preseason game at Chicago.'"


• "Tamba Hali and Ron Edwards were two of the defensive linemen who saw quality time during the mock-snap drills. Rookie DaJuan Morgan was also seeing some first-string time in the safety position. Throughout the practice, the defense seemed more leisure than the offense, primarily focusing on one drill, using only two strings of players."

Oh man, it felt good to post this. Training camp has officially started! More updates later tonight and don't forget about AP's birthday tomorrow! We're turning two!

38TheSpot has posted a short, sweet video interview with new Chiefs draftee, our lone 4th rounder, Missouri's WR William Franklin. He answers softball questions about playing alongside Dwayne Bowe and Brodie Croyle, underneathe Herm Edwards, and Chase Daniels' potential to shine in the NFL.

It's your standard offseason conversation with an active player. Probably the most interesting nugget of information isn't spoken, but implied: Franklin says that he's worked out with Bowe ("D-Bowe") in the past, and he received a call from Bowe soon after being drafted by the team. It may never sink in how far out of the park the Chiefs knocked their first pick in 2007; Bowe has already become a young leader for this offense. His production on the field is only a fraction of how he benefits this team.

We here in Missouri are very familiar with Franklin. A part of that magnificent offense with Daniels, Coffman, Rucker, Maclin, and Temple, Franklin emerged as one of the Daniels favorite targets downfield. That whole offense last year was incredibly fast, and you could always tell that the Missouri offense kicked into another gear against slower defenses that couldn't contain anybody anywhere. Franklin, for all rights and purposes, was a crucial part to that, often attracting two defenders who couldn't keep up with his downfield speed or precise route-running.

As a fourth round pick, Franklin could not have landed in a better professional situation. This team has a Kennison-sized hole at the #2 receivers, and the available bodies they have seem more like slot receivers and rotation guys more than consistent producers of starting caliber. Jeff Webb has shown great hands and churned out some good games against last year's poorer defenses. He's a decent red zone threat, but one wonders how much more he has to grow. Darling is an underachieving speedster who was stuck in a bad position in Baltimore behind the Ravens' preference for vets. And Bobby Sippio, for all his Arena League fame and velcro hands, doesn't seem to have the speed to get open in this league. The Chiefs also acquired a number of UDFA WRs, but none of them seem to be generating much buzz just yet.

Franklin's opportunity is as good as it gets, even considering how much trouble rookie receivers have in the NFL. Expect a rough rookie season from Franklin that will not be indicative of his NFL career. 300-500 yards receiving and maybe two or three starts would be satisfactory, giving him the requisite experience to make a push for the #2 starting slot come 2009.

But expect dropped balls. Expect bone-headed plays. Expect him to get leveled a time or two. And expect more than a couple 0 reception performances.

2008 is the Chiefs' extended preseason for 2009. It's not pretty but that's how you have to embrace it. We can tolerate these mistakes as we sift through which players we can build around, which players we should cast aside, and how many more pieces we need to become a more complete team.

It's rebuilding. As Herm Edwards has said, it's called life. And it gets off the ground by giving as many great chances as possible to young, promising talent like Will Franklin.