**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.

OLB Demorrio Williams, finally starting to make a name for himself on this defense, went down with a hand injury. It's been described in some venues as a "broken hand," and in other venues an "injured finger." Teicher, who is about as reliable as it gets, said it's a "cracked bone in his hand."

All reports say that this is it for Williams for the rest of the preseason, but that he will be back in action for the Patriots game, though Teicher says he will have to wear a cast. Stepping into his place, and this is where it gets creepy, is rookie LB Weston Dacus, who up 'til now has primarily been playing MLB. So the Chiefs literally have no OLB they'd rather play in the starting lineup at this point other than Dacus.

This brings us to our worst position on the team this year: our flimsy linebacker corps. I'll break that down in a future post (if DJ or Chris don't beat me to it).

But more importantly, how awful have we been with injuries this offseason? It's been insane. Both first rounders have gone down, Donnie Edwards and Napoleon Harris have missed time. Kevin Robinson and Mike Merritt haven't even played yet. Jamaal Charles has missed time. Kolby Smith has missed time. Brian Johnston. Tamba Hali. Damion McIntosh. LaRue Rumph. Jon McGraw. Tyron Brackenridge. TJ Jackson. Alphonso Boone.

Continue reading this post »

With all of the attention on so many of our rookies, we on Arrowhead Pride, as well as most fans and the major media, have primarily been focused on the offensive line, the defensive line, wide receivers and the secondary. The linebacking unit is the only unit on this team for which Herm hasn't Drafted. Shall we call it the Bill Belichek strategy? Or shall we call it a low part of the totem pole on a team full of needs?

Whichever way you take it, Gretz has a fantastic insider interview with Gunther Cunningham about the state of the thus-far struggling, shallow linebacking corps. This is an absolute must-read if you're concerned about the middle of the defense.

Two of the bigger revelations in the interview:

(1.) Demorrio Williams (who is playing the strong side with DJ on the weak, depth chart fans!) has been given better chances to rush the passer.  He's even been lined up at DE in the two-minute defense, and apparently has devastated McIntosh in the process. Gretz has done nothing but rave.

(2.) Newly re-converted LB Oliver Hoyte has just made the 53-man roster. Of course, Gunther did not say as much, but Gunther has gushed about Hoyte's performance on special teams, which is the harbinger of who makes the roster if you're on the bubble. Scribble it onto your depth charts right now: Hoyte makes the team. Probably as a reserve special-teamer, but who knows? Apparently he's a camp favorite.

It's really hard to determine who's going to be on the final 53-man roster at this position when the smoke clears. Every single year during the Herm era, the Chiefs have taken a couple UDFAs at this position due to their special teams performance -- I expect this year's version to be the same.

So let's sort out the LB depth chart together, after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

By my count, the Kansas City Chiefs have 89 players currently on their roster, which will have to be trimmed to 80 players by the time they arrive in River Falls, WI, for training camp.

We have approximately fifteen positions on the team that have competition going into camp, so we'll be reviewing each position every day or every other day or so until the start of camp. Just like last summer.

First up today, the linebacking corp.

The Chiefs currently have ten linebackers on their squad, they'll start three and probably keep six total for back up and special teams. So, out of the ten, which six stay and which four go? Or, why would the Chiefs keep less/more than six?

Weston Dacus
Donnie Edwards
Nap Harris
Nate Harris
Derrick Johnson
EJ Kuale
Steve Octavien
LeRue Rumph
Pat Thomas
Demorrio Williams

Our three starters are going to come from these four guys - Edwards, Johnson, Williams and Nap Harris. So I'll include those four in my six. And for the other two, I'm going to give Nate Harris and Pat Thomas the nod simply because of their slight seniority.

I know we don't have much to go on as far as on the field experience and you know I don't get too excited over the fresh UDFA blood coming in.

Your thoughts on the Chiefs linebackers this summer?

Note: To you newbies, the community projections are a great place to jump in for the first time. Remember, be respectful and make sound arguments and you'll be rewarded with an intelligent and lively discussion.

CB Jason Horton	DE Jason Parker	S Khayyam Burns	LB E.J. Kuale	K Conner Barth
CB Maurice Leggett	DE Johnny Dingle	S Ron Girault	LB Lerue Rumph
CB Will Poole	DE Jonal Saint-Dic		LB Steve Octavien
	DT Derek Lokey		LB Weston Dacus
	DT Maurice Murray
***	***	***	***	***
G Chris McDuffie	RB Dantrell Savage	FB Mike Cox	T Ken Shackleford	WR Jabari Arthur
G Edwin Harrison	RB Kalvin McRae	FB Steven Jackson		WR Kevin McMahan
G Ian-Yates Cunningham
G L.J. Anderson

 

Above are the current undrafted free agents on the Kansas City Chiefs roster. There may be one or two guys in the waiver wire flux but we can manage for now.

I'm only going to say two of these players make it - FB Mike Cox and K Connor Barth. Cox because he's a former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket and played under Chan Gailey. Barth, because, well, we don't have many other options at this point. We need to invest in a kicker and that investment will be mainly one of time. Barth seems to have that mental stability that Justin Medlock did not.

So, in my opinion, only two of these guys make it on to the roster. History says that number is about average when it comes to undrafted free agents.