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No stats in this community projection. Just give us your thoughts on the Chiefs left tackle. See all of the community projections here.

How good is our left tackle Damion McIntosh? The Kansas City Chiefs spent a good chunk of money bringing him over here from Miami in hope that he was our answer at one of the most important positions on the offensive side of the football. Unfortunately for McIntosh, he is following in the footsteps of one of the greats in Kansas City, Willie Roaf. There were some gasps heard throughout Chiefs Nation when McIntosh went down with a knee injury and some cheers heard when Damion said he was optimistic about playing in the season opener.

For good reason (see left tackle backup Will Svitek), Chiefs fans are concerned about the offensive line. Besides Pro Bowl veteran Brian Waters, Chiefs fans have relatively little to be excited about in the trenches. Gone are the days of Hall of Fame offensive linemen. Today, we'd kill to have either Willie Roaf or Will Shields back on the line. Just one of them. Please?

Back to my not-so-clear point. It seems that the presence of Damion McIntosh in the season opener gives a lot of hope to fans that the offensive line will be alright. We look to our backup left tackle Will Svitek and pretty much cheer for anyone else to play that spot. So, we're happy Damion McIntosh will hopefully start in the season opener. But how effective will McIntosh really be?

Its hard to judge the effectiveness of a left tackle by stats. Blocks aren't tracked and you have to look to more obscure but important stats, like the ones Football Outsiders puts out. Even then, you're looking at entire offensive line statistics, not just one player. Miami gave up seven more sacks last year than the Chiefs offensive line did.

We do know this. Damion McIntosh isn't a "dominator". He's not quietly throwing down first round defensive ends. At the same time, he's not forgetting he's in a football game like our resident whipping boy Will Svitek. At this point, I'm willing to characterize McIntosh as right above average. How could he be anything else right now?

Last year with the Dolphins, McIntosh spent most of his time protecting then Miami QB Joey Harrington. Harrington is probably a bit more mobile than Damon Huard but less accurate at the same time. Even those two aren't a fair comparison to attempt to draw conclusions from.

One thing is for sure- McIntosh has the size to be a good left tackle. He weighs in right around 320 pounds and stands 6 feet 4 inches tall, which has been mentioned in the local news as much as it has been in the announcer booth.

Damion McIntosh has spent his career under the radar, garnering little to no reputation in the league. If any quarterback on the Kansas City Chiefs is going to have a sporting chance this year, much of that chance will ride on the skills of McIntosh. At 30 years old and with a history of injury, Damion sure as hell isn't the long term answer at LT but he'll have to do for now. For Damon Huard's sake and eventually Brodie Croyle's sake, I hope his knee injury isn't an issue and he's able to anchor what once was the most dominant offensive line in the National Football League. If he can hold the offensive line ship steady, much like Huard is expected to do at the QB position, I will be satisfied.

Between commitment ceremonies, TV shows with Oprah and being the no. 1 tight end on my fantasy team, Tony Gonzalez is a pretty busy guy. And even with all of his other gigs, he's managed to remain one of the top tight ends in the league since he came here in 1997 as the #13 overall pick. Check out his all time stats to help you with your projection:

		G	GS	Rec	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
2006	Kansas City Chiefs	15	15	73	900	12.3	57	5
2005	Kansas City Chiefs	16	16	78	905	11.6	39	2
2004	Kansas City Chiefs	16	16	102	1258	12.3	32	7
2003	Kansas City Chiefs	16	16	71	916	12.9	67	10
2002	Kansas City Chiefs	16	16	63	773	12.3	42T	7
2001	Kansas City Chiefs	16	16	73	917	12.6	36	6
2000	Kansas City Chiefs	16	16	93	1203	12.9	39	9
1999	Kansas City Chiefs	15	15	76	849	11.2	73T	11
1998	Kansas City Chiefs	16	16	59	621	10.5	32	2
1997	Kansas City Chiefs	16	0	33	368	11.2	30	2
			TOTAL	721	8710	12.1	73	61

Tony is another Chiefs player who shouldn't see much drop off/increase from his 2006 stats. His starting job isn't in jeopardy by any means and his possible heir, Michael Allan, is years away from starting in this league. TE Jason Dunn will primarily be used for blocking and advising younger Chiefs about retirement plans.

In week 1 against Cincinnati, after Trent Green went down, TG hauled in 10 catches for 81 yards and a TD. While checking out last year's week by week stats, it was obvious that Damon Huard and Tony Gonzalez vibed pretty well. In the 10 weeks that Huard was the QB last year, TG had 588 yards receiving while going over 100 yards/game in weeks 7 and 8.

With Huard at the helm and a shaky receiving corp, we can expect another Pro Bowl season from TG. My projection:

• RECEPTIONS: 81
• RECEIVING YARDS: 975
• TOUCHDOWNS: 6

So I foresee a slight increase in TG's stats. Pending injury, TG will again be Damon Huard's best friend in the passing game.

You can see all of the Community Projections here.

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For whatever reason, Eddie Kennison's name doesn't come up much around here. Despite quietly putting up 1000 yard receiving seasons in 2004 and 2005, Eddie Kennison isn't a take over a game type of guy. He is the epitome of a "wily veteran". A hard working blue collar type, Eddie never really was flashy but could still be counted on for a few clutch catches throughout the season that greatly enhanced the Chiefs chance to win the particular game. At the same time, as this Football Outisiders article says, Kennison is responsible for almost as many "killer drops" (drops on 3rd or 4th down) as he was game changing plays. Perhaps thats why he's never really the main topic of conversation. Its always, "Oh Kennison will get his normal share of catches and yards this year. Not much more, not much less."

I particularly enjoyed this tirade he went on while engaging some Denver Broncos in a media "war" in 2003: "If you want war with words, we can go war with words. If you war on the field, we’ve got war on the field. I’m not an Indian chief, but I know war when I hear it. I know war talk when I hear it." I find it a bit unsettling that Kennison took on the role of a "Chief" so seriously there. Kind of makes me wonder about him.

On a serious note, Eddie is the type of guy that you feel good for when he catches a touchdown and the younger guys all run up to him and give the proper commendations. Entering his 13th season, this season could easily be Kennison's last. While he's shown no signs of slowing (a 6 TD average over the last three seasons), a 14th or 15th season is almost unheard of nowadays for any position. Plus, you can tell from the Hard Knocks footage that Eddie had a strong desire to stay close to his family. When your in your mid 30s like Kennison is, a looming "retirement" of 40 to 50 years has to be knocking pretty hard on his door.

But I don't imagine that Eddie Kennison slows down. He's very active with his foundation, which seems to be more common than not in Kansas City. Will Shields is another Chief who now dedicates most of his time to his foundation, the Will to Succeed foundation. If she's around, I'm sure tailgateandwin could fill you in on this much better than I can.

Okay, back to Eddie's 2007 season. This is my projection:

• Receptions: 48
• 
  
• Receiving Yards: 715
• 
  
• Touchdowns: 6

And just for the hell of it, I think Kennison rushes 6 times for 38 yards. There isn't really any reason that Kennison should drop too far below his 2006 stats. The offense is essentially the same as far as he's concerned, even with the addition of Dwayne Bowe.

	G	GS	Att	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD	Rec	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	FUM	Los
2006	16	16	416	1789	4.3	47	17	41	410	10	78	2	2	2
2005	16	9	336	1750	5.2	49T	20	33	343	10.4	36	1	5	4
2004	10	3	120	581	4.8	46T	9	22	278	12.6	40	2	--	--
2003	6	0	20	85	4.3	15	1	1	2	2	2	0	--	--
		TOTAL	892	4205	4.7	49	47	97	1033	10.6	78	5	7	6

Welcome to a new feature called Community Projections here at AP. Basically, over the course of the rest of the preseason, we'll predict stats for the significant players on the Kansas City Chiefs roster. After the season is over, and sometimes during, we'll revisit these threads to see where we are in our predictions. Above are Larry Johnson's all-time stats, with the rushing stats beginning on the left and the receiving stats on the right.

Let me start this off:

• RUSHING YARDS: 1550
• RUSHING TDS: 17
• RECEIVING YARDS: 450
• RECEPTIONS: 50
• RECEIVING TDS: 2
• RUSHING ATTEMPTS: 375

If last year's playoff loss to the Colts taught us anything, its that the Chiefs offense was too predictable. Thats one reason I can see for a slight upswing in Larry's receiving yards and receptions. Offensive coordinator Mike Solari knows that teams will stack the box against LJ and he'll adjust by mixing up the playcalling. I can't see him mixing it up a whole lot but after last year, a little more play action and a few more screen passes should be in the mix. I don't think LJ will approach 1700 yards again because with our QB situation, you can bet that teams will make Brodie Croyle beat them before they let LJ beat them. Larry Johnson will still be dominant rushing the ball but there may be a few games early on in the season where the Chiefs opponents will flat out make LJ and LJ only beat them, resulting in a few games with fewer yards and touches.

Get your predictions on the record now or forever hold your peace.

Note: If you've been reading and not commenting, now is a good time to jump in. Create a free account (only requires an e-mail address) and let us know how LJ is going to do this season.