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Previewing the top storylines for 2025 NFL training camps | ESPN
Chiefs left tackle
Poor left tackle play seemed like it was going to sink the Chiefs’ offensive ship for months of the 2024 season, but nevertheless, that stubborn and incremental offense made it all the way to Super Bowl LIX before the bill finally came due.
With 2024 second-round pick Kingsley Suamataia kicked into the left guard spot vacated by Joe Thuney, the Chiefs redoubled their investment at the key spot. They grabbed Jaylon Moore in free agency and Ohio State’s Josh Simmons in April’s draft.
Both options come with risk — Moore was only ever a spot starter with the 49ers, and Simmons is coming off a patella injury and still recovering from surgery. Simmons is expected to be full-go at training camp, which opens the job up to a true battle.
Chiefs fans will be familiar with the uncertainty, as the left tackle job was up for grabs last season, too. The hope is that Simmons proves healthy and capable, such that Moore can serve as a swing tackle. I imagine Simmons will take the first snaps at left tackle accordingly — but he needs to be (and stay) healthy to actually win that job.
NFL training camps: As teams report, 50 things to know for 2025 season | USA Today
5. The number of teams that hit the road for training camp, which used to be the norm in the days when team bonding and conditioning were – often of necessity – more highly prioritized by coaches. The Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers are the only clubs that will actually do some version of football camping in 2025.
Why Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs’ offense must rediscover their old explosive ways | The Athletic
The Chiefs were dead last in 2024 in explosive play rate but fifth in success rate. Their success rate was largely because of an efficient run game and Mahomes’ ability to convert on third-and-long. The Chiefs ranked third in third-and-long (7+ yards) conversion rate (32.6 percent), which is even more impressive considering their lack of talent at receiver and signs of regression from Kelce. The Chiefs simply were overmatched against good defenses. In the divisional round, the Texans’ pass rush dominated the Chiefs’ line, but defense and special teams bailed out Kansas City.
The Chiefs had one of their best offensive performances of the season against the Bills in the AFC Championship Game. Buffalo’s defense is more of a function of sound team play and scheme. When the talent level is closer to even, the Chiefs’ offense can produce at a high level.
Kansas City’s offense was completely mismatched talent-wise in the Super Bowl. The Eagles didn’t do anything special schematically. They simply played quarters all game, crowded Kelce, jumped short routes, and forced Mahomes to hold onto the ball for longer-developing routes. The offensive line couldn’t give Mahomes the time he needed for his receivers to get downfield.
NFL’s top 10 defenses in 2025? Broncos edge out Eagles and Ravens for No. 1 spot; Patriots will rise | NFL.com
5 -Kansas City Chiefs
With five Super Bowl appearances (and three wins) in the past six seasons, Kansas City’s enjoying a dynastic run. Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes typically receive the most fanfare, but over the past two seasons, the Chiefs have largely been fueled by Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. Ranking second in 2023 and sixth in ’24 in defensive points allowed, the unit consistently keeps the team in games and allows Mahomes to work his magic at winning time. Everything revolves around the big man up front, Chris Jones. The 6-foot-6, 310-pounder wanders all over the defensive front as a roving nightmare with a penchant for game-wreckage in the biggest spots. Kansas City has another elite defender in Trent McDuffie, an inside/outside cover man who plays a brand of football that’s as cerebral as it is physical, endearing him to every coach he comes across. While the Chiefs boast a supreme talent on the first and third levels of the defense, the second level is the unit’s most complete, with a talented trio of linebackers. Nick Bolton just became one of the highest-paid LBs in the league, Leo Chenal’s an athletic enforcer on the rise, and Drue Tranquill is a rangy veteran with useful skills against the run and pass. Kansas City lost a pair of quality starters to free agency in safety Justin Reid and defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton, but GM Brett Veach helped the secondary and interior D-line with a couple of offseason additions. Free-agent signee Kristian Fulton is a battle-tested outside corner who should allow McDuffie to spend more snaps in the slot, like he did during his first-team All-Pro season of 2023. Second-round DT Omarr Norman-Lott is a pass-rushing specialist who could be a rotational hellion early in his career.
Around the NFL
Shemar Stewart could still try to go back to school | NBC Sports
Via Billy Heyen of TheSportingNews.com, Bud Elliott of CBS Sports recently reported that Stewart has been “fully involved in workouts” at Texas A&M. Elliott’s source said Stewart “could try to come back and play again this season and go into the draft again next year.”
The first part of what Elliott said is generally accurate. Stewart has been working out at Texas A&M. (He’s not “practicing” with the team, we’re told. Then again, fall practice has yet to begin.) Part of the second part isn’t accurate; if Stewart returns to school for 2025, the Bengals would continue to hold his rights through the first draft after Stewart’s eligibility expires.
Yes, NCAA rules would prevent a return, now that Stewart has been drafted. But many NCAA rules have failed under the weight of the federal antitrust laws. Why shouldn’t a player who has never taken an NFL paycheck or signed an NFL contract be prevented from going back to school?
Cowboys’ Micah Parsons on negotiations for contract extension: ‘I’m going to get mine no matter what’ | CBS Sports
“I just work harder. Like, to me, I look at it like if people don’t see your value, you don’t cry and sit down,” Parsons told PennLive’s Nick Farabaugh at his football camp in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Tuesday,. “You just work harder. You got to show people your value. I just think that’s the difference. Like I go, OK, bet, and I just work.”
Parson certainly understands his value considering that the Pro Bowl pass rusher has tallied at least 12 sacks in each of his four seasons. He’s also been named to the Pro Bowl on four occasions, earned two First Team All-Pro selections, and was the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021.
In total, Parsons has registered 52.5 sacks, 256 tackles, and nine forced fumbles since being selected with the No. 12 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
“I’m just going to get mine no matter what,” Parsons said. “You know what I mean? Like, the markets change every year. Their salary cap went up, like, another 18% this year. So, if you want to know contracts, all the contracts are based off of percentage. Like, each player, a high-paid player, takes a percentage of the salary cap. So, it’s not really the number. It goes off by the salary cap.”
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Chiefs waived WR Justyn Ross on Wednesday
On Wednesday, the NFL transactions report revealed that the Kansas City Chiefs have waived wide receiver Justyn Ross, only five days before the team is due to report to training camp.
During his freshman season at Clemson in 2018, Ross appeared to be a future superstar. In that season’s College Football Playoff games against Notre Dame and Alabama, Ross and now Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence connected 12 times for 301 yards and three touchdowns as the Tigers were crowned national champions.
Unfortunately, Ross would later miss the entire 2020 season after having spinal fusion surgery. While he did return for the 2021 season, Ross went undrafted in 2022 and signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent.
Ross’ troubles then continued with the Chiefs. After unprecedented hype for an undrafted free agent, he missed his rookie season with a foot injury. Ross returned healthy and made the Chiefs’ active roster in 2023, but he then missed six games of that campaign on the Commissioner’s Exempt List following an October domestic violence arrest. He finished the season with six catches for 53 yards.
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