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Sports Daily's Chiefs Insider Joshua Brisco checks in.
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00:00And Joshua Briscoe for a Chiefs visit, getting ready to start the weekly segments up again with Josh coming up
00:06in just a couple of weeks.
00:07Now, Josh, I don't think you've met Brady.
00:09If not, Brady is now in with us.
00:12TJ stepping back a little bit and just rest assured, we just got through our segment we call Headlines I
00:19Missed.
00:20And Brady found a naked steakhouse headline from, is that Florida?
00:25Of course it was Florida.
00:26Of course, yeah, of course.
00:27That we were able to have a little fun.
00:29So everything, we're still in good hands here, Josh.
00:32Okay, yeah, that's very encouraging.
00:34I do require kind of a requisite silliness to feel truly comfortable, but that's good to know.
00:41And now I guess I have something to Google after this show's over.
00:43Yeah, requisite silliness.
00:45It did stand out to me yesterday that I guess we're all just going to allow Steve Spagnuolo to refer
00:51to Peter Woods as a thick, good-looking defensive lineman.
00:56We're all going to be okay with that.
01:00I know that I'm in a fragile place because even in season, a Steve Spagnuolo press conference is a breath
01:08of fresh air.
01:09It's the thing that gets you through the week.
01:11Having Eric being in me back, hopefully, you know, on his timeline and all of that, his pressers are also
01:16a special experience, very different than a Matt Nagy presser, different than an Andy Reid or a Dave Tobe presser.
01:22But Spaggs yesterday really fired me up and then really cut my legs out from under me because I heard
01:28thick, good-looking defensive tackle, and then I heard who still has a long ways to go.
01:35And I went, wait a second.
01:35No, Steve.
01:36Just compliment him.
01:37Just compliment him for five minutes.
01:39Don't take this away from me.
01:40Peter Woods is really, unfortunately for him, my mental health right now really depends on Peter Woods doing one-on
01:47-one snaps at training camp.
01:48So this is a dangerous time for us all.
01:50It is, and I'm going to follow this, Brady, so forgive me.
01:54So Woods has been widely heralded so far in camp and mission critical that their pass rush gets better because
02:03we – like this secondary, I'm starting to worry about a little bit here.
02:07Gosh, like we all talked about how the Chiefs could not mess up that first pick, had to get it
02:14right.
02:15Mansoor Delane, look, it's an injury, but it's an injury, and they're already thin and new and fragile there.
02:21Like that – Woods has got to be great because the secondary might not be great this year.
02:26Yeah, and I was at a place, you know, two months ago when – when Mansoor Delane was missing the
02:32end of the kind of organized team activities, mandatory minicamp, whatever.
02:35I wasn't really worried about him being held off then, and I think it was – I think it was
02:40June 11th that Andy Reid said in his presser that he expected Mansoor Delane to be ready for a training
02:45camp.
02:46Obviously now we're nearing the halfway – around the halfway mark of camp, and he's still in the yellow non
02:51-contact jersey unless we've had breaking news in the last two minutes,
02:54which it doesn't sound like we will be getting that news on him anytime terribly soon, just from what Nate
02:59Taylor's talked about a little bit in terms of kind of making sure he's out there for the third preseason
03:03game.
03:04We're not talking about the first preseason game for Delane.
03:06So that is legitimately concerning at this point.
03:10It doesn't change his ceiling as a pro long term.
03:13It doesn't impact if that number six overall pick is going to be something we look back on very fondly
03:19or look back on and go, oh, what a missed opportunity.
03:21But it does impact what I'm comfortable asking Mansoor Delane to do in the first few weeks of the season
03:27because I think it changes what Spaggs would be comfortable asking him to do in the first few weeks of
03:32the season.
03:33So there's legitimate concern there for me just because I think Spaggs has shown you time and time again
03:39he wants to have real trust in his secondary in particular.
03:43That they're going to be able to communicate and be comfortable with all of his teammates.
03:47And that's something that when Spaggs talked yesterday, you know, he's that's the thing that Delane's missing.
03:51He's in there for the huddles and he's he's getting all the mental reps that he can.
03:55But that level of comfort that comes with reps to not have that in your rookie season is is really
04:01concerning.
04:01And then, you know, we can we can marry that back with the pass rush.
04:04Like you said, where there's just there's a lot of pressure on pretty much that entire defensive line.
04:10Josh says sticking with it.
04:12It's mentioning defensive line and and up front there, you know, at Bayou, it's it's kind of been a disappointment
04:18since he was drafted in the first round a few years ago, but she's still sticking with them.
04:23And what how are things looking?
04:25What's the talk with him?
04:27What should we expect?
04:28It looks like we're going to hear from him later today, which is kind of interesting.
04:31I think I just saw that he and our Mason Thomas are scheduled to be at the podium later today,
04:35along with Garrett Nussmeyer.
04:37Set your watches, everybody.
04:38Three really important pieces for this season.
04:40I like Garrett Nussmeyer, but, you know, he's he's not going to change what you do in 2026.
04:45FAU really might.
04:46Um, it's one of the more kind of surprising turnabouts from the last year on a single player
04:52where obviously he got hurt near the end of camp, or at least it was obviously during camp
04:56hurt before cut down and they end up putting him an eye on IR with whatever that hamstring issue was.
05:02I, I didn't know if FAU was entirely safe before going on IR last year.
05:08I think he probably was going to make the roster because that is guaranteed money.
05:12You're a first round pick.
05:13You're going to be on the roster this year as well in all likelihood, but I definitely
05:18didn't think that they were going to enter training camp with FAU as they're arguably
05:24number three defensive end.
05:26And I think our Mason Thomas by the end of the year should be that guy and Ashton Gelati's
05:30not out there right now either.
05:32He's still out with the hamstring injury.
05:33So there is a ton of, I don't want to even really say pressure on FAU because I don't think
05:39that's quite true.
05:39I think the pressure on him as a first round pick has almost completely come and gone just
05:44because it, it didn't look good.
05:46The first couple of years he misses last year and, and now it's like, Hey, whatever you
05:50get feels a little bit like house money because last year in so many ways kind of did feel
05:55like the end of the, the first round pick experiment.
05:59Now though, you just need him to be a pro football player.
06:02You, you need him to be able to play.
06:04And again, I wasn't going to ask him to do this last year, but you probably need him to
06:09play 35, 40 ish percent of the snaps.
06:12Again, especially depending on how much Spags trusts our Mason Thomas.
06:16If Ashton Gelati is legitimately missing time this year, the entire room is frankly, there's
06:22aren't enough bodies that to be, to be fair and accurate and kind, there are not enough
06:29NFL players in the defensive end group for them to survive one multi-week injury to Ashton
06:36Gelati or certainly George Karloftis.
06:39So as much as we talked about wide receiver, all off season, we also talked about defensive
06:43end quite a bit and I'm, I'm a little surprised this is the group.
06:46And, and if FAU can have, again, just be a, an NFL contributor, he doesn't need to be a
06:51game changer, but if he can help set the edge, if he can show, I think as he did near
06:55the
06:55end of year two, that he took a step as a run defender, that alone would be salvaging
07:01something important out of the last year of his rookie contract.
07:03Yeah, I think so too.
07:04And I think Peter Woods couldn't help those ends if he, if he is in fact good.
07:08Let's go to the other side of the ball.
07:09We don't even need to discuss it.
07:11Patrick Mahomes is so starting week one.
07:13Like that's been, that's been clear and evident for forever.
07:18So we know he's there.
07:20We know Kenneth Walker's there.
07:21We've talked a lot about the under center aspect of what we've seen.
07:27The coaches aren't, aren't going to admit this, but man, you've spent all the money on the
07:34line.
07:35You didn't really do anything else at wide receiver.
07:39You've brought in Kenneth Walker on a big contract who is famously great out of the eye
07:48or out of under center formations and really bad out of shotgun.
07:53So I don't need the coaches to tell me they're going to line up under center and hand the ball
07:57off that way.
07:58They're going to line up under center and hand the ball off that way.
08:02And, oh, by the way, we're seeing it in camp, right?
08:04Yes.
08:05That that's the encouraging thing is that it's, it, you know, they can say whatever at the
08:08podium, but then you can see a few of those reps with your eyes.
08:11You see the clips that go around on social media and go, okay, that's literally not a
08:15play.
08:15They ran last year, like the under center drop back straight past Travis Kelsey.
08:19Well, I think Mitchell Schwartz found a play when we, with Nick Foles, I think a quarterback
08:23right where they did run that Andy Reed knows how to run under center stuff.
08:28This is not new to him, but it is new to this iteration of the chiefs.
08:32And I also do, I really do believe that the chiefs believe that Kenneth Walker will be
08:36just fine running out of shotgun.
08:38And this was a conversation I was having with Nate Taylor on only weird games yesterday,
08:42where I tried to thread the needle of my expectation is that the under center game becomes a off
08:50speed pitch, that it becomes a thing that keeps a defense honest, that just has to be
08:54really difficult for opposing linebackers.
08:56If you're, if you're under center and Kenneth Walker's a few yards behind Patrick Mahomes and
09:01Kenneth Walker runs towards you, I don't know how a linebacker doesn't take their first
09:04step forward.
09:05Like that's just everything you, here comes Kenneth Walker.
09:08I gotta go.
09:09And then all of a sudden you're just throwing at the Travis Kelsey over the linebackers head.
09:13That's a weapon in the game that they just didn't have the last year offensively.
09:17So my, my inclination is that that will be an off speed pitch and that that will be something
09:21that's in the arsenal.
09:23Nate's point yesterday that I thought was really compelling was you expect it to just be an
09:28off speed pitch. So do it all the time, do it until a defense can stop it, do it as
09:34an identity
09:35piece. I think they have, they have the offensive line for that. I don't know that they have the
09:40tight end group for that in terms of having 12 personnel, having two kind of blocking first
09:45tight ends on the field. A lot of times in a 12 personnel situation, Travis Kelsey's on the field,
09:50but he's not, he's not a blocking tight end in that role a lot of times. So I do still
09:55think
09:55there are some really interesting personnel pieces to fit together. A ton is on the shoulders of Noah
10:01Gray, and then maybe a Jared Wiley, a Jake Brittingstuhl. And then as, as always, there's a
10:06ton on the shoulders of Travis Kelsey. But you're going to ask those tight ends to kind of punch
10:10above their weight a little bit as blockers, if you want to live that way, but they have the
10:14running back, they have the offensive line. And I think now they have the need to play that way a
10:18little more often.
10:20Let's take a look at special teams. Let's talk a little special teams. How about Harrison
10:25Bucker, kind of an up and down year last year? How do things look for Harrison Bucker in this
10:31year? How big of a leash, I guess, does he have as far as, would a repeat performance from last
10:37year be accepted?
10:39Yeah, this is a big year for him because he could have done anything last year. He could have missed
10:42every kick last year. And I don't think they would have cut him this off season because of the
10:46structure of the contract. But after this season, his, his contract does become a little bit
10:51flexible. I think this year I haven't pulled it up and I'm like 95% sure I've got this
10:55right. If they would have cut him this off season, it would have raised his cap hit this
10:59year. They could have probably stretched some things out and all that. But basically that
11:02that big contract they gave him a couple of years back guarantees him through 2026. Injuries,
11:08inaccuracies, some, some kind of mechanic stuff. There are a lot of reasons that I think he's
11:13one of the more interesting stories of this season. Obviously his best and especially his best
11:18in the playoffs was a tremendous difference maker. And last year he was, I don't know,
11:24a below average kicker when he was out there, but you may notice there's no other kicker on
11:28the 90 man. There's no other punter. There's no other long snapper. It's James Winchester.
11:33It's Matt Arisa and it's Harrison Butker. And those three guys will be your specialists this
11:37year, barring injury, but barring injury hasn't been enough for, for Butker as of late as well.
11:42So I don't think there's a reason to be, to be a doomer on Harrison Butker right now. I think
11:49that
11:49he has just as good of a chance to return to form as he does to take another step back,
11:54but this is the year for him when there actually is something on the line. Not that it mattered to
11:59him last year. Again, I think we're talking about like injuries and kicker luck, but last year,
12:04there just weren't going to be consequences this off season because of his contract going in the next
12:08season there. If he has a repeat performance, it would be really hard to, to justify paying him
12:15eight, nine, $10 million or whatever his cap hit is next year.
12:19Well, yeah, they, every game the chiefs play is a field goal game. It feels like right now,
12:24the last five years. So yeah, you're going to need your kicker to be good and kick the ball.
12:297 million next year is his cap hit. I just want to fact check myself before I get too far
12:33away.
12:33Get kicked the ball inbounds on a kickoff would be going back to Jacksonville.
12:37Yes. Uh, the, maybe the most fun story so far of the, of the, you know,
12:42preseason has been Travis Kelsey's reported spare tire. So we've had spags, we've had spags call,
12:48uh, Peter Woods, uh, uh, a thick, good looking defensive lineman. We've had Andy Reed called
12:55Travis Kelsey tight. Uh, so it's listen, it's that time of year here. Uh, I've told, I don't care
13:04if Travis Kelsey has a pooch, he's 36 years old. We all get a pooch at 36 years old. I
13:09only care
13:09that he's as productive as he's literally always been. And I think he wouldn't have come back to
13:16play football again this year. If he didn't have every intention of helping his buddy,
13:20Patrick Mahomes, get back to it and do what he's always done.
13:25I I've just kind of become comfortable with the idea that maybe I'll be the last man on the Travis
13:30Kelsey is still a top five tight end boat. Like with you, it's that's a little join you. I think
13:36it's insane what people say. I'm like, guys like, yeah, his hands aren't what they were, but he was,
13:42he's still one of the best guys that does this. And you know, who agrees with us, Jacob,
13:46the Kansas city football chiefs, because he's their number one pass catcher right now.
13:53It, it, hopefully it becomes where she rice. That's the, I guess the best case scenario.
13:57That was the case a year ago, two years ago. That's been the case for a while.
14:00That baton handoff has never really happened that way. And look, no, you're right. I mean,
14:05his, his athleticism, his top end speed. What, what do I need to tell anybody about a tight end at
14:1136,
14:1137 years old versus him at 28. Everybody understands he's not as fast as he used
14:16to be. He's also so many times he was playing in week 18 last year for no good reason for
14:23the love
14:23of the game. Yeah. There, there is no one on this roster who Patrick Mahomes has half the trust in
14:29that he has in Travis Kelsey. And that can be a problem and it can be to Travis Kelsey's immense
14:34credit. Look, I, I would love for Travis Kelsey to only have to play 60% of the snaps this
14:42year,
14:43but that's not how they built the roster. That's not how they built the tight end room.
14:46I think he's going to have his usual workload. And two years ago, I think was probably his lowest
14:52point, but you also can go, you know, you know, it probably doesn't help a tight end on the other
14:57side of 30, 30, 35 and beyond having your knee buckle in the last practice before the season starts
15:03and then missing week one and then grinding your way back. So I, last year to me was a bit
15:09of a return
15:09to form the idea that his arrow is like still pointing down from the last two or three seasons
15:14is a little bit confusing to me. I think you just expect him to be the same guy that he
15:19was last
15:19year. The greatest tight end of all time. In my opinion, you still don't want last year's Travis
15:26Kelsey to be your number one option this year. Maybe there's an argument that Kenneth Walker is
15:31actually the number one offensive weapon, offensive option. But I, again, it maybe I look like a fool
15:38at some point, but it hasn't happened yet. I'll, I'll take Travis Kelsey as long as he feels like
15:43he can be out there. And I trust that he's not, he's talked about, you know, playing to the wheels
15:47fall off, but I don't think he's going to go out sad. And I think that's kind of one of
15:51the reasons
15:51he's back now. Last year was sad, not for him, but for the guys throwing him the football for the
15:56team itself. So, you know, three years running, we've said, well, what if this is the last year of
16:00Travis Kelsey? If this actually is the last year for Travis Kelsey, replacing him next year will be a much
16:07bigger challenge than involving him this year. Looking at Mahomes sticking with the offense,
16:13you know, he had the, he's always had that gift of really great wheels. I've always believed it's
16:18like the most underrated thing about Patrick Mahomes is the way he can bust a run. I mean,
16:23how many third and longs have we've seen converted off of Mahomes legs, whether it's been a plan
16:29scramble play or broken play. But I got to think Josh going into this next season, they can't have
16:35them running around like, like they were last year, especially off this injury. But so what's
16:41the feeling you're getting from the organization as far as you don't want to totally take away
16:46that ability because he has it, but I'm sure that that's on their mind to kind of keep Mahomes in
16:54the pocket, maybe a little bit more and just to give them a little help and, and rest on those
16:59legs.
17:00Maybe I've listened to too many Andy Reid press conferences. Cause my, my reaction to that is
17:05to just be like, I don't know that it's going to be that different. And that's kind of, that feels
17:08like that's kind of the guiding light on a lot of these things is, you know, there are some things
17:12that will be changed, but I think the plan with Mahomes was always like throughout at least the
17:17last several years of his career. He's, he's an elite pocket passer and he is excellent whenever he's
17:23playing sheriff that way, right? The gunslinger from the pocket, able to just find his targets.
17:28It's the reason that he's had to scramble so much. And I agree. I think it, I do think it's
17:32the most underrated part of his game. He doesn't run as often or, or in the same way of Josh
17:37Allen
17:37or Lamar Jackson or whatever, but Patrick Mahomes has more playoff runs that you remember than either
17:42of those guys probably combined, honestly, certainly super bowls and AFC championship games.
17:49I think he's going to stay in the pocket as much as he can. And then I think if the
17:52plays break
17:52down in week one, I think he's going to take off because he's Patrick Mahomes and that's kind
17:55of what he does. Hand it to Ken Walker. That'd be, that would also help. That would be what I
18:00do.
18:00Follow along at JB Briscoe on X. Only weird games on the Kansas City Sports Network. Chiefs pregame
18:07and postgame host our Chiefs.
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