2022 Chiefs Preview: Fan Favorite Must Shine To Earn A Place
With training camp underway, which Chiefs player needs to shine the most in camp to earn their place? The answer might just be a surprising fan favorite from last season.
A lot of the roster spots are locked down for the Kansas City Chiefs prior to training camp. That limited number of open spots means some guys will need a big impact to make the team.
Training camp means different things to different players. For established veterans, it is a time to knock off the off-season rust and get back into game shape. New signings and young players who are locked into the roster are about gaining knowledge of the system and getting comfortable with the team. For the rest of the roster, it is about being the best you can be every day so that you can impress the coaches enough to make the team.
A lot of these guys are names that fans do not know and likely never will. But one of the names is a fan favorite in Kansas City from last year; running back Derrick Gore.
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Gore is coming into his fourth season in the NFL and second with Kansas City. He saw the first snaps in real NFL games last season with the Chiefs and he took good advantage of the limited playing time he got.
He ended the season with 51 rushing attempts for 256 yards, which is just over a five-yard average. That was 1.1 yards per attempt better than Darrel Williams and .7 yards more than Clyde Edwards-Helaire. He scored two touchdowns and also made eight receptions for 105 yards. If you followed Chiefs Kingdom on social media or listened to local sports talk radio you know how in love fans became with the idea of Gore being our feature back.
After a busy off-season in the Chiefs backfield, Gore has no chance at being the feature back and in fact, will now struggle to even make the roster. The Chiefs backfield at the start of camp has returning players Edwards-Helaire, Jerick McKinnon along with Gore. Ronald Jones II was given a one-year contract for $1.5 million in the off-season to come in and compete for a job. Then the Chiefs drafted Isiah Pacheco in the seventh round of the draft and signed Jerrion Ealy as an undrafted free agent.
The Chiefs generally keep three to four running backs on their final 53 roster. So out of those seven guys in the running back room, three or four will not be making the final roster. I think it is fair to say that CEH, Jones, and McKinnon are the front runners to be the main ball carriers. That means Gore will need to beat out two rookies with high upside that seem to fit the Chiefs scheme better.
He’ll need to show the Chiefs that he can be trusted to block as the Chiefs value that from a running back. He’ll also need to show that he is willing to do anything the team asks, like playing special teams. You may remember how Terrell Davis made the Denver Broncos roster years ago after he destroyed a kick returner in the pre-season.
Gore will need to make some big plays like that in the pre-season to force his way onto the roster. Before the pre-season games start, he needs to have a strong camp to give the coaches reason to give him big snaps in those pre-season games. A bad camp likely ends his time in Kansas City while a strong camp will give him an edge on making the final roster.
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