10 Things We Know

As Chiefs training camp reaches day ten and the Arizona Cardinals come to St. Joseph on Tuesday for some scrimmaging and Kansas City’s first preseason game of 2012, here are the ten things we know for certain so far.

1. The Wounded Trio - Running backs Jamaal Charles, safety Eric Berry and tight end Tony Moeaki are all healthy and ready to be huge contributors this season.

2. The Running Backs - Kansas City has as deep a running back corps as we’ve seen since the early 2000’s. Charles, along with free agent signee Peyton Hillis and rookie Cyrus Gray are diverse and talented.

3. The Pace - Practices are much more focused and organized than a year ago – the Chiefs are making progress and improving every day.

4. Jonathan Baldwin - He's had the light bulb turned on and is having the best mini-camp and preseason of any player on offense. The same can be said for Brandon Flowers on defense.

5. Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll - He wears a Gilligan hat to practice but is nobody’s first mate. Instead, he’s as talented as any game planner in the NFL and will give opposing sidelines fits while exploiting mismatches.

6. Offensive Line - Many continue to say that the Chiefs offensive line is improved just with the addition of Eric Winston. Center Rodney Hudson is picking up calls along with everything else he is responsible for but the true measure of whether or not they are better as a unit rests with the play of Brandon Albert.

7. The Starting Secondary - As a unit they've surprised everyone so far with Berry, Flowers, a healthy Kendrick Lewis and the addition of Stanford Routt by coming together so quickly. But depth is still a concern and has to be addressed before the start of the regular season. One bright spot has been second year corner, Jalil Brown, who may have earned the nickel corner spot along with Javier Arenas.

8. The Back-Up? - Preseason games will determine the No. 2 spot at quarterback behind starter Matt Cassel. Both Ricky Stanzi and Brady Quinn have performed well when running the first and second team offenses.

9. The Nose Tackle? - The position is one that everyone has been watching at St. Joe as first round selection Dontari Poe and Anthony Toribio are battling it out every day. If the season started this weekend, Toribio would be the starter with Poe in obvious passing situations. The one thing we know – this competition is going to be fun to watch all season long.

10. Roster Cuts - Some feelings are going to be hurt when the Turk comes calling. This roster is still searching for depth on the offensive line and in the secondary – but who isn’t around the national Football League? From 1-53, this is as talented a group as any in the AFC West and the competition with talent pushing talent everyday in camp proves that.



Dave Barr is a 19-year sports radio veteran who has worked for ESPN, Sporting News Radio and in markets like Cincinnati, Little Rock and Tulsa. Currently Barr is the program director for 1450 The Score in Joplin, Missouri and hosts the A.M. Grind weekday mornings from 6-9am. Want more Dave follow him on Twitter @Daveabarr.

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