With the Kansas City Chiefs’ Training Camp right around the corner, the team made some strategic roster moves to solidify their team.
Rookie Receiver sent to IR
Clemson’s Justyn Ross was one of the most interesting undrafted rookie free agents to be picked up this offseason. Ross always showed the ability in college to play well in the NFL. His problem has always been in the injury department. Ross’s collegiate career was derailed by injuries and it outweighed his talent for most scouts as he wasn’t drafted.
Ross has already missed time during June’s mandatory minicamp. Head Coach Andy Reid revealed that Ross has recently undergone surgery. Kansas City moved the rookie receiver to the Injured Reserve making roster space for another player. The Chiefs will be fine without Ross this season. The team signed multiple receivers this offseason and Ross would have had a “red shirt” season anyway.
Reid has specified the timetable for Ross’s return, and he clarified that he will be out for a full season. Furthermore, this will be a big blow for the young receiver as his college handicap isn’t appearing to be going anywhere. Although, the bright side of Ross being sent to the IR is how the Chiefs can use that extra roster spot to help the team.
New Offensive Linemen
The Chiefs’ decided to use the extra roster spot for one of two newly acquired offensive tackles. In the current situation involving starting left tackle Orlando Brown Jr, the Chiefs needed to add depth to the position. And that is exactly what they did. The team signed tackles David Steinmetz and Evin Ksiezarczyk. Both players have seen extremely limited playing time and will purely be added for positional depth.
This was a necessary move prior to training camp as multiple tackles are on the PUP list already, as well as the Orlando Brown Jr. situation. These two tackles might not see much action but it will ensure the safety of Patrick Mahomes if more offensive linemen go down this season.
Analysis
The Chiefs seem to be one of the best organizations when it comes to diagnosing their roster. In the offseason after the Tyreek Hill trade, the team identified that they need help in the receiver room. And what did they do? They signed JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling and also drafted Skyy Moore. This is a similar situation as the Chiefs identified a current need of offensive tackle depth as they are riddled with injuries at the position and could possibly lose a starter in Orlando Brown Jr. The Chiefs have done a great job with these roster moves.
Featured image courtesy of (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
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