On Saturday we passed along five things to look for in the Kansas City Chiefs first training camp scrimmage.
The "scrimmage" wasn't much of a scrimmage. There wasn't live hitting and the quarterbacks weren't touched but it still gave us an opportunity to see how this team was doing.
Here are the responses to the five things I was looking for.
5. The improvement of the defensive line
It was there on Saturday. Generally in a 3-4, if your outside linebackers are creating pressure on the quarterback -- and they did that all day long against the quarterbacks -- then your defensive line is doing something right.
Without full hitting it's hard to evaluate a defensive line but consider the play of the outside linebackers a good reflection on the defensive line.
4. Is the secondary really a strength?
Yes. Eric Berry helped prove that with a Brodie Croyle interception during the scrimmage. Kendrick Lewis also had a nice pass break up on a Matt Cassel pass to Chris Chambers. Add Brandon Carr in there who had two nice coverage plays in a row against Chambers.
There's no doubt the Chiefs secondary is a strength. Even with the rookies involved, it's going to be one of the better units in the AFC.
3. The rotation for DJ
I felt Derrick Johnson had a very solid scrimmage. He and Jovan Belcher rotated first team duties with Corey Mays and Demorrio Williams.
DJ blew up a couple of screens and generally seemed to be around the ball a lot. One of his problems has been consistency and on Saturday he was consistent. Good day for DJ.
2. Prove it, McCluster
McCluster did not prove it on Saturday.
Maybe he just couldn't get involved in the offense or maybe it was a conscious move by the Chiefs not to feature him but he was not an impact during the scrimmage.
During warmups he dropped a couple of Dustin Colquitt punts and then didn't catch and passes in the scrimmage.
He's been electric during drills but on Saturday it was almost as if he wasn't there. I get the feeling this was more about the Chiefs not wanting to hype him up with lots of action on Saturday.
1. The best quarterback will play
It was a tough day to evaluate quarterbacks because all three were frequently flushed from the pocket.
If that's the way it's going to be in 2010, then Cassel is still the best pick over Croyle because of his ability to scramble.
The quarterbacks didn't play too hot after having a solid camp. Either way, Cassel's still the best quarterback. Now it's about improving into one of the better quarterbacks in the league. He's got a long way to go this offseason to do that.
Loading comments...