All eyes are on Jonathan Baldwin at this point. Dwayne Bowe has made his choice and the Kansas City Chiefs front office has done the same. It's impossible to tell who is drawing lines in the sand and on what points they are drawing them. However, the team has arrived at training camp and the offense must move on at some point, choosing to work with the players who are present.
As much as the team has made a number of significant additions this offseason, Jon Baldwin is going to be the go-to guy throughout training camp and into the season until Bowe is here. The Chiefs' offense is predicated on the running game, but that only works if defenses have to respect a team's passing game. Enter Baldwin who must force secondaries to be honest.
It's a challenge that the Pittsburgh product says he's ready for.
"I am super motivated," said Baldwin from the opening day of Chiefs training camp. "You just have to keep working hard and critiquing yourself and don't get complacent and stuck on being one way. I just want to get better and just continue to critique myself and take it from there."
Baldwin created a buzz with his performance in OTAs with circus catches in the end zone, albeit with no pads on. The game is very different when the official whistle blows and the equipment is on, but there's no denying Baldwin's incredible talent.
"The main thing, to tell you the truth, is just to try and make every play," said Baldwin. "That is one of my goals is to try to make those type of plays and to make plays, period. I was a basketball player and rebounding was one of the things that I was able to do well so I just try to translate that to when I played basketball back in the day on the football field."
The Chiefs are certainly a much better team when Bowe is on the field to pair with Baldwin, but there's no telling when the two might team up. In a new year under a new head coach and offensive coordinator, the times have changed and this is now Baldwin's offense. It's something he certainly sounds ready for.
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