The Kansas City Chiefs are AFC West champions and have locked in their spot as the third seed in the AFC playoffs. This means the Chiefs have almost nothing to play for when they travel to Los Angeles for a division matchup against the Chargers on Sunday. However, Kansas City’s circumstances allow them to rest some of their star players while various reserves have a chance to showcase what they can do in terms of making the roster next year.
During his weekly media availability, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo gave some insight into how much playing time his defensive starters would get and which reserve players he was excited to see take the field.
“All of them that don’t normally get in there,” Spagnuolo began. “What’s going to be the hardest thing is some of these guys are still going to have to play special teams. The guys that have typically been on special teams Jack Cochrane, and Cam Jones, those guys have played. Leo (Chenal) will probably play a little bit more. On the back end, Deon Bush, he’s played for us before, he’s been in when guys have gotten hurt. Up front Felix [Anudike-Uzomah], BJ [Thompson] if we get him in there, and Malik [Herring] if we get him up on the active [roster].”
“I always love watching Derrick [Nnadi] and {Tershawn Wharton] play,” he continued. “Neil [Farrell] will probably be inside there. All those guys I’ll be excited to watch play. During that, I’ll be praying nobody gets hurt, that’ll be the thing. It’s a blessing and a curse, in my opinion. It’s a blessing to be in this position, it’s just tough navigating wanting to win the game and stop people when you have some different moving parts.”
Sunday will mark the first real opportunity for rookie defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah to see the field for an extended period. Though he’s played a small number of snaps this season – registering 11 tackles and a forced fumble – it’s not enough to determine where the former K-State product is at in his development. However, Spags explains that Anudike-Uzomah has excelled in the film room and is excited to see him translate what he’s learned in practice onto the field.
“I think [Felix Anudike-Uzomah] has developed well,” he started. “The other thing I realized the other day, is he’s still very young. George [Karlaftis] is young too. We have some young guys there. I’ve seen him mature and grow in the meetings. I’m always asking guys questions. I give them “homework” tapes at night and then ask them the next day, and Felix has been on it,” he explained. “That tells me something. I think development – and it will be nice to see him get some plays this week and see where he’s at. We’ve never had a problem putting Felix in. It’s just been more the fact that George and Charles [Omenihu] and Mike [Danna] have been playing pretty good.”
The Chiefs haven’t needed to rely on their 2023 first-round pick this season since the team has been so dominant on the defensive side of the ball. But with nine players on defense scheduled to hit the open market after this season, Anudike-Uzomah is just one of several backups who could hear their number being called more often next season, depending on how things go against the Chargers this weekend.
