The Chiefs play preseason game number two this week, who are three players on offense Chiefs fans need to watch against Washington?
The Chiefs square off with the new-look Washington Commanders this Saturday in their second pre-season game. With the new schedule in the NFL pre-season and there only being three games, this game is going to weigh very largely in roster-making decisions.
Justin Watson seems to have solidified his roster spot. He has been running with the ones with Juju Smith-Schuster banged up and has taken advantage of every rep he has been given.
The sixth wide receiver spot is wide open, however. It is one I am going to be keeping a very close eye on. I also am going to be keeping an eye on the offensive tackle position.
Right now no one has played well enough to unseat incumbent starter, Andrew Wylie. The tackles after Wylie and Orlando Brown Jr. are still very much up for grabs. Geron Christian, Prince Tega Wanogho, Darrian Kinnard, and Roderick Johnson have been battling for those positions. I would not be surprised if the Chiefs looked to bring in another veteran tackle after cuts happen. No player has performed well enough to secure a spot at this point and even starter Andrew Wylie has been lackluster with the starters.
With a couple of the position battles highlighted, who specifically am I going to be keeping an eye on? Let’s take a look.
1. Ronald Jones
Ronald Jones went from getting second-team reps to fourth-team reps in just a couple of days last week. I even considered him being cut almost a certainty in my latest 53-man roster prediction. You can find that here:
However, the other day at practice, with Jerrick McKinnon sitting out, they reshuffled the deck and Rojo ended up getting reps in front of Isiah Pacheco again.
It is going to be very interesting to see how Jones plays and when he plays against Washington.
2. Josh Gordon
Gordon, Cornell Powell, Daurice Fountain, and Corey Coleman seem to be in the battle for the sixth WR spot on this roster, as mentioned earlier. Fountain has had the upper hand and was in the game before the others in the last pre-season game. He has also been specifically pointed out by Special Teams coach Dave Toub as someone who can be a major contributor. Usually, when Toub speaks about certain players it is a lock for them to be a part of the roster, he gets his guys. However, Gordon apparently came out with some fire in practice the other day and was making some plays.
Gordon is going to need a monster performance to get himself back squarely in the mix for that last WR spot.
3. Prince Tega Wanogho
PTW is someone who the Chiefs have stashed on the roster for a couple of years now and tried to develop. He started the year on the PUP list and since returning has worked his way to the second team right tackle.
Someone needs to emerge at the tackle position because it is generally ugly outside Orlando Brown at the moment. I will be keeping a close eye on Wanogho to see how early he enters the game and how he holds up against some good edge rushers in Washington. If the play at the tackle position does not improve I fully expect Brett Veach to bring other bodies in. This is a big game not only for PTW, but all tackles outside of Brown.
