6 Chiefs players who don’t deserve to be on the roster anymore

This Chiefs team has some serious problems.

The Kansas City Chiefs have dropped three of their previous four games and two of their last four. These are not the Chiefs fans that are accustomed to seeing at 8-5.

 

Who knows, with Patrick Mahomes and that largely excellent defense, they might figure it out and make another Super Bowl run. For now though, it’s worthwhile to look ahead.

Some important players have performed so poorly that their inclusion on this roster is no longer justified. Can the Chiefs really let go of them all now? Most likely not. But there are problems with these guys.

1. Donovan Smith, T

Whatever you think about the wide receiving core’s shortcomings (which they undoubtedly have), Patrick Mahomes isn’t getting any help from the offensive line, at least not from the outside. Given his track record as a strong pass blocker, Donovan Smith was seen to be an excellent fit for the Chiefs. But he’s been really awful this season. He appears to have dropped off.

Smith has allowed a whopping 42 pressures this season. He’s given up two sacks and seven hits on Mahomes while also being flagged for nine penalties. His play, thus far, has Chiefs fans wondering what the heck happened. During his time with Tampa Bay, he protected Tom Brady very well. He was one of the best pass-blocking tackles in the game. How has he fallen this far, this quick?

 

It might just be that time for Smith. Age could be catching up to him, and next year, the Chiefs need to go a different direction.

2. Justin Reid, S

Justin Reid, the safety, is perhaps the Chiefs’ most annoying player on this defense. Every now and then he’ll pull off a monster play or hit that has the crowd out of their seats. At other times, he’s been observed badly beating people and blowing coverage.

If you weren’t too familiar with Reid’s play, all you would have to do was do a quick Twitter (X) search to understand precisely what I mean. Reid frequently makes the error of reading the pre-snap incorrectly. You’ll see quarterbacks take advantage of this time and time again. Reid thinks the other quarterback will hit his tight end or receiver on a crossing route for a chunk gain since it’s a run play. It’s a real case of rinse and repeat.

 

By cutting Reid next season, the Chiefs will be able to save almost $10 million, and they ought to do so. He’s proved to be an asset. Reid is a weak link overall on a strong defense. They can no longer fall prey to his errors, particularly when it comes to reportage. He is forgoing more than 61percent completion percentage to quarterbacks against opposition, giving up four touchdowns on the year and a passer rating of 100.1.

3. Derrick Nnadi, DL

Speaking of weak links on a great defense, defensive lineman Derrick Nnadi is another one. The Chiefs’ pass defense has been phenomenal this year. But, their run defense on the other hand? Not quite so stellar.

Currently Kansas City is giving up 114.9 yards per game on the ground, which is in the bottom half of the league. Nnadi is by far and away the worst run defender up front, and Pro Football Focus would agree, giving him a measly grade of just 35.8 in this department.

 

For a guy who has played the second-most snaps out of any interior lineman on the team, the Chiefs should be getting higher production. Chris Jones is the only interior lineman that’s offering Kansas City a well-rounded performance, thus far on the year. Nnadi is in his sixth season with the team and his play has diminished each of the last three years, respectively. It is time to cut ties once free agency hits next spring.

4. Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR

This one should be self-explanatory. The wide receiving core has been atrocious, as a whole, this season. The Chiefs are desperately searching for a guy to step up and step into a WR1 role, and thus far it seems like rookie Rashee Rice is doing his best, but the Chiefs still refuse to expand his route tree beyond mostly short yardage types.

 

Marques Valdes-Scantling was supposed to be the Chiefs’ long ball expert. His straight-line speed is top-notch, but the Chiefs allowed Tyreek Hill to be dealt away and went with a Dollar Tree version instead.

 

In fact, calling Valdes-Scantling a Dollar Tree version of Tyreek Hill might even be too generous. The way he’s played, you could find his talent being given away at the Salvation Army outlet. He’s dropped multiple wide-open would-be touchdowns this year, causing the outcome of games to be severely different in the end.

Next year, Valdes-Scantling is set to hit the cap with $14 million. But, Kansas City can save $12 million by cutting him. If the Chiefs are even thinking of doing something differently, someone should make their way right up to Veach’s office and knock some sense into him. Valdes-Scantling has been a horrific mistake of a signing, and Kansas City needs to completely revamp this position in 2024.

5. Jawaan Taylor, T

There might not be a more overrated offensive lineman in football than tackle Jawaan Taylor. When Kansas City signed him to a 4-year, $80 million deal this past offseason, I can guarantee you that 31 other teams silently raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

 

Sure, Taylor has been a good tackle. But, he has not been an elite one by any stretch of the imagination. This year, Taylor has doomed the Chiefs more often than not by making it tougher and tougher on Mahomes drive-in and drive-out.

 

How is this for a shocking stat? This season, Taylor has been called for 17 penalties (yes, mostly false starts). That is good for well over one per game, on average. He had a nice, three-game stretch where he was penalty-free in the middle of the year. But, other than that, he’s good for at least one per game.

The Chiefs obviously cannot get out of this contract and have no choice other than to hope he starts figuring things out. Kansas City needs Taylor to perform at a high level if they are going to make any noise in the postseason. They already have a disadvantage because of their wide receiver room. Taylor is only making things harder for them.

6. Kadarius Toney, WR

Going back to the Valdes-Scantling conversation, wide receiver Kadarius Toney can join him on his way out the door during the offseason. And no, this isn’t just because of the controversial penalty called at the end of the Chiefs/Bills game this last week. Although, to be fair, Toney was a good 12 inches past the line of scrimmage, so that’s on him at the end of the day.

 

For all of the hype coming out of college, Toney clearly didn’t mesh well with the New York Giants organization. After the Chiefs made a trade for him last year, people thought this was an organization that could get the true potential squeezed out of him that New York couldn’t.

Such people were utterly mistaken. Toney has been utilized very

infrequently this season, and it is obvious that this coaching staff does not

really trust him. According to Pro Football Focus, he has been targeted 33

times this season and has been given credit for three dropped passes.

 

When he is targeted, his passer rating is only 83.4, which indicates that he can’t accomplish much with the ball in his

hands. He is not at all what the Chiefs had anticipated receiving in that trade.