Kansas City Chiefs: Trade, free agent options to revitalize weakened defense
By Keaton Henry
The Kansas City Chiefs came out of Sunday’s victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars limping heavily. What options are available to keep KC on track?
The Kansas City Chiefs announced via Twitter that the club had placed starting guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and rookie safety Armani Watts on injured reserve. In a corresponding move, the team signed free agent linebacker Frank Zombo. Despite not being placed on injured reserve, star linebacker Justin Houston is expected to miss a few weeks after being diagnosed with a hamstring injury following Sunday’s Week 6 contest.
With injuries surmounting, general manager Brett Veach will, undoubtedly, begin the process of searching for reinforcements.
The first task was to discover what shifting would be necessary along the offensive line to make up for Duvernay-Tardif’s major contribution to the offense. Head coach Andy Reid stated in his post-game interview that lineman Jordan Devey would “likely” get the first crack at filling the starting right guard spot.
This move seems to be the easiest decision and, depending on his performance on Sunday against the New England Patriots, rookie Kahlil McKenzie awaits in the wings should his name be called.
With the offensive line issue seemingly having been resolved, the Chiefs will move on to the defensive side of things, where it has lost a key defensive back for the season and projects to be without Houston for the better part of a quarter of the season.
Here are a few options to piece together a defense that can sustain offenses enough on game day, for those who dare to keep pace with Patrick Mahomes and Co.