Kansas City Chiefs 53-man Roster Projection: Felix Anudike-Uzomah’s hamstring injury raises questions about the defensive line

How does Felix Anudike-Uzomah’s hamstring injury impact our Kansas City Chiefs 53-man roster projection?

Charles Goldman — NFL Managing Editor
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The Kansas City Chiefs have made it through two preseason games and find themselves in the home stretch now. They’ve completed all 17 training camp practices and have one preseason game left to go in front of a home crowd at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. How will the final game of the preseason shake out as it relates to the 16-man practice squad and 53-man roster?

Check to see the latest A to Z Sports projections below. You can find my last 53-man roster projection here.

Note: Players with a single asterisk (*) are 2025 draft picks. Players with double asterisks (**) are 2025 undrafted free agents. Players in italics are practice squad candidates.

Quarterback (2)

On the 53-man roster: Patrick Mahomes & Gardner Minshew
Cut: Chris Oladokun & Bailey Zappe

I initially thought the Chiefs might go back to Andy Reid’s old ways of rostering three quarterbacks, but neither Oladokun nor Zappe has shown enough to warrant a spot on the 53-man roster. Oladokun does give you an athletic scout team quarterback who can emulate some of the dual-threat players the team will face in 2025.

Running back (4)

On the 53-man roster: Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt, Carson Steele, & Brashard Smith*
Cut: Elijah Young**, Elijah Mitchell & Michael Wiley

The pecking order in preseason Week 2 tells you this team likes Carson Steele and believes he can be a part of the RB rotation. His failed fourth-and-short conversion was more on the play call than it was on him, in my opinion. I thought he did a nice job with his other snaps. He had seven carries and didn’t fumble. I was admittedly worried about Brashard Smith coming into this game, but his play on offense was enough to reassure me that he can be a weapon there. He’s still got work to do on special teams, but that’s entirely foreign to him. He has at least a year of playing the running back spot in college. The loser of preseason Week 2 was Elijah Mitchell, who had four carries for nine yards. The safety wasn’t so much on him as it was the playcall and situation. Right now, his biggest asset is pass protection, but I think Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco can handle that.

Tight end (4)

On the 53-man roster: Travis Kelce, Noah Gray, Robert Tonyan & Jared Wiley
Cut: Tre Watson**, Geor’Quarius Spivey
IR: Jake Briningstool**

After being the team’s leading receiver in two consecutive preseason games, Big Bob Tonyan is making this team. He might be cut initially because he’s a vested veteran and doesn’t need to clear waivers, which makes him someone who can help the team with procedural moves. I think Wiley has also done enough to make the 53-man roster, and I wouldn’t be shocked if Jake Briningstool was one of two players the Chiefs place on IR during cuts and give a return designation to. Teams are now allowed to do that with two players.

Wide receiver (7)

On the 53-man roster: Rashee Rice, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, Xavier Worthy, Jalen Royals*, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Nikko Remigio, & Tyquan Thornton
Cut: Skyy Moore, Elijhah Badger**, Mac Dalena**, Jimmy Holliday, Jason Brownlee, Key’Shawn Smith**

The Rashee Rice situation and Hollywood Brown’s ankle/foot injury will likely force the Chiefs to keep seven players at the receiver position to start the 2025 NFL season. I went back and forth on Nikko Remigio, but he simply offers too much game-changing ability on special teams for me to leave him off the 53-man roster. I think Jalen Royals showed some juice on kick return as well. Tyquan Thornton has emerged in a Justin Watson-type role.

Offensive line (10)

On the 53-man roster: Josh Simmons*, Kingsley Suamataia, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith, Jawaan Taylor, Jaylon Moore, Mike Caliendo, C.J. Hanson, Hunter Nourzad, & Esa Pole.
Cut: Wanya Morris, Ethan Driskell, Joey Lombard**, Chu Godrick, Dalton Cooper**

This might be the toughest position group to figure out for Kansas City. First, without a snap played so far this preseason, I think they can sneak Ethan Driskell through waivers. He spent all of last season on the 53-man roster and would be a serviceable fifth option at offensive tackle. Chu Godrick is still eligible for an exempt spot on the practice squad, but he’ll need to clear waivers to get there. I decided to cut Wanya Morris based on a single snap in preseason Week 2 that reminded me far too much of his problems in 2024. He also had some excellent snaps, so I’m not sure the Chiefs will make this decision. Ideally, you find a trade partner there. Esa Pole has been virtually flawless in pass protection through two preseason games, and this team has had far too much trouble at the tackle position to let him slip through their fingers. I can also see the Chiefs keeping C.J. Hanson, who has improved over where he was a season ago in my eyes. I felt that he had the most consistent/best left guard play for the team in preseason Week 2 outside of Kingsley Suamataia.

Defensive line (9)

On the 53-man roster: George Karlaftis, Charles Omenihu, Mike Danna, Ashton Gillotte*, Omarr Norman-Lott*, Chris Jones, Jerry Tillery, Malik Herring, and Mike Pennel
Cut: Fabien Lovett, Marlon Tuipulotu, Coziah Izzard**, Nate Matlack**
NFI: BJ Thompson
IR: Janarius Robinson & Felix Anudike-Uzomah

The most significant change here is Felix Anudike-Uzomah heading to injured reserve. Andy Reid spoke about this on Monday, and it sounds as if this could be a season-ender. That opens the path for Malik Herring, who can play both edge rusher and interior positions, to make the 53-man roster. I think Marlon Tuipulotu and Fabien Lovett offer solid interior depth, and they could both benefit from further development on the practice squad. I could also see the team carrying an extra interior defender when you consider that Omarr Norman-Lott is also dealing with a nagging ankle injury that he suffered early in training camp.

Linebacker (5)

On the 53-man roster: Nick Bolton, Drue Tranquill, Leo Chenal, Jeffrey Bassa* & Cam Jones
Cut: Cooper McDonald**, Cole Christiansen, Brandon George**
IR: Jack Cochrane

The more I play with roster construction, the more likely I think the Chiefs go light at the linebacker spot this year. Coach Spags and Coach Toub tend to prefer six linebackers, but this might be a year you can get away with fewer players because of the talent drop-off after Bolton, Tranquill, and Chenal. I am putting Cochrane on IR based on his knee injury from preseason Week 2, as he currently has a bone bruise. I could see him sitting out preseason Week 3 and landing on IR with a return designation to start the 2025 NFL season.

Cornerback (5)

On the 53-man roster: Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson, Nazeeh Johnson, Nohl Williams*, & Kristian Fulton
Cut: Joshua Williams, Jacobe Covington**, Melvin Smith**,  Azizi Hearn, Ajani Carter, Kevin Knowles**

Nohl Williams might be the Chiefs’ most impressive rookie outside of Josh Simmons. I expect Kristian Fulton to get the Jaylen Watson treatment in preseason Week 3 this year and play a whole lot of snaps. I’ll be curious to see what happens with Nazeeh Johnson’s shoulder injury because that could open a path for Joshua Williams to make the roster. I think this group might be in a better spot by Week 1 than it looks after preseason Week 2.

Safety (4)

On the 53-man roster: Bryan Cook, Jaden Hicks, Chamarri Conner & Chris Roland-Wallace
Cut: Mike Edwards, Major Williams**, Glendon Miller**
IR: Deon Bush

This group is pretty straightforward right now. I think there’s a possibility that the Chiefs could eat the $500K in guaranteed money they gave Edwards and convince him to start the season on the practice squad to get an extra body in the O-Line room to start. I’m putting Roland-Wallace here because, while I think he’s the best non-Trent McDuffie option at nickel corner, he’s also proven he can play single high safety for this team.

Special teams (3)

On the 53-man roster: K Harrison Butker, P Matt Araiza, & LS James Winchester

There’s no competition in this group anymore, so there should be no surprises here.

Be part of the A to Z Sports community and vote in our latest Kansas City Chiefs poll as the preseason gets underway.

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