The Kansas City Chiefs have several things that you need to watch for during their 2023 training camp.



The Chiefs are among the few remaining teams still holding their training camp in a different location than their practice facility. This year, the Chiefs will extend their record of visiting St. Joseph, Missouri, every year since 2013. Missouri Western State University is once again the gracious host for the Chiefs' training camp.



This offseason had a ton of things happen to the Chiefs. They lost some guys, added some, and got better on paper. Let's also remember the championship tour they have been on as well. With all of that, there can be many things to watch at training camp, which can get overwhelming. Here are the ten things you should watch for no matter what:

Chiefs 10 storylines for 2023 training camp

The Offensive Tackle Situation

This offseason, we saw the Chiefs let Orlando Brown and Andrew Wylie walk, their two starting tackles in 2022. To replace them, they made two signings. First, they signed Jawaan Taylor to a huge deal that made everyone think he would be converted from right tackle to left tackle.



Taylor himself even said he could make the switch when he was signed, only making everyone continue to fall into the trap.



"… You know, left tackle right tackle is just a flip of the hips. Honestly, other than that, if you're athletic enough, and you trust your feet, and you know, you got great coaching as well, which I notice here, I feel like the transition would be pretty good."

Then they signed former Tampa Bay Buccaneers left tackle Donovan Smith, and it was pretty clear he wouldn't be playing right tackle because he hasn't been in the NFL. So why would they switch the two to play positions they have never played when they could both play positions they have?



There is still something to watch, though. We want to see what they both look like in their positions. Is Taylor playing like the highest-paid right tackle in the league or one of them? Is Smith playing like an average left tackle, or are his injuries still hindering him?



You also want to see if anyone else steps in and plays with the first group. Does rookie Wanya Morris split snaps with Smith? Does Lucas Niang get some snaps with Taylor at left tackle? There are so many different layers to this situation you need to watch for.

Where does Charles Omenihu play the majority of the time? Inside or out?

Charles Omenihu is one of the more underrated defensive linemen in the league. He can play inside or outside. However, for run plays, you would rather him play outside as an edge rusher because he just isn't big or strong enough to play inside every down. But when there are obvious passing plays, he works best inside.

Here is a list of guys with a higher win percentage on the pass rush than Omenihu: Myles Garrett, Nick Bosa, Micah Parsons, Za'Darius Smith, and Trey Hendrickson. All of those guys are considered elite in this game. Omenihu finished 2022 with 20 combined tackles, 4.5 sacks, 3 TFL, and 16 QB hits.



It will be interesting to also see where the Chiefs line him up outside and inside, in terms of what technique. Will they stand him up more often, or will they put his hand in the dirt a bit? Keep your eyes on that as well.

Where does rookie edge rusher Felix Anudike-Uzomah fit in on defense?

If I had to guess a way the Chiefs will use FAU, it will likely be very similar to what they did last season with Frank Clark and George Karlaftis. However, now they have Omenihu, Karlaftis, Mike Danna, FAU, and maybe even rookie B.J. Thompson. So, it's pretty logical to ask where he fits in and what his role will be early in the season.

The role Karlaftis played last year can be called an "edge three" role, where he won't start, but he will play a significant amount of snaps like Karlaftis did. His pass-rush moves are great, even though he could work on some of them. They are too good to keep him off of the field for a significant amount of time. Watch and see how Steve Spagnuolo lines him up and who he plays with in certain situations.

How much has George Karlaftis developed this offseason?

We saw this offseason Karlaftis was working with Chiefs' legend Tamba Hali. If there is one guy to learn from, it's him. Karlaftis wasn't quite ready to be a starter last year, which is why experienced defensive end Frank Clark was the starter, despite his game falling off. But, is Karlaftis ready now after a full rookie season, a full postseason, and an offseason to develop his game a bit?



Karlaftis still needed some help in certain areas of his pass rush. He needed more moves and needed to refine the ones he had. He also needed to work on his bend a bit. Let's see what he got better at by watching his snaps during the live-action pads portion of camp.

How much has second year secondary developed?

The Chiefs trotted out four rookies in their secondary last season. It started a little rough, but by the end of the year, they had the game down pat. Of course, they still needed some development, but they consistently made big-time plays in the postseason.



The secondary will be the cornerstone of this defense for years to come, as they are incredibly young and talented. Joshua Williams, Jaylen Watson, Trent McDuffie, and Bryan Cook will all play significant snaps in 2023. Lets also not forget there is a huge chance that L'Jarius Sneed doesn't get his deal soon, which would only mean more playing time for these guys. They have a huge camp ahead of themselves.

How does the Willie Gay Jr./Drue Tranquill dynamic work in 2023?

The Chiefs have one of the best linebackers in the league, Nick Bolton. So, we know he will be the starter at the middle linebacker position/ However, who will start at the will position is what we don’t know. The Chiefs played Willie Gay Jr. there last year, and he was much better than the years prior. But they also went out and spent money on Tranquill.

They didn't need a linebacker this offseason, but they were really intrigued with Tranquill, and all we have heard are good things about him. Who starts? Who is the backup, and when does he get on the field? Those are just a few of the things to watch for in that aspect.

What kind of snaps does Leo Chenal get?

The last one also goes with this one too, because, well, if those three guys will be the main guys, where does Chenal, a rookie from last season, fit in? He had very bright moments and even played some great snaps in the Super Bowl. However, there were more times he was bad than good.

The Chiefs love his potential, though, but as we all know, the best way to develop is to put guys on the field and let the game come to them. How will they do that with Chenal? Watch for who he is out there with, how many snaps he plays, what kind of snaps he plays, and even which position they play him at the most.

How does Justyn Ross look in live action?

The Chiefs have had a social media phenom the last few years, as Chiefs Twitter and Chiefs media have been raving over Ross for two years now. The Chiefs got him as an undrafted free-agent rookie and looking back, that could end up as a huge steal depending on what he can do in camp.



We always see the Chiefs tease a video of Ross on social media, whether it be him catching a pass, him running a route, or even as little as zRoss doing a practice drill with cones. Let's finally see how he looks in live action against NFL defense, that way we can further decide how good he can actually be.

How does rookie recever Rashee Rice fit in on offense?

The Chiefs need a guy who can catch passes over the middle, similar to what JuJu Smith0-Schuster was doing last season. But, at the same time, the Chiefs' offense is notorious for having rookie receivers not play much at the start of the season. The playbook is hard to learn, and we even saw that with Skyy Moore last season, who didn't catch his first touchdown till the Super Bowl.



Rice, who threw up during rookie camp on Wednesday, will have to find a place to fit in on this offense. The Chiefs' starting group is expected to be Skyy Moore, Kadarius Toney, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Does Rice run with the second group, or does his pure skill and talent give him enough to get some reps with the ones? Then when he does get on the field, where do the Chiefs have him? Watch for that for sure.

Who is the backup quarterback with Chad Henne gone?

Every year you basically knew that QB1 and QB2 were taken. Henne can run the offense perfectly, as we saw plenty of times in the postseason. But he retired after the Super Bowl, so now the Chiefs have a problem they haven't had in some time. Who takes that QB2 spot and even the third spot?



As we currently talk, there are four quarterbacks on the roster, and only three spots are available. Shane Buechele has been on the team for the last few years, so he may have the advantage there. Does he finally break through and have a good enough preseason and training camp for Reid to trust him as QB2? Or is it Blaine Gabbert, who just backed up Tom Brady last year and has been in the league for a while? We will just have to wait and see.

Does Chris Jones show up? If so when? How behind is he? So many questions

This one is maybe the biggest one, but I was debating on putting it in this list, so, you get 11 total storylines. Jones is the third best player on the team, the best defensive player, and the best defensive tackle in the league as proof of last season's DPOY consideration. He deserves to be paid.



But we know that he likely won't be at camp until he does get paid. In 2019 he did the same thing. I'd be watching for news on his situation to see when he shows up, what's trending in the right or wrong direction, and even who is getting more playing time with him gone. There are so many questions with this one that need answers, but we truly don't know when we will get them.

The Chiefs have a lot going on starting July 23, when everyone is due to be at training camp. On Wednesday, the rookies reported and got things started. This is the start of the 2023 season, and real football can't get here quickly enough. But first, training camp.

Chiefs: Andy Reid doesn’t know if Chris Jones will be at training camp

The Kansas City Chiefs and their head coach don’t know if Chris Jones will be at training camp or not.

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