Chiefs position coaches detail key position battles

The Kansas City Chiefs are full steam ahead toward the 2023 NFL season after wrapping up their 2023 training camp on Thursday. The reigning Super Bowl champions don't exactly have a lot of roster spots up for grabs, but they do have a few key position battles going on right now. The team learned quite […]

Charles Goldman — NFL Managing Editor

Aug 17, 2023 3:45 PM EDT

The Kansas City Chiefs are full steam ahead toward the 2023 NFL season after wrapping up their 2023 training camp on Thursday.

The reigning Super Bowl champions don't exactly have a lot of roster spots up for grabs, but they do have a few key position battles going on right now. The team learned quite a bit about those position battles during preseason Week 1 and the final days of training camp.

Where do things currently stand with some of the most important ones? Chiefs position coaches Dave Merritt (defensive backs) and Andy Heck (offensive line) filled reporters in two key battles on Wednesday.

Who will be the third cornerback in sub-packages?

Everyone expects that when L'Jarius Sneed returns to the lineup healthy, he'll be starting alongside Trent McDuffie in the team's base 4-3 personnel. When the team switches to their sub-package defense, either McDuffie or Sneed will move into the slot and another cornerback will come in off the bench to play beside them.

Last year, that cornerback was Jaylen Watson for the most part. Right now, he's in a heated battle with former fourth-round draft pick Joshua Williams for the rights to that job.

“I hope one of the guys steps up and takes the job,” Chiefs DB coach Dave Merritt told reporters. “Until the consistency is shown on a day-to-day basis, which is one of the things the young guys have to learn in the NFL. Every day you wake up, every day you step on the field, you have to prove you belong. Until one of them steps up and takes the job, we will continue to rotate them. So, hopefully, that will iron itself out over the next two weeks.”

Ultimately, this competition could come down to who makes more plays during the course of the preseason. Right now, Williams likely leads the way after a key pass breakup in preseason Week 1 against Michael Thomas in the end zone.

Swing tackle solution already determined?

Donovan Smith and Jawaan Taylor are entrenched as the starting offensive tackles in Kansas City for the time being. If one of those two gets hurt, that's when things start to get interesting for Kansas City.

Chiefs OL coach Andy Heck detailed the swing tackle battle going on between rookie Wanya Morris, Prince Tega Wanogho, and Lucas Niang.

“I’ve been trying to get them equal amount of work right and left," Heck told reporters. "If you are going to be at that swing tackle, you got be comfortable on both sides. It’s been very good competition; I like the way all three men have worked. They’ve got different things they are working on. We’ll continue to evaluate that as we go through camp with a similar rotation.”

While Heck insists that he tried to get players an equal amount of work at right and left tackle, only Morris played both positions during preseason Week 1. Wanogho had 29 snaps on the left side, while Niang had 15 on the ride side. Both of those players allowed no pressures, while Morris allowed a team lead of three pressures on 26 snaps at left tackle and 20 snaps at right tackle.

It seems that only one of these players (Morris) is being prepped for a true swing tackle role.