The Kansas City Chiefs have released their latest “unofficial” depth chart ahead of the Week 16 game against the Seattle Seahawks.
With the depth chart coming out a day early due to the short week, there are no new changes reflected. Generally speaking, these are intended to give a rough idea of where a player is on the depth chart, but they’re not always entirely accurate. They’re considered “unofficial” because they’re assembled by the team’s PR staff and not the coaching staff and they might not always reflect what happens on game day as a result of that. It’s intended to be a fluid document that evolves as the roster changes throughout the season.
With all of that in mind, let’s take a look at the latest depth chart (dated Dec. 19) and see what we can learn about the Chiefs:
Offense
| Pos. | First | Second | Third | Fourth |
| QB | Patrick Mahomes | Chad Henne | Shane Buechele | |
| RB | Isiah Pacheco | Jerick McKinnon | Ronald Jones | |
| FB | Michael Burton | |||
| TE | Travis Kelce | Noah Gray | Jody Fortson | |
| WR | JuJu Smith-Schuster | Skyy Moore | ||
| WR | Marquez Valdes-Scantling | Kadarius Toney | Justin Watson | |
| LT | Orlando Brown Jr. | Geron Christian | Prince Tega-Wanogho | |
| LG | Joe Thuney | Nick Allegretti | ||
| C | Creed Humphrey | Nick Allegretti | ||
| RG | Trey Smith | Nick Allegretti | ||
| RT | Andrew Wylie | Darian Kinnard | Lucas Niang |
Observations:
- No changes on the offensive side of the ball this week, but there is a change coming soon with Mecole Hardman expected to be activated to the 53-man roster this week. That will likely happen on Friday.
- One thing not reflected on the depth chart is that rookie OL Darian Kinnard has been working at guard lately according to Chiefs OL coach Andy Heck.
- Another thing to note is that for two consecutive weeks Justin Watson has played the second-most snaps of any Chiefs receiver.
Defense
| Pos. | First | Second | Third | Fourth |
| LDE | Mike Danna | George Karlaftis | Malik Herring | |
| LDT | Derrick Nnadi | Khalen Saunders | ||
| RDT | Chris Jones | Brandon Williams | ||
| RDE | Frank Clark | Carlos Dunlap | Joshua Kaindoh | |
| MLB | Nick Bolton | Darius Harris | ||
| WLB | Willie Gay Jr. | Jack Cochrane | ||
| SLB | Leo Chenal | Jack Cochrane | ||
| LCB | L’Jarius Sneed | Joshua Williams | Chris Lammons | |
| RCB | Trent McDuffie | Jaylen Watson | Nazeeh Johnson | |
| FS | Juan Thornhill | Deon Bush | ||
| SS | Justin Reid | Bryan Cook |
Observations:
- No formal changes on the defensive side of the ball this week either. It’s worth noting that Jaylen Watson played more snaps than Joshua Williams in Week 15.
Special teams
| Pos. | First | Second | Third | Fourth |
| P | Tommy Townsend | |||
| K | Harrison Butker | |||
| LS | James Winchester | |||
| H | Tommy Townsend | |||
| PR | Kadarius Toney | Justin Watson | Skyy Moore | |
| KR | Isiah Pacheco | Skyy Moore |
Observations:
- With Kadarius Toney returning to the lineup, he officially reclaimed his role as the team’s starting punt returner. He took five snaps at the position during Week 15.
