Kansas City Chiefs Stock Report: Week 1 2022

Embed from Getty Images
Sunday’s Week 1 win over the Arizona Cardinals was highly exciting for the Kansas City Chiefs. From start to finish, the offense had a marvelous day. There may not be a lot of items that stood out from the defense, if you are looking simply at the box score. Nevertheless, they flustered Kyler Murray and were able to limit the Cardinals to a minimal amount of explosive plays.

Who were the main performers that stood out for Kansas City in Arizona? There were a few top players that should be recognized. Elsewhere, the Chiefs will be looking for some improvement or good news from others or in other areas. Each and every week, we will be listing the players or position groups that improved or hurt their respective stock. While it was mostly a strong showing against the Cardinals, the Chiefs were not perfect. Who had their stock rise or fall in Week 1? Let’s kick it off.

Stock Up

Clyde Edwards-Helaire

Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire came to play on Sunday. It is obvious that CEH has not completely lived up to his draft status. However, we saw some of the abilities flash in Arizona that encouraged the Chiefs to take him in the first round. Edwards-Helaire was simply able to provide more versatility than what we had seen in most of the last two years with Kansas City. Overall, that was a major selling point for him in this offense coming out of LSU.

Edwards-Helaire’s stats from Sunday will not blow anyone away. Yet, he was more involved in the passing game, something that Chiefs fans had been waiting to see more of. He hauled in two touchdown passes. On the other hand, his patience and vision as a runner were both much more polished than what we had seen from Edwards-Helaire previously.

Patrick Mahomes

Other than one or two throws that were a hair off, Patrick Mahomes was flawless on Sunday. His five touchdown passes are all well and good. Though, it was the way in which he attacked the Cardinals that stood out. Mahomes was utilizing play action fakes and a moving pocket to freeze the feet of defenders. Kansas City did well to spread the ball around to all areas of the field, as well. Generally, Mahomes was able to play at different paces throughout the day. He was just under control and made plenty of correct decisions. With the plethora of changes to the offensive personnel, this was about as tremendous of a start as you could have hoped for the Chiefs quarterback.

Travis Kelce

Similar to Mahomes, Travis Kelce had a performance that is largely expected of him, when it comes to most extreme projections. He finished with eight receptions for 121 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. Mainly, Kelce was able to generate most of his yards by attacking down the field. He did not have to sit in zones very often. When he did, Kelce still displayed sudden wiggle at the top of his route, allowing him to gain more separation. It was a long day for Isaiah Simmons, who was forced to cover Kelce one-on-one. The Chiefs tight end used moves that appeared to be so subtle. But, Simmons just could not stay on top of him.

Chris Jones

Once again, the Chiefs defense was not putting up any numbers that truly stood out. It was the way in which they played up front that affected Arizona, however. Chris Jones was the top performer on the defensive line. He created stops in multiple ways for the Kansas City defense. For instance, the Chiefs benefitted from his ability to knock down passes at the line of scrimmage, as well as his hustle and reads on run defense. The Chiefs actually nearly had a fumble recovery because of a hit Jones made on James Conner. Even though Arizona recovered their own fumble, the Cardinals could not contain Jones.

Stock Down

Chiefs Injury Report

The Kansas City Chiefs have done an adequate job of building up their depth for this season. That depth will soon be put to the test. While no one appears to have suffered a season-ending injury, the Chiefs dealt with many ailments during Sunday’s game. Harrison Butker got hurt early. Thankfully, he made a return from the ankle injury to nail a long field goal. We know how crucial the kicking game can be at the NFL level, however. That much was evidenced heavily throughout the wildness that was NFL Sunday in Week 1.

Other top names suffered injuries as well. Mahomes landed on his left hand after an early touchdown pass. He does appear to be fine. Even still, he could not even hand the ball off with his left hand afterwards. The Chiefs will do a test to check it out, according to reporters. The same will be done for guard Trey Smith, who left early with an ankle injury.

Finally, Justin Watson left with a chest injury. That affects the Chiefs special teams units, not just the wide receiver depth. Rookie cornerback Trent McDuffie also left with a hamstring injury. Of course, the timetable on those kinds of injuries can always differ, depending on the player. With a short week going into Week 2 against the Chargers, the Chiefs will hope for quick recoveries entering Thursday night’s game.

Mecole Hardman

It was not necessarily an empty day for Mecole Hardman. Nonetheless, it felt like some plays could have been more fruitful for both he and the Chiefs offense. Hardman finished the day with three catches on six targets for 16 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. You would think a touchdown catch would keep him out of the stock down category.

However, there were a couple of opportunities that Hardman had to reel in some longer passes. On the first drive, the Georgia product ran a deep post or deep over route. The pass was maybe a bit ahead of where Hardman was running. In spite of that, the ball was barely ahead of the receiver’s hands. A similar vertical route was also a near miss for Hardman later in the game. Mahomes may have to put a bit more touch on the ball. Notwithstanding, Hardman has to show a greater finish on those routes. The spurts of improvement are there. Hardman has had recurring issues like being able to finish the route, however.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs articles and analysis throughout this week. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.