Tag: Andy Reid

Chiefs HC Andy Reid impressed by Jerick McKinnon’s speed, receiving ability

“He’s got that quickness and speed, and it’s a good change-up.” – #Chiefs HC Andy Reid on RB Jerick McKinnon

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The Kansas City Chiefs have a new face in the backfield and he’s making an impression on some of the most important people in the building.

A day after Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes lauded new RB Jerick McKinnon as a “playmaker” for the offense, HC Andy Reid weighed in on his newest weapon. After just a few months with the team, Reid had some positive things to say about McKinnon.

Reid’s offense has always been known for throwing the ball to their running backs often. Of course, McKinnon’s receiving ability is something that has caught his attention during training camp.

“He’s a talented receiver,” Reid told reporters on Saturday. “He’s been doing this for a long time, especially for running backs, longevity in this league, the average longevity is like three years. So, for him to have been in it and doing it this long, he brings great experience. But he sure has a knack for the pass game. He does a nice job with that.”

McKinnon, 29, spent four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings before signing a four-year contract worth $30 million with the San Francisco 49ers. He suffered a torn ACL ahead of the 2018 NFL season and the injury ultimately cost him two seasons. In 2020, he didn’t seem to have the quickness that he had with the Vikings. A year later, he seems fully recovered from his knee injury. Reid even praised his brand of speed as “different.”

“His (speed) is (different), he’s quick,” Reid said. “He’s got that quickness and speed, and it’s a good change-up. We’ve got a variety of guys, and (Darwin) Thompson’s not out here yet, so you add him into the mix and now you’ve got another variety of running backs that you can present. But it’s great to have his experience here, yeah.”

It sure sounds like Reid is already planning to utilize the speed and quickness that McKinnon offers. If he continues to impress, McKinnon could certainly earn the role on the 53-man roster as a change-of-pace option to Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Darrel Williams.

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Why you could see a very different Chiefs offense in the 2021 NFL season

Kansas City’s offensive line fell apart in Super Bowl LV. Here’s why that disaster has given Andy Reid the room for a major philosophical rebuild.

We all remember what happened to the Chiefs’ patchwork offensive line in Super Bowl LV — the Buccaneers’ defense pretty much killed it, pressuring Patrick Mahomes on 31 of his 56 dropbacks (per Pro Football Focus), and forcing Mahomes into some ugly numbers under pressure — 9 of 26 for 78 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception in Tampa Bay’s 31-9 win. After the season was over, the Chiefs released offensive tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz, both of whom were not able to play in the big game.

In late April, just before the draft, the Chiefs traded their 2021 first-round pick (No. 31 overall), their 2021 third-round pick (No. 94), their 2021 fourth-round pick (No. 136), and a 2022 fifth-round pick to the Ravens in exchange for offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr., Baltimore’s 2021 second-round pick (No. 58 overall), and a 2022 sixth-round pick. The move to get Brown solidifies the left tackle spot, and the second-round pick of Oklahoma center Creed Humphrey in the 2021 draft put some more power in that front five.

Why the Chiefs may have hit the jackpot in the Orlando Brown trade

Geoff Schwartz, former NFL offensive lineman and brother of Mitchell Schwartz, pointed this out from the Chiefs’ training camp video:

Mitchell Schwartz was also impressed.

If the Chiefs are about to move away a bit from inside and outside zone to more of a power/counter/trap/pull man-on-man series of blocking schemes, they couldn’t have done much better from a personnel perspective than Brown and Humphrey. Last season, per Sports Info Solutions, the Ravens ran more straight-up man-on-man stuff, and power blocking with pulling guards, than any other NFL team, and it wasn’t particularly close — 363 snaps.. The Patriots ranked second with 256 overall. In the run game on those concepts, Baltimore led the league with 313 rushing attempts for a league-leading 1,899 yards, a league-leading 862 yards after contact, a league-leading 105 first downs, and a league-leading 15 touchdowns.

The Chiefs weren’t even in the ballpark — they had 102 rushing attempts on such concepts for 497 yards, 201 yards after contact, 31 first downs, and three touchdowns. Obviously, Baltimore’s run game is more complex, and far more of a staple than Kansas City’s, but you can’t blame Andy Reid for wanting to flip the script, if that’s the idea.

In addition, as he showed in this rep against Cleveland edge-rusher Myles Garrett last season, Brown (no. 78) has quite enough practice in protecting his mobile quarterback from pressure over an extended period of time. Blocking for Lamar Jackson will tend to make that happen.

As for Humphrey, selected out of Oklahoma with the 63rd overall pick, he was quite the bully in power schemes. From 2018 through 2020, again per SiS, the Sooners ran man of some sort on 48% of their rushes, and Humphrey was responsible for blowing things up to his gap to the tune of 6.9 yards per carry.

Interestingly enough, Brown and Humphrey were teammates at Oklahoma, as well — Humphrey was redshirting for the Sooners in 2017, which was Brown’s last season there before the Ravens selected him in the third round of the 2018 draft.

The connection appears to be strong here.

Brown, new left guard Joe Thuney, and Humphrey all have the athletic attributes and understanding to present more power to opposing defensive lines. Add in tackle Lucas Niang, a second-year third-rounder who is highly regarded in the organization, and you have the makings of a front five capable of presenting as much power as necessary to opposing defenses.

What might this look like? We got a bit of a preview last season — the Chiefs signed veteran left guard Kelechi Osemele last July, and when healthy, Osemele showed that he was more than happy to go old-school and take people to the woodshed. Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who gained 138 yards and scored a touchdown on 25 carries against the Texans in the 2020 season opener, seemed pretty happy about the whole thing. Knee issues limited Osemele to just five games last season, but he showed a particular paradigm that the Chiefs appear to be extending for the 2021 season. Not that the Chiefs will entirely scrap their zone concepts, but don’t be surprised if Reid and his staff want to give defenses that much more to think about as his team tries to get to the Super Bowl for the third straight season.

How Kelechi Osemele expands and perfects the Chiefs’ impossible offense

Chiefs HC Andy Reid says DE Frank Clark will be present for training camp

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid spoke on DE Frank Clark on Friday, explaining where the team stands following Clark’s offseason arrests…

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid provided the first official statement on the offseason arrests of defensive end Frank Clark.

Clark was twice arrested for possession of an illegal firearm in his hometown of Los Angeles this offseason, once in March and once in June. The 28-year-old pass-rusher was set to be arraigned for his first charge in July, but the hearing was delayed until October.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Reid explained that he’s had a conversation with Clark since learning of his two arrests, but he would not divulge any details of their conversation. Reid did say that Clark would be in attendance at training camp when veterans report to camp early next week.

“Listen, I stay in communication with all of our players during the break, the best way I possibly can,” Reid said. “So, I have had a chance to talk with Frank (Clark). I’m not going to get into that. There’s nothing that has taken place up to this point. Frank will be here and we’ll go forward with that. Obviously, we keep tabs on it and his people will keep tabs on their side of it, and we move forward. That’s where we’re at now, but he will be here. Not now, but when the veterans get here.”

Reid also seems to believe that the Chiefs are prepared in the event of a suspension or a move to Commissioners Exempt List that would keep Clark off the field in Kansas City.

“Yeah, so listen, we brought old 97 (Alex Okafor) back and put him back in the mix here last week,” Reid said. “I think that’s a good addition. I think we’re going to be okay there. We’ve got a couple of young guys that we think are good football players too.”

The Chiefs recently re-signed DE Alex Okafor, who had previously been with the team since 2019. That veteran presence, combined with some of the young guys like Mike Danna and Joshua Kaindoh, should make for a promising rotation on the edge. Reid also offered up some unprompted thoughts, explaining that the team has some flexibility to move one of their star defenders to the edge.

“Let me add this to you too,” Reid said. “Just a reminder that Chris (Jones) was working both spots. We have the flexibility to move Chris out there and that’s where the Jarran Reid part of this, I think, was a big addition that (Brett) Veach added to us.”

It seems like Chiefs fans should get used to the idea of Chris Jones playing more defensive end in 2021. Last season, he played over 200 snaps aligned at the position, the highest mark of his NFL career.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid provides injury update ahead of training camp

Andy Reid provided pre-training camp updates on some injured #Chiefs players such as Kyle Long, DeAndre Baker and Juan Thornhill.

The Kansas City Chiefs are back in action, with quarterbacks, rookies and injured players reporting to training camp on Friday.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid spoke to the media, providing an update on the team’s injured players. He explained that there were some players who would be up with the team and working at the onset of camp, while there are others who are still working back from injury.

“Just on the injury front, we’ve got some guys that are up here that will work,” Reid said. “DeAndre Baker, Taco Charlton, Juan Thornhill — they’ll be doing some activities up here in the next couple of days.”

Baker, to this point, hadn’t taken part in any offseason workouts with the team following surgery to repair a broken femur suffered in Week 17 of the 2020 NFL season. Three other injured players will remain sidelined at the start of Chiefs training camp, with some new information on an injury suffered by a veteran safety this offseason.

“Malik Herring, he’ll be up here,” Reid said. “He had the knee, ACL. He’ll just be rehabbing that. And Armani Watts will be up here. He had a foot fracture and is doing well.”

Herring looks to almost certainly be heading for a redshirt season. Meanwhile, we now know that the injury that kept Watts from the practice field during OTAs and mandatory minicamp was a broken foot. He doesn’t seem to be ready to return to action quite yet.

Finally, Reid discussed the injury to right guard Kyle Long, noting that he hadn’t yet joined the team at training camp. His original injury timeline put him potentially missing the entirety of training camp and the preseason, but Reid expressed some optimism on his rehabilitation.

“Kyle Long is also improving, he is improving and really doing a great job with his rehab likewise,” Reid said. “He will not be up here for this go around for the next couple of days. But he has been rehabbing with us.”

Including injured players, the Chiefs already have 30 players up at training camp for some pre-camp work ahead of the arrival of the veteran players next Monday.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid provides injury update ahead of training camp

Andy Reid provided pre-training camp updates on some injured #Chiefs players such as Kyle Long, DeAndre Baker and Juan Thornhill.

The Kansas City Chiefs are back in action, with quarterbacks, rookies and injured players reporting to training camp on Friday.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid spoke to the media, providing an update on the team’s injured players. He explained that there were some players who would be up with the team and working at the onset of camp, while there are others who are still working back from injury.

“Just on the injury front, we’ve got some guys that are up here that will work,” Reid said. “DeAndre Baker, Taco Charlton, Juan Thornhill — they’ll be doing some activities up here in the next couple of days.”

Baker, to this point, hadn’t taken part in any offseason workouts with the team following surgery to repair a broken femur suffered in Week 17 of the 2020 NFL season. Three other injured players will remain sidelined at the start of Chiefs training camp, with some new information on an injury suffered by a veteran safety this offseason.

“Malik Herring, he’ll be up here,” Reid said. “He had the knee, ACL. He’ll just be rehabbing that. And Armani Watts will be up here. He had a foot fracture and is doing well.”

Herring looks to almost certainly be heading for a redshirt season. Meanwhile, we now know that the injury that kept Watts from the practice field during OTAs and mandatory minicamp was a broken foot. He doesn’t seem to be ready to return to action quite yet.

Finally, Reid discussed the injury to right guard Kyle Long, noting that he hadn’t yet joined the team at training camp. His original injury timeline put him potentially missing the entirety of training camp and the preseason, but Reid expressed some optimism on his rehabilitation.

“Kyle Long is also improving, he is improving and really doing a great job with his rehab likewise,” Reid said. “He will not be up here for this go around for the next couple of days. But he has been rehabbing with us.”

Including injured players, the Chiefs already have 30 players up at training camp for some pre-camp work ahead of the arrival of the veteran players next Monday.

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The Touchdown Wire NFL podcast with running back LeSean McCoy

In today’s episode of the Touchdown Wire’s NFL podcast, Doug Farrar talks with veteran running back LeSean McCoy on a number of topics

In today’s episode of the Touchdown Wire’s NFL podcast, Doug Farrar talks with veteran running back LeSean McCoy about a number of topics.

  • His Shades of Greatness foundation, which touches on everything from ALS research to community outreach in multiple cities, to real estate development in outreach zones;
  • What his NFL future looks like, and which teams would present the best fit;
  • What he brings to a locker room;
  • His experiences with the last two Super Bowl champs — the 2019 Chiefs and the 2020 Buccaneers;
  • How running backs can “matter” in today’s NFL;
  • What you may not know about Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes;
  • How Andy Reid’s offenses have changed over the years;
  • McCoy’s own Hall of Fame prospects down the road, and the legacy he wants to leave.

Listen to the podcast on BlogTalk Radio:

Watch it on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-C9ALry__g

Chiefs HC Andy Reid views the receiver position differently than most

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid made some interesting comments about the receiver position when mandatory minicamp broke.

The Kansas City Chiefs have some shoes to fill at the wide receiver position this offseason, with the departure of Sammy Watkins in free agency.

Tyreek Hill is the clear top dog of the position group, but from there down, it’s considered to be anyone’s game. Many are hoping that Mecole Hardman will step up in his third year as a professional. That is what’s typically considered the natural progression of an NFL player, by your third year you’re ready to contribute at the highest level.

The problem with that line of thinking is that Chiefs HC Andy Reid thinks it’s not so cut and dry. He appreciates having depth at the position, but just like a fine wine, he believes his receivers get better with age.

“Yeah, I think [depth] is important,” Reid said following the conclusion of mandatory minicamp. “I also think that the wide receiver position is one that is deficient just a bit in the stats category, where years help improvement at that position. So, people say that’s a position that you spend your four years with and then you get right—I’m not sure I agree with that. I think there’s a whole lot that goes into the learning process and production. A bit hard to measure, but I believe that.”

Reid is known for having a notoriously tough system for receivers, where it’s rare for a player to pick up the playbook and perform immediately. That’s because of all of the different things that he asks of his receivers. The Chiefs train their guys to know all of the different receiver positions and all of the different responsibilities at those positions. That’s likely one of the reasons why he feels his veterans produce better— they’ve got a better mastery of his complex system.

The Chiefs, of course, have a number of receivers on the roster who have been in that system for some time. Demarcus Robinson is entering his sixth season. Gehrig Dieter and Marcus Kemp are both entering their fifth seasons with the team. Byron Pringle is entering his fourth season. Ultimately, Reid will have a lot of those veteran players to consider when crafting his depth chart for 2021.

How those players are utilized on game day, well, it might be decided on a game-to-game basis. There might not be No. 2 or No. 3 receivers in the traditional sense, at least not right away. Just like he’s used with his backfield in the past, Reid believes a committee approach could be in order for the receiver position during the 2021 NFL season.

“So, I like the guys that we have,” Reid continued. “It might be by committee, but we’ve got a good nucleus of wide receivers there and I feel comfortable with those guys.”

If there’s a game where the Chiefs think they can take advantage using speed, Hardman is probably your guy. If they need a post-up receiver, Pringle might get some more play. Just don’t expect Reid or Eric Bieniemy or anyone else to come out and assign a No. 2 or No. 3 spot to any of these players unless they truly earn the designation.

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Pete Carroll comes in at No. 7 in CBS Sports’ 2021 NFL head coach rankings

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has landed at No. 7 in CBS Sports’ 2021 NFL head coach rankings.

The start of the 2021 NFL season is nearly upon us but we still need to kill a little time before training camps kick off at the end of July. To do just that, the folks over at CBS Sports put together their 2021 NFL head coach rankings and Chief’s Andy Reid took the top spot on the list.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll came in at No. 7.

“He’s often the brunt of jokes about Seattle improperly using Russell Wilson or unwisely emphasizing the run or poorly building the offensive line.” Cody Benjamin writes.

“And yet the Seahawks are never not in the fight under his watch, winning at least 10 games in eight of their last nine seasons,” Benjamin continues. “Bad defense or quizzical personnel decisions don’t affect Carroll’s charisma, even if playoff results have been middling.”

Carroll will get his 12th shot to make the playoffs in Seattle when this year’s season begins in September.

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Don’t get duped: Fake Chiefs HC Andy Reid takes Twitter by storm

The imposter was spotted taking selfies at a recent Royals game and has taken Twitter by storm.

There’s an imposter on the loose, Chiefs Kingdom!

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid is a popular imitation among fans, with many adopting his signature look and style. You’ll spot many impersonators on gameday in the stands at Arrowhead Stadium, but it’s pretty rare to find one during the offseason, at least until now.

During the Kansas City Royals game against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, a dashing-looking gentleman was spotted in the stands. To the naked eye, it appears to be Reid. After closer inspection, fans will find that this is one of Reid’s many impersonators.

Check it out:

He goes by @AlmostAndyReid on social media and claims to be “Chiefs Super Fan and head coach doppelgänger.” He’s got a bit of work to do as far as mastering Reid’s voice and verbal ticks, but he certainly brings some of the coach’s signature energy.

https://www.tiktok.com/@almostandyreid/video/6975285148354907397?is_copy_url=0&is_from_webapp=v1&sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6950473711128675845

A number of media outlets were fooled by the fake Reid, believing that this was actually the Chiefs’ coach taking some selfies in the stands at Kauffman Stadium.

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes couldn’t help but laugh at the imposter.

Media outlets might not be the only ones fooled by the imposter. Chiefs rookie WR Cornell Powell seems to have fallen into the trap. Reid might have to give him a good ribbing about this one come training camp.

I expect Reid to have a good sense of humor about it all in the end, just as he has with his previous impersonators. He even let one start off his a training camp press conference for him back in 2016.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84cQRB5qwOc

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Chiefs fan hilariously gets mistaken for Andy Reid at Royals game

No, that wasn’t Andy Reid taking selfies at the Royals game.

They say everyone has a doppelgänger in the world. And it just so happens that Chiefs head coach Andy Reid’s doppelgänger lives in Kansas City, which makes for some hilarious moments sure to leave fans second-guessing.

Matt Black has become a fan favorite among Chiefs fans for his uncanny resemblance to Reid. It’s enough to make anyone second guess if they’re actually witnessing Reid or not.

“I thought, if I can do a little bit on my side to bring a little fun, a little joy into people’s lives, then that’s what I’m doing,” Black said, via FOX 4.

That was certainly the case during Saturday’s Kansas City Royals game, where cameras caught someone who looked like Reid taking selfies in the stands. At one point, even Bleacher Report believed that it was actually Reid snapping selfies while in the stands at Kauffman Stadium. And they certainly weren’t alone. The resemblance is startling.

Black first started impersonating Reid in 2018 for Halloween. After some nudging from his children, he finally joined Tik Tok last year, where his Almost Andy Reid  account — with over 250,000 followers — is dedicated to everything Reid and the Chiefs.

“My favorite thing is, I don’t really have to act too much because you’d be surprised at how similar we really are in real life. People are kind of surprised,” Black said, via FOX 4. “We have about the same gait when we walk, mustache is pretty similar. We got the little crooked thing.”

Even during the NFL offseason, Black continues to provide plenty of laughs and keep us all on our toes.

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