The Kansas City Chiefs currently have 91 football players competing for spots on the 53-man roster, which will be trimmed in early September. The various battles at the fringes of the roster will kick into high gear during training camp, starting in the last week of July.
The first step to projecting this year’s 53-man roster is to determine which players feel locked into a spot, even before camp begins.
Here are my initial thoughts:
Offense
Quarterback (2)
Patrick Mahomes
Justin Fields
Running back (2) Kenneth
Walker Emmett Johnson
Tight end (2)
Travis Kelce
Noah Gray
Wide receiver (3)
Rashee Rice
Xavier Worthy
Tyquan Thornton
Offensive Line (6)
Josh Simmons
Kinglsey Suamataia
Creed Humphrey
Trey Smith
Jaylon Moore
Esa Pole
Main takeaways
That makes 15 “locks” among the Chiefs’ offense.
While the team hasn’t assured Jaylon Moore that he is the team’s starting right tackle, it’s hard to imagine him anywhere else but Kansas City for the upcoming season. The organization lost Pole when he was cut last offseason, so there should be a lesson learned from taking that chance again.
In 2025, Gray didn’t play like a tight end who should be comfortable in his job security heading into this training camp, but the organization did little to threaten his role, and it’s important the offense has depth at that position.
With only the team’s starting three receivers listed, it feels like the rest of the room is a wide-open competition, especially for a player with return skills. Not listed, Nikko Remigio is an incumbent return specialist whose role certainly feels up for grabs.
Defense
Defensive ends (4)
George Karlaftis
Ashton Gillotte
R Mason Thomas
Felix Anudike-Uzomah
Defensive tackles (4)
Chris Jones
Khyris Tonga
Peter Woods
Omar Norman-Lott
Linebackers (2)
Nick Bolton
Drue Tranquill
Defensive backs (6)
Mansoor Delane
Nohl Williams
Alohi Gilman
Chamarri Conner
Jaden Hicks
Jadon Canady
Main takeaways
For the defense, the total of 16 “locks” combines with 15 on offense to make 31 of the 50 spots needing to be filled from both units; the trio of returning specialists is considered a lock by Arrowhead Pride.
If you jumped at the chance to reject the idea of fourth-year defensive end, former first-round pick Felix Anudike-Uzomah being a lock to make the team, consider the wilderness that is the depth after listing him as the fourth-string player. That spot will need to contribute to the starting defense throughout the season, and right now, the organization doesn’t have another option, making it difficult to afford cutting ties with someone as familiar with the system as Anudike-Uzomah is.
There will be an interesting mix of players competing to make up for lost snaps from the Chiefs’ long-time third linebacker: Leo Chenal. Cooper McDonald was a standout on special teams last season, but he still has more to prove, along with last year’s fifth-round pick, Jeffrey Bassa, to be considered a lock for the roster at this point.
Kansas City signed cornerback L’Jarius Sneed during OTAs, signaling the loaded competition that will take place in the secondary. It’s hard to know who to feel strongly about outside of recent draft picks and Gilman, the veteran free agent who signed a three-year contract this spring.
Who was snubbed from being considered a “lock” for the Chiefs’ roster currently? Whose job should not feel so cemented? Let us know in the comments.
