his offseason Womens Travis Kelce Jersey , training camp and preseason."Ever since the Chiefs selected Virginia’s Juan Thornhill with the 63rd pick in the second round of NFL Draft, it has been clear he will start for the Chiefs in 2019. “Juan is very versatile,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said after night two of the draft. “He can do a lot of different things for you. We have some really good safeties, but these guys that we have, I think the knack that they have is kind of down low. The Honey Badger (Tyrann Mathieu) kind of said in his press conference he feels like Superman the closer he is to the football. Armani Watts had a lot of those traits and Dan (Sorensen) is a guy that played down a lot. (Jordan) Lucas is a guy that has some range back there, but I think Juan gives you a true free safety, a center fielder and he has tremendous ball skills and range on the back end. I think this really gives you a free safety with playmaking skills back there that can take the football away, but he can also slide down and cover some in the slot. “I think he’ll be a really good cover piece against some athletic tight ends that we’ll see throughout the course of our season.” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid already took a liking to Thornhill during last weekend’s rookie minicamp.“Every day he got his hands on the ball,” Reid said during his post-camp press conference. “Every day. He almost had one here in the red zone. It looks like he’s got a pretty good feel for things. He’s got a little bit of a knack there. Good worker, smart, but again, you have to have that feel back there and he seems to have that.”Watts and Lucas will make the Chiefs’ 53-man roster, but the Chiefs could save $3.7 million against the cap by cutting Sorensen. Thornhill solidifying a starting position in training camp may make that move a no-brainer for Veach and the Chiefs.Center Nick Allegretti (medium chance)Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty ImagesThe way the Chiefs have already spoken about the seventh-round offensive lineman out of Illinois makes you think he was drafted to ensure competition for Austin Reiter at the center position. “He had a chance to go to the East-West (Shrine) game and he actually played guard and center there,” Veach has said of Allegretti. “His center tape was really what kind of caught our eye. You guys know how we feel about guys who have versatility. This is a guy that played guard in the Big Ten, did a really good job. Goes to the East-West game, plays guard, plays a little center and then all of the sudden you watch the East-West game and watch him log game snaps at center De'Anthony Thomas Jersey , and he looked really good at doing that.”Allegretti played guard at Illinois but took practice reps at center for all four years as the team’s backup. It is rare for a seventh-rounder to come in and start, but the truth is with Mitch Morse’s departure, the position is wide open.Reiter started four games for the Chiefs at center last year, so I’d rate Allegretti as having a medium chance to win the job.Wide receiver Mecole Hardman (low chance)Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesI wholeheartedly believe the Chiefs’ top pick in 2019, second-round wide receiver Mecole Hardman, will start as the team’s kick and punt returner. Where it gets more interesting is the wide receiver position. As I mentioned Monday, with each passing day, I think Tyreek Hill will be a member of the 2019 Chiefs more and more. But I don’t think Hill will start the season with the club due to a suspension from the league.What that means is that Hardman will presumably be competing with Sammy Watkins, Demarcus Robinson and Gehrig Dieter/Marcus Kemp/Byron Pringle for one of the starting three (in today’s NFL) wide receiver positions. There are other intriguing names to watch as you dig deeper into the roster.Despite that 4.33 40-yard dash speed, I don’t think it is likely Hardman finishes in the top three of that group. Where the battle may get interesting is when it comes to the specific receiver position in head coach Andy Reid’s offense. If Hill is due to be back in four to six games, Reid may leave Watkins in his “X” receiver position (on the line of scrimmage) while replacing Hill’s “Z” receiver position (a yard off) temporarily.There is a case to be made that Hardman’s skill set may fit that position better than his competition. The challenge will be learning the position quickly — and Reid said he was already off to a good start at rookie minicamp. “Every day he got a little better,” Reid said. “These (routes) are all new. These routes are new to him. He did a nice job in the red zone which normally is the toughest place to work, but he did extremely well there. He had a good finish...You have to throw [the routes] at him. He’s extremely smart so he should be able to handle it.”The wild cardsDefensive tackle Khalen SaundersOne thing to remember when evaluating “starters” in today’s NFL is that teams are in nickel and dime formations much more often than they are in Steve Spagnuolo’s 4-3 Under base for the Chiefs; I remember Spagnuolo’s Chiefs.com video when he said in jest that he plans to run the 5-6. Because the Chiefs could be in a nickel and dime look more so than they will be in the base (where a run-stuffer like Derrick Nnadi thrives), Saunders could wind up getting the bulk of snaps.Punter Jack FoxLet’s be honest: nobody wants to see Dustin Colquitt—probably the greatest punter in the history of the league—cut by the Chiefs. When Colquitt was a free agent during the 2018 offseason, he took less money to stay in Kansas City, citing the idea that he wanted to finish what he started.But even though it isn’t much—his contract is still something—and the Chiefs could save $2.5 million against the cap by cutting the 14-year punter. Lance Zierlein of NFL.com weighed in on Rice’s Jack Fox, a former kickoff specialist http://www.chiefslockerroom.com/authentic-eric-murray-jersey , during the pre-draft process.This to-be battle feels reminiscent of Ryan Succop vs. Cairo Santos in 2014. We’ll see if the rookie wins out this time. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs still had plenty of firepower on offense even without star running back Kareem Hunt.Mahomes threw four touchdown passes Sunday to join Peyton Manning and Tom Brady as the only QBs to reach the 40 TD mark through 12 games, sending the Chiefs to a 40-33 victory over the Oakland Raiders in the first game since releasing Hunt."The mindset of this team is whenever you get your opportunity, you make the most of it," Mahomes said. "I think every single game someone else steps up. We kept our mind on that and just playing football, a game we love."The Chiefs (10-2) cut ties with Hunt after a months-old video surfaced on TMZ on Friday, showing him shoving and kicking a woman. No charges have been filed in the case from February, but the Chiefs let Hunt go because he misled them about the incident .Spencer Ware replaced Hunt as starter and scored on a direct snap on fourth-and-goal from the 1 in the third quarter."That's my brother," Ware said about Hunt. "It's a tough situation. But like I said, the men in this circle, the men in our locker room, the organization, Chiefs kingdom 鈥?we got one goal to win the Super Bowl. We got to stay distraction free. I don't have anything else to say about that."Mahomes did most of the rest of the damage against the Raiders (2-10) with his arm.He connected on two short touchdown passes to Travis Kelce in the first half, then found another tight end, Demetrius Harris, on a 13-yard pass late in the third quarter one play after an apparent TD to Kelce was called off by a replay review."Man, he ticked me off today," Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. "It's a credit to the guy. He made a third-and-15 play that was right on our sideline. I was outside myself I was so upset some of the plays he made today."Mahomes finished 23 for 38 for 295 yards and engineered a late TD drive capped by a 2-yard pass to Chris Conley after Oakland cut the deficit to three.Oakland added a late field goal Womens Dustin Colquitt Jersey , but the Chiefs recovered the onside kick to seal the win.Mahomes has 41 TD passes on the season, joining Manning (44 in 2004, 41 in '13) and Brady (41 in 2007) as the only QBs with at least 40 in the first 12 games of a season.Kelce had 12 catches for 168 yards, topping the 1,000-yard mark for the third straight season.Derek Carr threw three TD passes for the Raiders, but Oakland lost three fumbles that led to three scores for the Chiefs and reached double-digit losses for the 12th time in 16 seasons."It's disappointing," said running back Doug Martin, who lost one of the fumbles. "I don't think it should have been that close. We should have been on top. The turnovers really, really hurt us."QUICK STRIKEThe Raiders got on the board on Martin's 1-yard run to cut Kansas City's lead to 13-7. But Mahomes needed just 57 yards to drive the length of the field. Demarcus Robinson had a 38-yard catch and raced across the entire width of the field to get out of bounds with 12 seconds left and the Chiefs having no timeouts.Mahomes then found Kelce for his second TD of the game on the next play. Arden Key blocked the extra point to keep the score 19-7.SCUFFLEOakland's Jared Cook and Kansas City's Eric Murray got into a scuffle late in the first half when they were jostling near the sideline well after the play. Both players were called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the play.GIVE IT AWAYThe Chiefs got off to a rough start when Kelce lost a fumble on the opening play from scrimmage. It didn't hurt the Chiefs, who got the ball back when the Raiders were unable to get a first down and punted after Rodney Hudson was called for a hold on a fourth-down run.Martin and DeAndre Washington then lost fumbles for Oakland in the first half, leading to field goals for Harrison Butker. Oakland's other halfback, Jalen Richard, lost a fumble in the third quarter that led to a TD for the Chiefs.UP NEXTChiefs: Host Ravens next Sunday.Raiders: Host Steelers next Sunday.