KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Chiefs started with 90 players at the end of July and they now have 53 in the locker room, in a roster that has changed three times in three days.
Aug. 5, 2015; St. Joseph, MO; Chiefs coach Andy Reid watches a drill during training camp at Missouri Western State University, (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
But as the smoke cleared Monday, it appeared that general manager John Dorsey and head coach Andy Reid had their roster set, or at least in place for the first week of the season.
Here’s a look behind the roster at the back stories for the 2015 Chiefs.
Happy birthday to them
Average age: 25.8 years.
Oldest player: punter Dustin Colquitt celebrated his 33rd birthday back on May 6th. There are eight players who are 30 or older.
Youngest player: Cornerback Steven Nelson, who will not reach his 22nd birthday until November 22nd. The Chiefs have three other players that are 22 years old: linebacker Ramik Wilson, defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches and wide receiver/returner De’Anthony Thomas.
There are 26 players on the roster born in 1990 or later.
Tale of the tape
Average height: 6-foot-2.
Average weight: 246 pounds.
The tallest Chiefs are offensive linemen Eric Fisher and Jah Reid and tight end Demetrius Harris – they all stand 6-feet, 7 inches. The shortest Chiefs players are wide receiver/returner De’Anthony Thomas and kicker Cairo Santos at 5-feet, 8 inches. Wide receiver Albert Wilson is 5-feet, 9 inches. The smallest defensive players all stand at least 5-foot-11.
The biggest Chiefs is nose tackle Dontari Poe at 346 pounds. Offensive lineman Paul Fanaika tops that side of the ball at 327 pounds. The lightest is Santos at 160 pounds. Overall, only nine of the 53 players weigh less than 200 pounds and only three are less than 190 pounds: Santos, Thomas (176) and wide receiver Frankie Hammond Jr. (184).
Been there, done that
Average experience: 3.9 seasons.
Rookies: 9.
Players with no regular season NFL starts: 12, nine rookies, plus long snapper James Winchester and second-year quarterback Aaron Murray and guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.
Most experienced: punter Dustin Colquitt, linebacker Derrick Johnson and quarterback Alex Smith, all selected in 2005 NFL Draft, making this their 11th season in the league.
Roster player with most games played: 158 games by Colquitt. Outside linebacker Tamba Hali has played in 141 games and Johnson has been in 138 games.
Roster player with the most NFL starts: Hali has started 141 games, Johnson 125 starts and guard Ben Grubbs has opened 118 games. The only other player with 100 starts or more is Alex Smith with 105.
Most experience in the playoffs: There are 26 players with post-season experience topped by Grubbs who played and started 11 post-season games in Baltimore and New Orleans. Wide receiver Jason Avant has appeared in eight post-season games and defensive end Mike DeVito played in seven games.
Most starting experience in the playoffs: There are 18 players that opened a game in the post-season, again with Grubbs and his 11 starts leading the way.
Super Bowl rings: there are four players on the roster that were part of an NFL championship team: Grubbs and Jah Reid with Baltimore in Super Bowl XLVII; quarterback Chase Daniel with New Orleans in Super Bowl XLIV; linebacker Frank Zombo with Green Bay in Super Bowl XLV. Grubbs and Zombo both started in a Super Bowl.
The alumni association is calling
School most represented: The University of Georgia, with four former Bulldogs on the roster. There are three products of the University of Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
Total colleges with players on the Chiefs roster: 38, from the best FCS programs to Division II schools, a Canadian college and a university that doesn’t field a football team.
Conference that produced players on Chiefs roster: SEC 15, Pac-12 and American 7 each, Big 10 and Big 12 4 each, Colonial and Conference USA 2 each; and 1 each from Mid-America Conference, Southland, Missouri Valley, Southern, Sun Belt and an independent (Brigham Young).
How they reached the NFL
Caught in the NFL Draft: 39 of the 53 players were picked coming out of college in the league’s annual selection meeting. That includes 10 first rounders and 24 that were selected among the first 100 players in their chance for the NFL Draft.
Drafted by the Chiefs: 27, from Eric Fisher as the first choice in the 2013 NFL Draft to pick No. 217 in Rakeem Nunez-Roches.
Forgotten in the draft: 14 players did not arrive through the NFL Draft. There are five players that were signed as undrafted rookie free agents, three that were unrestricted free agents, three that joined the team as street free agents and two came through the waiver wire.
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Bob Gretz is the senior editor for ChiefsDigest.com. Use the contact page to reach him or find him on Twitter: @BobGretzcom.
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