@TJCarpenterWHB

It’s OTAs, but there are already players sticking out in both positive and negative ways. Jon Baldwin, negative. Dwayne Bowe, positive. Nico Johnson has yet been given an opportunity to prove he can be a solid addition at middle linebacker to the Chiefs defense - how can he without contact or pads - but he has impressed with his comments and ability to take in the defense very quickly.

Wednesday Derrick Johnson sang Nico’s praises, Thursday Nico sang Derrick’s praises. Nico Johnson wanted to emphasize he’s taking full advantage of the veteran leadership at his disposal. He comes off as thoughtful, intelligent, and confident. I can’t wait to see him in pads and hitting, but so far, I’m impressed by Nico Johnson.

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It was easy to see the Chemistry between Alex Smith and Bowe is already forming. Smith is putting touch on the ball and Bowe is creating separation. This could be a great duo this season as many fans have anticipated for some time, but finally getting a chance to see it in person gives the anticipation some substance.

Jon Baldwin didn’t look much better, Andy Reid talked to him alone for a couple minutes during practice, it didn’t seem to be a productive conversation. "He's done some good things," Reid said. "He had some good catches today. He's working hard. He's working on the little things, and that will help him down the road here. He's a big man, so there is a certain way you need to play when you're big. He's doing that. He's getting better at it."

Mardy Gilyard got some work with the starters in the slot.

The final OTA of the first week seemed to include a lot less motion in the offense and focused more about substitutions and tempo. There was less focus on first team alignments and more focus on personnel, which reinforces the idea that the offense will have several mainstays in Bowe, Jamaal Charles and... well Alex Smith, but the rest of the skill positions are moving parts. It also leads me to believe the offense will have an emphasis on speed. The no huddle is not a unique concept. It has been utilized both to success and failure. How much the no huddle shows up in games before the final minutes is still not yet fully known.

The Pistol also made an appearance, both of the single back and triple back variety. Several looks showed up at practice including both multi fullback and running back sets. It could be experimental. It was limited in terms of reps. I’m interested to see how much a part of the offense the Pistol plays in the offense this season. If the hiring of Chris Ault is any indication, it could be a lot.

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Effort from all areas of the team has been a huge theme in the first week of OTAs. Andy Reid as seemed satisfied so far. "I was happy with the effort," Reid said. "Do we have a long way to go? Yeah, we have a long way to go, but we're taking strides in the right direction. The guys got better every day they had a chance to come out here. There weren't taking steps back. They were steps forward. We'll keep doing that and keep striving to do that."

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In addition to Derrick Johnson’s role expanding it seems Eric Berry’s role is expanding as well. He sounded taxed but excited about all the new things he’s being asked to do by defensive coordinator Bob Sutton. Berry had issues rotating over in time to cover the tight end last season. This season he’s being asked to do more because of the increased emphasis on the blitz.

Mike DeVito believes the personnel the Chiefs currently have on defense is perfect for Sutton’s scheme. In particular, he was impressed by Dontari Poe. "Poe, he reminds me of Kris Jenkins," Mike DeVito said, "just so big and so athletic. When he puts his hand down and gets going there's just no stopping him."

Last season, the Chiefs had 27 team sacks. Andy Reid’s former team, the Philadelphia Eagles had 30. Bob Sutton’s former team, the New York Jets, also had 30. If those numbers are to improve, the production will likely come from an overall increased effort, not a significant increase in production from the Chiefs primary pass rushers, Tamba Hali and Justin Houston.

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Rodney Hudson is fully cleared to play according to Rodney Hudson

Knile Davis was in California representing the Chiefs in the Rookie Premiere, which Andy Reid made sure to mention was a mandatory event. I’m guessing if it weren’t, Davis would have been out at practice listening to Guns ‘N Roses with the rest of the team.

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For more from Chiefs OTAs, follow me on twitter @TJCarpenterWHB  and listen to The Program with Soren Petro and Between the Lines with Kevin Kietzman for live updates Tuesday through Friday and Sports Night with myself TJ Carpenter 6-10pm for exclusive interviews with coaches and players and all the in-depth analysis of the Chiefs this season.

@TJCarpenterWHB

Heading into day 3 of OTAs in Kansas City, one thing is apparent, Andy Reid does not like slackers. Whether you’re a player or a media member.

That isn’t good news for wideout Jon Baldwin, who last year pulled in 20 receptions for 325 yards and 1 touchdown. (Flipper Anderson had 15 receptions for 339 and 1 touchdown in a single game in 1989.)

Baldwin has looked lethargic and disinterested so far in the new regime. Though it is not an everyday occurrence, coaches have gotten after Baldwin about his effort out at practice. I don’t want to be the guy that calls a veteran player out of a lack of effort at OTAs, but Baldwin’s track record coupled with his lack of production and his general demeanor so far under Andy Reid, I would say these comments are warranted. Of the 89 players currently on the roster including UFAs and Draft Picks, 47 weren’t Chiefs a season ago. That should tell you a lot about how Andy Reid and John Dorsey thought of the existing roster. I expect that ratio to come down to earth a little, but still be around 50 percent turnover from a season ago.

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Alex Smith throws easily caught passes. This wouldn’t be a story except for the fact Alex Smith’s velocity and touch, while commonplace in the NFL, are something like finding water on Mars in Kansas City. Dwayne Bowe gushed over how well Smith places his passes. Knile Davis also mentioned how easily caught Smith’s passes were because of ball placement. I doubt it was coincidence or something they were coached to say. The much safer, more logical conclusion is Alex Smith is a much better quarterback than anyone the Chiefs have had in a very long time.

...

New running back Knile Davis is still trying to get a firm grasp of all the offensive concepts Reid’s offense throws a running back. Davis was almost exclusively a ball carrier in college; now he said he has to know “three different positions” based on where he is lined up on the field. Assimilating the playbook and translating those core concepts to the field has demanded a new approach, as one would expect, from Davis who said, “I’m looking at it this way, everyday we go to class, and taking it out on the field is like a quiz we have to take every day. I want to be ready for it every time we go out there.”

Davis looks explosive, it will be a lot of fun seeing Davis play once a level of contact is inserted into the equation. Fumbling is of course a primary concern and it has been something Davis has focused on a great deal in just a short time. His ball security technique looks a lot like what former Giants running back Tiki Barber employed in his time in the NFL after being labeled a “fumbler” and having to change his game: high and tight to the extreme.

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Davis is also one of four players who is currently being tried out at kick returner. Davis, along with Dexter McCluster (who apparently plays the “McCluster” position), and wide receivers Devon Wylie and Mardy Gilyard all took reps returning kickoffs. It is not a position that has been determined yet obviously, but McCluster as the veteran said that full effort on every snap is going to win the spot and that’s what he prides himself the most on, full effort every play. He also acknowledged that the other younger players aren’t quite there yet but working towards it. Davis said he relishes the opportunity to try something new and likes the fact that it essentially a “one cut” play. Davis, McCluster and Wylie all displayed great burst and top end speed in the drill. Gilyard will likely not be in the mix for much longer at kick returner.

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Braden Wilson out of Kansas State signed his contract yesterday, but so far out at practice the draftee has not been taking snaps with the starters. In that role has been filled so far by Anthony Sherman who was aquired from Arizona in a trade for Javier Arenas.

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Derrick Johnson is excited about the prospect of doing more and having an expanded role in the Chiefs’ new-look defense. More blitzing means more responsibility for the designated leader-by-awesomeness at middle linebacker. Johnson has already looked over all of what the Jets did from a season ago to more quickly get in tune with his new defensive coordinator. Johnson also remarked that draftee Nico Johnson and free agent signee Akeem Jordan have picked up the defense very quickly, which has impressed DJ.

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Brandon Flowers and Shaun Smith talked to the media yesterday and were very complimentary of one another. It’s understandable, Smith’s size makes him a valuable commodity in man coverage against larger receivers. Given the amount of blitzing the Chiefs look to do this season, that commodity will be a valuable ingredient to the unit’s success.

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For more from Chiefs OTAs, follow me on twitter @TJCarpenterWHB  and listen to The Program with Soren Petro and Between the Lines with Kevin Kietzman for live updates Tuesday through Friday and Sports Night with myself TJ Carpenter 6-10pm for exclusive interviews with coaches and players and all the in-depth analysis of the Chiefs this season.

TJ Carpenter

Andrew Wiggins wasn’t supposed to be a Jayhawk. We had all heard the reports from national pundits, we had seen the predictions from the experts that played, coached and covered the game for decades. Andrew Wiggins was never coming to Kansas.

(Depending on who you ask, he never should have been coming to the college game period.)

It was supposed to be upstart, pesky, but rich with  family ties Florida State, but it wasn’t. Then it was North Carolina, the self appointed poster child of college basketball, but it wasn’t. Finally Kentucky’s War Machine churning out NBA prospects as quickly as it gobbled them up from high school, but it wasn’t. It was Kansas. Kansas, which wasn’t supposed to win 9 straight Big 12 titles, but did. Kansas, which wasn’t supposed to be favored to win a 10th after losing all 5 starters from last season, but will be. Kansas, who can’t possibly be this lucky, but is.

(Or is it luck?)

Kansas Basketball is the most consistently great program in America. It was different when John Wooden and UCLA dominated college basketball’s landscape. In today’s game, what Kansas has done under Bill Self is remarkable.

And just when that remarkable run was supposed to slow down and taper off, Kansas got the best player in the country since the NBA mandated players be 19 years of age to play in its league.

It was supposed to be Oklahoma State’s year. The year when the Pokes had the best player in the conference, not Kansas. But just when it looked like the 7 other long-time members of the Big 12 would be able to take schadenfreude in the downfall of the Jayhawks, Bill Self found a way.

(Was it Bill Self or was it Kansas?)

Kansas in many was IS Bill Self, and Bill Self in many ways is Kansas - steady, even-keeled, laid-back, dominant - which is why Andrew Wiggins was going to Kansas all along, we just didn’t know it.

(But wait! I thought he was milking this whole thing for attention.)

Wiggins made his intentions known, quietly, calmly, away from the spotlight; he may leave high school without fanfare, but I doubt he’ll enter Allen Fieldhouse the same way. Wiggins is a quiet, but dominant player who lets his play speak for itself. He enjoys his privacy, his family, and while he isn’t afraid of the spotlight, never seeks it.

That being said, Kansas basketball is Kansas City’s NBA team: Wiggins its biggest individual star. And while that may not sit well with the Chiefs or the Royals, they’ll have to accept it as a reality.

(Maybe they should try to win more.)

In the end, it was never supposed to be Kansas, but it was. I can’t say I’m surprised, Kansas always finds a way. And when this season comes and goes, Wiggins comes and goes, Kansas Basketball will remain.

(At least for now, so will Bill Self.)

And love them or hate them, there is no doubt these words will evoke emotion in everyone that reads or hears them.

Kansas does it again.

By TJ Carpenter

Baseball was once described as a perfect metaphor for life . Life takes a long time to live, and often what we brush off as inconsequential ends up being the difference between apathy and passion; the difference between getting what we want and regretting we didn’t care more when we had the chance.

The Royals are 18-16 and still above .500. The Royals have also lost 6 of their last 7 games.

(How many people said it was only one game?)

Wade Davis in 35.1 innings has allowed 65 runners on base. 50 hits, 15 walks. His WHIP is 1.85 and he has the same amount of wins as James Shields. That in essence is the frustration of Royals fans.

(Be patient, he’ll come out of this slump.)

Pitching is supposed to mean everything, and yet despite pitching being great or pitching being awful, the results ultimately seem to be the same.


Before yesterday’s game, Ervin Santana had a 2.36 ERA which was one of the 10 best in the American League. In fact, the Royals top three in the rotation, James Shields, Ervin Santana and Jeremy Guthrie were all in the top 10 in ERA in the American League. Santana is now at 2.79, which is still a very impressive mark. The problem, is that while Shields, Santana and Guthrie are pitching well enough to get wins, aside from Guthrie, victories are few and far between for the Royals.

The obvious short-term solution for Davis is to give him more days off and give Luis Mendoza more starts. Or phase Davis out entirely and reinsert Bruce Chen into the starting rotation, his less than stellar outing on Friday giving up two inherited and three earned runs notwithstanding.

(We can wait until Felipe Paulino or Danny Duffy get healthy.)

If you’re like me, the constant insulation Ned Yost provides Davis despite his horrid performance so far is eerily similar to the protection formerly afforded Luke Hochevar. Damaged goods were never this hard to sell. Preferential treatment makes it hard to maintain a high standard.

Alex Gordon leads the Royals in every major offensive category. He’s batting .320 with 28 RBI, 24 R, 6 HR and a .864 OPS. He has been, in a couple words, awesomely reliable. He’s one of two accepted givens in the lineup as consistently productive. Yet the second of those two, Billy Butler, is 2-23 from the plate in his last 6 games.

(Billy is Billy, he’ll come out of this slump. There’s still plenty of season left.)

Mike Moustakas is hitting better of late, but still not to the level most Royals fans expected him to. Hitting just .213 on the year with 4 HR and 10 RBI, most of that production has come in the last 6 games. Aside from his less than impressive offensive numbers, Moose is leading the team in fielding errors with 7, the worst mark in Major League Baseball. He is one of two players expected to boost the offense to the level of contention who has consistently let fans down with sketchy to sub-par play. Eric Hosmer, the second of those two, has at least been able to get on base at a more consistent rate than he was a season ago, although his offensive production is defined by a consistently late swing that limits contact and drives balls to left field. He is consistent in all the wrong ways.

(Hos and Moose will turn it around this year.)

Dyson hit leadoff yesterday for the Royals, Cain had the day off and Elliot Johnson seems to be easing into the second base role as Chris Getz is slowly phased out of the starting lineup. For many, the focus of the Royals offensive woes have been focused on whether or not Johnson should be starting over Getz and whether or not Dyson should be an everyday player. Whether it is Dyson in for Jeff Francouer or the growing popularity David Lough has been accumulating in AAA-Omaha, it is apparent, fans want Ned Yost to make a change that takes free-swinging players out of the lineup in exchange for patient hitters and speed.

If you think the answer to the Royals offensive anemia is Elliot Johnson or David Lough, you’re looking for answers in the wrong places.

(What happened to the best farm system in Baseball?)

This year should be about the now. Every pitch, every play, every game. It matters. This isn’t about the future or the past. It isn’t about payroll or preferential treatment. The Royals need to win now. If the Royals let the slightest bit of adversity turn them from the team that walked with swagger just days ago, then they really are the same old Royals. I don’t believe that is true. But one thing's for certain, we are about to find out.

By TJ Carpenter

The Royals are unbelievable. Literally. That term is thrown around often with positive connotation, in sports. But, with the Kansas City Royals, the term unbelievable should be taken as literally as possible. People literally don't believe the Royals are this good, or that Spring Training in any way shape or form means anything when it comes to regular season success.

As the Royals wrapped up the Cactus league title (whatever that means in the grand scheme of things) they averaged a hair under seven runs per outing and lead all of Major League Baseball in total runs (207), team batting average (.338) and on base percentage (.390). Simply put, teams just haven’t been able to get the Royals out.

But the collective opinions on the merits of such numbers is that they are a byproduct of substandard competition, big-league veteran pitchers mailing it in, and the weather... I always like it when you can blame things on the weather.

The argument the Royals’ numbers are inflated because of substandard competition doesn’t hold water because the same is true of every team in MLB and would affect other teams the same way. Luckily, Baseball Reference had addressed this growing concerns of seamheads around the country with the metric (OppQual) Level of Opponent Quality batters or pitchers faced. The metric operates on a scale of 1-10, 1 being a rookie ball level player, 10 being a Major Leaguer. Every starting player in the lineup excluding Jarrod Dyson has an OppQual of 9 or better.

There is some merit to the idea that Major League veterans mail in Spring Training, which is why Spring Training numbers are so heavily devalued in the baseball community overall. But let’s ask ourselves a simple question, “How much better are the Royals?” because that ultimately is the question we all want to know the answer to. It’s also why there is such excitement surround the club this season. Even if every single veteran player not wearing a Royals uniform in MLB has completely mailed in their performances this spring, it would still mean the Royals are more focused, rookie to veteran, than every other team in Major League Baseball. In sports, focus and determination are never a bad thing, even when competition may lack it, if your team has it, it is a positive thing.

The Weather is going to change things at the beginning of the season, but even though the planet seems intent on punishing Kansas City for the last two years of mild winter all at once this Spring, eventually summer will be summer and the weather in KC will be the same as it is everywhere... hot.

I asked Ned Yost the day the club wrapped up the Cactus League title if it has almost seemed TOO EASY the way the team has been so dominant offensively. His response was very telling, “you never think it’s too easy, but the way we are pitching and getting strikes and the way we are fielding... it makes it easier.”

Perhaps the best thing to ever come out of Ned Yost’s mouth is a reliance on his pitching and defense. It should be noted, the Royals have thrown the fourth most pitches during spring training in baseball. They have been working to get those outs. But for once, the decisions when it comes to the pitching staff have started to make sense. Once the 1-2 punch of the Royals pitching rotation, Luke Hochevar and Bruce Chen, are now bullpen pieces and Luis Mendoza was named the starter much later than he deserved it, but still much sooner than anyone expected it. And if good pitching makes things “easier” on the offense, close losses can become close wins, and blowout losses can become split games.

Perhaps this could spell a more hands off approach to lineups and base-running situations. It has certainly worked during Spring Training. My primary concern with this team has nothing to do with talent. If Ned Yost stays the finger of his own hubris and lets the team do what it has been doing, this team will be much improved. But if the continuous lineup-changing, 1st-inning-bunting, I’m-smarter-than-you Ned shows up right out of the gate, Royals fans need to react. Dayton Moore needs to act. David Glass needs to act.

The unbelievable can become believable. From the staggering offensive production to the Royals decisions making sense, the Spring has been something from a Baseball fairytale. But the fairytale is almost over. We all wait for opening day - some have been waiting longer than others - for the Royals to make us believe.

By TJ Carpenter

The Missouri Basketball program has grown a lot over the last few years, as has the Football Program. What started as a courtship of a coach turned into a betrayal by that coach Mike Anderson by leaving for an SEC program. The Tigers made sure to exact revenge earlier this month in a 30 point beat-down in Columbia of the Arkansas Razorbacks. This has sparked talks of a budding rivalry that is still in its infancy but many hope will soon fill the massive void long-standing rival Kansas now refuses to fill (oddly enough because they too feel betrayed.)

Frank Haith and his Mizzou squad play Texas A&M tonight in Nashville. A&M has had its fair share of transitional hiccups along the way, but most of its fanbase is still basking in the prospect of next season’s football aspirations set by the reigning Heisman trophy holder Johnny “Football” Manziel. Mizzou hopes to relish in the fact that while the football program still has a lot of work to do, they can distract themselves from that fact with postseason success in basketball. The Tigers have a good a chance as any team here in Nashville to win the whole thing. And earning some hardware your first year in the league will not go unnoticed. Even if it is true people think less of basketball in the South, it doesn’t mean they think less of winning. It has been said the SEC is about championships. It may not be a regular season title, but you get a trophy, with an SEC logo on it, in a flagship sport for your university.

It matters. If only on a symbolic level, it matters.

It matters because Mizzou has had tough first year in the SEC. The football team came in with expectations to prove the SEC wasn’t ready for THEM, not the other way around; the way the media often portrayed it. As it turned out the media was right. I was right, which I don’t mind pointing out. Gary Pinkel and his team were slow to adjust, injuries further worsened the situation, and now fans are wondering how they could have been so wrong about the SEC they first turned their nose up at, but now not only respect, but aspire to emulate. (I get it, I’ve been there) To make matters worse, the Tigers finished their first recruiting class in the SEC dead last in the conference. Nationally, the Tigers had a solid class, even impressive by some standards. Nevertheless, this is the SEC.

But despite the football woes this season, the basketball team, hungry for the program’s first final four appearance started the season with high expectations and had the talent to back it up... or so we all thought. Mike Dixon’s dismissal changed the tenor of the season and dampened many fan expectations of reaching previously unattained heights. Add in tough close losses both in and out of conference both self-inflicted and officiating blundered, an injury to Laurence Bowers, and the cringe-causing misguided heroics of Phil Pressey, and you have a train ready to come off the tracks. But the Tigers have rebounded (really well) both in literal and analogous terms. Both an SEC Tournament championship and NCAA championship are still possibilities.

As exciting as those prospects are, beyond this weekend, the transition for Mizzou isn’t over. As big as the SEC Tournament is for all the teams here, even in its host town Nashville, the talk is dominated by the morning’s commitment announcement by Jalen Hurd, a 5-star RB who piled up 394 yards and 7 touchdowns... in the state championship. Basketball is a passion in the South, football is a religion.

As I first wrote about here on 810whb.com I made predictions about how well Mizzou would eventually fit into the SEC; how committed they are, how passionate they are, how much potential they have. I still believe all those things, because what has transpired this season is no surprise to me. But the transition isn’t over. When I first met Gabe DeArmond of powermizzou.com he told me a story of who when the Tigers first joined the SEC he got a call from the people running Georgia’s rivals site, wondering where all the football stories were... in March. My belief is that the transition will be over a year from now, next March. When the Tigers are competing for what could be a second SEC tournament trophy, but while Tigers fans will be passionate about that prospect, March will be a time for football. Fans will be talking about what Spring is all about in the South, football. Writers will be breaking down the next great quarterback and running back and defense. And don’t be surprised if, much like in Nashville today, the talk is all about some 5-star player who could change the destiny of your program.

It all seems strange now, but it will all seem like just another day in Southeastern Conference before you know it.