Chiefs Players with Something to Prove at Training Camp: Pt. 1, Offense
With training camp in St. Joseph less than three weeks away, here is a look at the offensive players who need a strong showing.
Training camp at Missouri Western State University opens July 29, and for a handful of players on the offensive side of the ball, the next few weeks could define their 2026 season and, in some cases, their NFL futures.
Whether it is roster hopefuls or seasoned vets, many Chiefs have something to prove or a job to secure.
Here is a position-by-position look at the offensive players with the most to prove when the pads go on in St. Joseph.
Garrett Nussmeier, Quarterback
The Nussmeier pick was about as shocking as a seventh-round selection could possibly be. Brett Veach is not in the business of wasting picks, so the Chiefs brass likely sees something in the LSU signal-caller that warranted the investment.
With Patrick Mahomes working his way back from his ACL and LCL injury, Nussmeier will see plenty of action in preseason games, giving him a chance to prove the pick was worth it.
The preseason will be crucial for both Veach and Andy Reid to determine whether he is worth carrying as a third quarterback on the 53-man roster. That is a bar the Chiefs have not cleared since 2023, when they kept Mahomes, Blaine Gabbert, and Shane Buechele.
Coming out of the draft, many pundits thought Nussmeier had the chops to be a second or third-round pick, making this a true value-add to the Chiefs draft class. He is known for having a high football IQ and can make throws at all three levels of the defense.
There is still a reasonable chance Nussmeier slips through waivers and lands on the practice squad, but a strong preseason could change that calculus entirely. Given the premium placed on the quarterback position across the league, a standout showing could put him on an active roster. The question is whether he can make that case before the final cuts.
Brashard Smith, Running Back
Smith’s path to the NFL is one of the more unique ones on this roster. He spent his first three college seasons as a wide receiver at Miami before transferring to SMU for his senior year and switching to running back full-time. The move paid off immediately. He finished fourth in college football in all-purpose yards, rushing for 1,332 yards at 5.7 yards per carry with 14 touchdowns, while adding 39 catches for 327 yards and 4 receiving touchdowns.
The Chiefs liked what they saw enough to take him in the seventh round in 2025, but he did not see much of the field, aside from special teams. He averaged 26.7 yards on kick returns and 11.3 yards on punt returns, and showed a glimpse of his rushing ability with 12 carries for 56 yards (4.7 yards per carry) against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18.
The depth chart in front of him has changed significantly, however. Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco are gone, replaced by Kenneth Walker, Emari Demercado, and Emmett Johnson, all of whom project ahead of Smith in the running back pecking order.
To hang onto his roster spot, Smith will need to lock down the return game as the team’s primary kick and punt returner, show involvement in the short passing game, and, if he has grown at all in the pass-blocking department, his spot should be a lock. He will need to flash in the preseason. There is no doubt about that.
Jalen Royals, Wide Receiver
Jalen Royals’ first order of business in training camp will be making sure that 2026 fifth-round rookie Cyrus Allen does not pass him on the depth chart. That is not a position a fourth-round pick from one year ago should find himself in, but after finishing 2025 with just two catches for four yards on 86 snaps, the bar is not high for someone to clear him. Neither target came from Mahomes, and that was despite Rice only suiting up for eight games, by the way.
If we are projecting his ceiling based on his college career at Utah State, his best-case role in 2026 is as Rashee Rice’s primary backup in the slot, functioning as the yards-after-the-catch merchant the Chiefs envisioned when they drafted him. Showing he can play on the outside would be a bonus.
Reid likes to mix and match his receivers, and if Royals can prove to be a reliable slot option for Mahomes, there is a natural fit for him to handle those snaps and bump Rice to the outside periodically. Reid offered an encouraging early read during OTAs.
What you want to see from Royals in training camp and in the preseason games is simple. He needs to be running with the ones. If that is not happening, his role on this team could genuinely be in question in year two.
Noah Gray, Tight End
The Noah Gray career arc is a puzzling one. He did enough through his first three seasons to earn a three-year, $18 million extension, and he rewarded the organization for that in year four with a career-high 40 catches, 437 yards, and five touchdowns.
Then the year his extension actually kicked in told a completely different story. He produced just 21 catches for 178 yards, the lowest output of his career outside of his rookie season.
The challenge for Gray’s value on the team is that the Chiefs’ tight end room is currently filled with receiving-first options. There was some hope he could develop into a hybrid weapon, given that he also played some fullback and was a serviceable blocker during his time at Duke, but that ceiling has not been fully realized at the NFL level.
He does not have much competition for his roster spot, but that is almost beside the point. With this likely to be Travis Kelce’s final season, it is becoming increasingly clear that Kelce’s heir apparent is not currently on the roster, and Gray’s path to relevance beyond 2026 depends on recapturing the form he showed in 2024.
His spot on the 53 is safe, and there is only so much the preseason can tell you about a tight end, but what Chiefs Kingdom should be listening for is training camp buzz surrounding the sixth-year veteran. After a quiet 2025, Gray needs to make some noise.
Jaylon Moore, Offensive Tackle
Jaylon Moore is heading into his sixth NFL season and his second with the Chiefs, who signed him to a two-year, $30 million free agent deal last offseason. At the time, the signing made all the sense in the world. Moore had spent four seasons as the backup to future Hall of Famer Trent Williams in San Francisco. He had just 12 starts to his name, but every time he filled in, he looked like an adequate NFL-caliber left tackle.
The calculus changed when the Chiefs drafted Josh Simmons, shifting Moore into a swing tackle role. He wound up with six starts, a career high, filling in at both left and right tackle at various points throughout the season.
When Jawaan Taylor was cut early this offseason, the door opened for Moore to own the right tackle position outright, a spot he has not played much of even dating back to his college days. That said, he does fit the profile of a right tackle, and there is a natural pairing with right guard Trey Smith on the right side that could work well.
The competition, however, could be real. Second-year tackle Esa Pole, who is 6-foot-7 and 319 pounds, flashed when injuries hit the offensive line at the tail end of last season and has now accumulated four career starts of his own.
Then there is Kahlil Benson, one of the more intriguing stories of the offseason. After a unique college career that included stops at Indiana and Colorado before transferring back to Indiana for their national championship run, where he started 16 games, Benson went undrafted in 2026 before quickly signing with the Chiefs after a standout rookie minicamp tryout. At 6-foot-6 and 319 pounds with a combination of raw power and athleticism, he has quietly become one of the more talked-about players heading into camp.
Reid has already noted both Pole and Benson getting reps with the first unit during the offseason. When you start hearing about a player getting multiple consecutive days with the ones, that is typically a meaningful indicator. Moore has the experience and a year of familiarity with the offense in his favor, but a strong camp is not optional. The job is his to lose, but there are younger, cheaper options ready to take it from him if he does not have a strong showing in St. Joseph.
Part two of this series will cover the defensive side of the ball ahead of training camp.