Three Chiefs Training Camp sleepers who could crack the 53-man roster
Every year a few names surprise—these three Chiefs could turn heads and make things interesting in St. Joe.
This is the time of the year when Chiefs’ Kingdom gets football romantic about their favorite training camp Cinderella stories. Last year, it was fullback Carson Steele and nickel corner Chris Roland-Wallace. The year before that, it was wide receiver Justyn Ross and linebacker Cam Jones.
The endings to some of these stories have worked out better than others, to be sure. Over the 2020 offseason, defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton turned an undrafted free agent campaign into a prolific multi-year contract with the Carolina Panthers five years later.
For every Wharton, there are dozens like Justyn Ross and Kadarius Toney, plus several that lie in between. For instance, Jones has become a special-teams staple while Roland-Wallace has proven to be that, as well as defensive depth.
Throughout the 2025 free agency and draft portions of the offseason, general manager Brett Veach has done a tremendous job of adding depth to the roster, which lacked it last year. Taking a glance at some potential roster battles, there were not too many up in the air.
That said, it would not be July and August without some under-the-radar players creating buzz. In this exercise, I will exclude players who are virtually guaranteed to make the 53-man roster, but could still generate a lot of hype, such as running back Brashard Smith. Let’s dive into who those may be.
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Wide receiver Tyquan Thornton
Fourth-year wide out, Tyquan Thornton, has already created some buzz, attending ‘Camp Mahomes’ and getting his name mentioned frequently by reporters throughout the offseason program. The marriage between him and the roster is easy to envision – think some version of Marquez Valdez-Scantling and eating those Justin Watson snaps.
He has the height that no one else in the room possesses, standing at 6-foot-2 and ran a blazing 4.28 40 coming out of Baylor in 2022. He was picked for slots ahead of Skyy Moore and similarly fizzled out with the New England Patriots before signing with the Chiefs.
Reports say that he has been lining up as one of the team's gunner positions on special teams, which is objective number one for his hopeful roster spot. With Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, Jalen Royals and JuJu Smith-Schuster appearing as roster locks, Thornton would likely have to beat out Nikko Remigio, Moore and Ross to crack the roster. I suppose there is an outside chance Smith-Schuster is not a lock, but it is hard to believe they would get rid of his dependability.
Head coach Andy Reid has traditionally liked to keep extra running backs and tight ends as opposed to, let's say, seven wide receivers. He does not typically use a ton of wide receivers on game day, and with the number of running backs and tight ends currently rostered, seven will be a hard number to reach at the wide receiver spot.
The path to Thornton making the roster is that he is going to have to be a four-phase special teamer and provide something to the wide receiver room that no one else does. On top of that, Smith, Royals or cornerback Nohl Williams will likely have to beat Remigio out of the return role.
Linebacker Brandon George
Brandon George, an undrafted rookie linebacker out of Pittsburgh, is another name you have heard frequently on X when reporters have attended practice. On several occasions, according to reports, he seems to have a knack for getting his hands on the football.
There is no way around it, George is an athletic freak. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound backer has some Willie Gay to him. His Relative Athletic Score was a 9.98, which happens to rank seventh out of 3,182 linebackers that have done pre-draft testing from 1987 to 2025.
In 2024, for the Panthers, George notched 80 tackles, with six for a loss and forced three fumbles. At 24, he is likely more developed than other rookies he is entering the league with, so he could be a quick learner.
Like wide receiver, this will be a numbers game for George, who will have to beat out four-phase special teams staples such as the previously mentioned Cam Jones, Jack Cochrane and Cole Christiansen. He may not have to beat out all of them, but he will surely have to beat out two of them.
Reid has not been shy about keeping six backers in the past, due to their special teams value, but with the newly added 5th-rounder Jeffrey Bassa to go along with Nick Bolton, Drue Tranquill and Leo Chenal, it is a full room. If special teams coach Dave Toub likes what he sees, Veach could save some cap space if he can beat out his special team stalwart incumbents.
Tight end Jake Briningstool
Many draft prognosticators had Clemson tight end Jake Briningstool as a lock to get drafted in the 2025 draft. When he was not, Reid was quick to give Briningstoool a phone call to ensure he found a home in Kansas City.
That call stood out to Briningstool, as he did not receive such urgency from any other head coach in the league. Veach made good on Reid’s desires by giving the decorated tight end $234,000 in guarantees, which is quite a bit for an undrafted free agent.
Briningstool is known as a smooth-mover who has good size at 6-foot-6, 241 pounds. He set career highs last season, tallying 530 yards and seven touchdowns. In 2023, he had a career high of 50 catches, earning third-team all-ACC both seasons.
Reid has not been shy in keeping four tight ends, as they also have special teams value and he likes to run three tight end sets, and even four on occasion. With 2024 fourth-round pick Jared Wylie recovering from an ACL injury, Briningstool might get a lot of leeway to showcase his skills at training camp.
Travis Kelce and Noah Gray are the locks here and Wylie is as well, unless he begins the season on injured reserve. If there is a fourth spot open, that leaves Briningstool battling with veteran Robert Tonyan. Briningstool cannot afford to have a camp without flashes, but if he shows any, Veach and Reid would likely prefer the rookie over Tonyan.
