Moving up or going down, Part 1; The 2023 Chiefs offensive roster

In a 2-part series, we'll take a look at the current projected roster for the 2023 Chiefs by each position group and compare it to 2022.

Hey, did you hear that the Chiefs won the Super Bowl last year? It’s totally true. Awesome, right?

When a team wins a Super Bowl in the modern era, you know a few things about that team without even looking (that they have a good coaching staff, that they got lucky in some spots, that they’ve got at least a few superstars, etc). One of those things is that they have a talented roster. Of course, having a superhuman quarterback like Patrick Mahomes definitely can mask some deficiencies, but a team doesn’t bring home the Lombardi Trophy on the back of one player. Other guys have to perform.

Following last year’s playoff run, multiple different position groups and/or players received well-earned praise for their help bringing the title back to Kansas City. From Travis Kelce to Chris Jones to Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the offensive line to the linebacker group to the young secondary (and on we could go), last year’s playoffs had many heroes in red/white/gold. That speaks to a strong roster that was able to win in a myriad of ways, and the ultimate result was being crowned (again) the best football team in the world.

Hey, here’s Mahomes conjuring up yards out of thin air in the Super Bowl, just for fun.

PHEW.

Of course, that was last year. And as some guy from the Boston area might say, we’re on to 2023.

There have been a number of changes up and down Kansas City’s roster this offseason. And with that in mind, I thought it might be useful to go through each position group and discuss whether it’s moving up or going down based on the changes this offseason.

Is a lot of this projection? Of course. But we can, based on what we know, at least come up with a reasonable look at the overall state of the roster as compared to last season’s roster (you know, the Super Bowl-winning one).

In part 1, we’ll talk about the offense, where the most turnover exists (arguably). I’ll write about each of the position groups, how they changed, then give a verdict on whether we’re moving “up” or “down.” Let’s get started.