NFL Power Rankings 2020 preseason: Where do LA Rams fall?

Team 1 -Kansas City Chiefs (12-4)

The Kansas City Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes. That’s enough to land them the top spot when entering a 2020 pre-season power ranking. After all, is there any lead he cannot overcome in the closing minutes of the football game?

2019 summary

The Kansas City Chiefs proved to be the top team of the NFL in 2019. But sometimes claiming the crown in the NFL is easier than keeping that crown. The Chiefs won in the most dramatic fashion, oftentimes spotting their opponent a significant lead, only to roar back to snatch the win in the closing minutes.

Players lost

The Chiefs lost some key defensive players in the 2020 free agency in CB Kendall Fuller and DE Emmanuel Ogbah. While the offense will decide the Chiefs’ success, the defense will play a role as to how far behind the offense finds itself in the fourth quarter. Their impact will be noticed on defense.  Add to that the cumulative effect of losing an additional 17 veteran players, and you begin to notice how difficult remaining “that good” becomes.

Players added

The Kansas City Chiefs were frugal spenders in free agency but did turn some heads with the addition of versatile RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire. He’s a perfect addition to the wide-open offense, and head coach Andy Reid will line him up in the backfield, as a tight end, as an H-back, and split wide as a receiver. The Chiefs also added linebacker Willie Gay for the future as well as offensive tackle Lucas Niang, who is raw but is a prospect with a huge ceiling in a year or two.

2020 outlook

The task of defending a Super Bowl crown is always more difficult than winning one. In the post-Super-Bowl victory, the Chiefs needed to make hard decisions over which players to retain. The rest? Gone for now.  Can the Chiefs repeat with so many younger players on the roster is a very good question? For now, we’ll go with yes. But that is not our final answer.