The Chiefs finally caught a break on the quarterback front - and they needed it in a big way.
With Patrick Mahomes already ruled out for the season due to a torn ACL, Kansas City’s quarterback room was teetering on the edge after backup Gardner Minshew exited Sunday’s game against the Titans with what looked like another serious knee injury. Early fears pointed to a second ACL tear in as many weeks, but Monday brought a sigh of relief: Minshew avoided a torn ACL, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
That’s the good news. The bad news? Minshew is still dealing with a knee injury and is expected to miss time, including the Chiefs’ Christmas Day showdown against the AFC West-leading Broncos - a game with major playoff implications.
That means Kansas City is turning to third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun, who’s now in line to make his first NFL start on Thursday. With both Mahomes and Minshew sidelined, Oladokun becomes the next man up in a season that’s suddenly testing the depth of the Chiefs’ quarterback room like never before.
The question then became: who backs up Oladokun? Until Monday, the Chiefs didn’t even have another quarterback on the active depth chart. That changed quickly, as the team moved to sign Shane Buechele off the Bills’ practice squad, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Buechele is no stranger to Kansas City. He spent time with the team during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, serving as a developmental backup behind Mahomes. While he hasn’t taken a regular-season NFL snap, he’s familiar with Andy Reid’s system - and that matters when you're just days away from a critical divisional matchup.
No, Buechele doesn’t bring in-game experience, but in a situation where the Chiefs are down to their third and fourth options at quarterback, familiarity and system knowledge can be just as valuable as reps. If Oladokun were to go down, Buechele is now the emergency plan - a contingency the Chiefs hope they won’t need, but can’t afford to go without.
This stretch run was already shaping up to be a grind without Mahomes. Now, with Minshew temporarily out, the Chiefs are in full-on survival mode at the game’s most important position.
Oladokun will get his chance, and Buechele is back in the fold. The Chiefs are patching the ship mid-storm - and hoping it holds together long enough to make a playoff push.