The Kansas City Chiefs are rolling into their early bye at 3-0, and the latest round of praise makes one thing clear: there’s a lot more going on here than Patrick Mahomes doing Patrick Mahomes things.
Jesse Newell of The Athletic broke down the players who have stood out most so far, and the list gives a pretty good snapshot of why Kansas City keeps winning. Mahomes is right there in the mix, of course, but the Chiefs are also getting major production from a running back who’s pushing into MVP territory, a rookie tackle who has already exceeded expectations, and a first-round corner who is starting to look like the player Kansas City drafted him to be.
The biggest surprise on Newell’s list was Team MVP: Kenneth Walker III RB.
That pick is notable because, as Newell pointed out, it’s a major upset that the nod doesn’t go to Mahomes. The quarterback has been excellent, showing early that he can make plays and then taking over late in last week’s 30-27 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
But Walker has been even better. He’s forcing missed tackles at an historic rate and ripping off long runs with regularity, something Mahomes actually predicted in training camp.
More than that, Walker has helped reshape the way the Chiefs operate on offense. The old version leaned on Mahomes, the short game and the occasional deep shot.
Now, defenses are being forced to choose what they want to take away, and that has opened up options Kansas City didn’t have last season.
On the offensive line, the Breakout Player choice went to Kahlil Benson, OT.
Andy Reid took a big swing here, and it’s paying off. He has never started a rookie left tackle in his career, but Benson is not just surviving - he’s holding his own in a way that stands out. The part that makes it even more striking is that Benson had never taken a snap at the position in college at Indiana.
His best work has come in the run game, where Newell called him a “mauler.” Pass protection has been more uneven, and he struggled against Miami, but Newell also noted that he turned in one of his best performances of the season against the Raiders.
The final standout in the breakdown was Delane, whose rise is starting to match the investment Kansas City made to get him in the first round.
That didn’t look so promising early. Delane dealt with a shoulder injury he picked up in OTAs, wore a non-contact jersey in minicamp and had a tough time getting on the field during training camp. But now he’s making plays in the passing game and showing the kind of physicality he couldn’t display over the summer.
He’s moving in the direction of becoming a shutdown corner, which is exactly what the Chiefs wanted when they drafted him.
In Other News...
Chiefs Still Have A Left Tackle Problem They Cant Define
Josh Simmons entered the Chiefs plans with plenty of intrigue after a torn patellar tendon two years ago altered his draft path, and his recovery has been watched closely ever since. He did enough in rehab to win the starting job for the first five games of the 2025 season, which at least suggested Kansas City might have found some stability at left tackle after a long search for it.
Instead, the position remains unsettled because Simmons has barely been on the field since arriving in Kansas City. He has played in only eight of the teams 21 games since being drafted, and the club still does not have a clear timetable for when he might be back, leaving the Chiefs to keep sorting out the blind-side spot without a defined answer. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs Got The Bye Week Break They Needed Before A Tricky Stretch
The bye week gave Kansas City a chance to sit back, rest up and watch the AFC West landscape shift around it while the Chiefs stayed undefeated at 4-0. Their lead in the division held firm as the Las Vegas Raiders fell to the New England Patriots, even as the Denver Broncos managed to win despite some offensive trouble, a reminder that the standings can look steadier than the football underneath them.
Now the attention turns to the bigger race, where the Chiefs are tracking the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens as some of the most relevant challengers, with Buffalo still set to take the field on Monday night. The next test on the schedule is a tricky one against the Los Angeles Chargers, and after a week off, Kansas City enters it with a little more clarity on the road ahead and a lot less margin for error. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs Unbeaten Start Is Rewriting What Fans Thought About This Roster
The early weeks of the season have given Kansas City a very different kind of storyline than many around the league expected. A perfect 4-0 start has pushed the Chiefs into a place where the usual questions about aging stars and depth pieces have, at least for now, been replaced by evidence that this roster is producing in all the right places. Kenneth Walker III has been one of the biggest drivers of that surge, Travis Kelce has been dependable again, and rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane has already looked like he belongs after going sixth overall.
What makes the opening month especially interesting is how much of this success has come from players who were not penciled in as the main attraction when the season began. Kahlil Benson, in particular, has carved out an unexpected role up front, giving the Chiefs stability at a spot that often decides how far a team can go. The bigger question now is whether this fast start reflects a real reworking of what the roster can be, or just the kind of early-season momentum that still needs to survive the grind ahead. [Read more 🡒]