Jamaal Charles was the man returning most of the kickoffs last season but he will likely pass the torch to either Javier Arenas or Dexter McCluster.  Arenas will likely be the man as he returned all of the punts and kickoffs in last night’s pre-season opener against the Falcons.  Arenas has the speed and moves to go the distance any time he touches the football as he returned the ball 7 times for TDs in his college career.  McCluster is probaby even faster with more moves than Arenas but he’s also got to be the Chiefs’ secret weapon on offense.

Charles played in 15 games for the Chiefs last season and he returned 36 kickoffs for 925 yards (25.7 avg) with 1 TD return.  He has now played in 31 games in his NFL career and he has returned 51 kickoffs for 1,246 yards (24.4 avg) with 1 TD return.  The Chiefs want him to focus solely on offense after his breakout season in 2009.

25-year old Quinten Lawrence is a long shot to return kicks because he didn’t do too well in that role last year.  Lawrence played in 6 games for the Chiefs last season and he returned 16 kickoffs for 317 yards (19.8 avg).

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CHIEFS KICKOFF RETURNERS in 2010:  B+

The Kansas City Chiefs will likely have two new starting offensive linemen in 2010 and that’s a good thing.  LT Branden Albert has a ton of potential and the Chiefs hope he realizes it this year.  He is already an outstanding pass blocker but he has had problems with his run blocking.  33-year old Brian Waters will be the Chiefs’ starting LG and he is the leader of the line.  He wins most of his one on one battles by staying lower than his opponent.  Center will be decided in training camp between veteran Casey Wiegmann and Rudy Niswanger who wasn’t playing too well as the season went on in 2009.  Ryan Lilja was signed to start at RG for the Chiefs in 2010 and he is a winner having played all of his career with the Colts until now.  Ryan O’Callaghan will be the RT for the Chiefs this year.  He came out of nowhere last season so the Chiefs hope he wasn’t a mirage.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CHIEFS O-LINE in 2010:  C+

43-year old head coach Todd Haley was a rookie last season and it showed at times as the Chiefs limped to a 4-12 season.  But the Chiefs went out and got him some help for the coaching staff with Romeo Crennel now running the D and Charlie Weis running the O.  They worked very well together in New England and I think Haley will benefit big time from their help in 2010.  The Chiefs also made some nice upgrades player wise so maybe Haley can get the Chiefs close to .500 in 2010.

The Chiefs are hoping the 25-year old kicker Ryan Succop’s second year is as good as his first one.  Succop was “Mr. Irrelvant” in the 2009 NFL Draft as he was the very last pick.  But the Chiefs hit a homerun with him.  Succop played in all 16 games for the Chiefs last season and he made 25 of 29 field goals (86.2%).  He also nailed all 29 of his extra points as he finished with 104 points on the year.  The Chiefs can’t afford to leave any points on the field but that won’t be a problem in 2010.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CHIEFS KICKERS in 2010:  A

The Chiefs have waived 25-year old TE Brad Cottam.  Cottam played in 8 games (1 start) for the Chiefs last season and he caught 9 passes for 120 yards (13.3 avg).  He played in 24 games (8 starts) in his two years in K.C. in which he caught 16 passes for 183 yards (11.4 avg).  Cottam has a hard time staying healthy (which the Chiefs knew when they drafted him) and that’s the reason they are letting him go.  Not much of a loss here.