From the Bottom http://www.chiefslockerroom.com/authentic-eric-murray-jersey , we’re highlighting some other lesser-known players that have found themselves thrust into potentially season-altering roles late in this season.Last week, the emphasis was on the defensive side of the ball — specifically the impact Charvarius Ward and Jordan Lucas could have on the Kansas City Chiefs defense in the playoffs.This week, the focus is on the offense and how some more unlikely names could come up big. The AP Laboratory has been burning the midnight oil even more so than normal lately as we prepare for the upcoming AFC Divisional Round game against the Indianapolis Colts — and other exciting ventures — so let’s get right into the film on these under-the-radar difference makers!Unsuspecting startersGoing into this season, most Chiefs fans would have been glad to tell you how stacked the Chiefs’ offensive skill positions were — especially at wide receiver and running back.But now that the Chiefs are entering the divisional round of the NFL playoffs, they’ll be relying on some unlikely names at those positions. Yes... we’re talking about starting running back Damien Williams and wide receiver Demarcus Robinson.Damien WilliamsDuring the offseason —with the NFL’s leading rusher entering his second year, his backup Spencer Ware returning from injury and Charcandrick West as the third running back option — it was a little bit surprising for the Chiefs to sign Damien Williams to a deal that wasn’t dirt cheap.But as the season went on, it proved to be a wise move.West didn’t make initial 53-man roster — although he would later return.Williams beat out rookie Darrel Williams to be the third running back, but he was mostly used as a special teams player and rarely saw the field on offense during the first 11 games.When Kareem Hunt’s off-the-field issues led to his dismissal from the team, Ware took over as the top back with Williams as his backup — even though when they played together, it was easy to see Williams was more dynamic. Then Ware got hurt again, and it became the Damien Williams show for the final couple of weeks of the season. What he does well: Williams is an explosive back that may lack elite long speed but has incredible first step acceleration and lateral agility. Working through traffic, he’s able to pinball side-to-side with jump cuts. He has the ability to accelerate on a dime, and when he sees an opening, he can contort his body and can shoot through a gap in an instant. He’s also shown good vision on zone runs — often finding the correct gap even when it’s not the most obvious one. He’ll follow his keys and take the right gap often, but Williams is also able to pick up on details that aren’t part of the baseline reads for him to make, and then use his top-notch lateral agility to capitalize on the new information.Where he’s improved: Early on, Williams was playing like a guy with his hair on fire — presumably trying to make the most out of limited touches. But as his role has increased, he has settled down.He no longer sprints to the slightest bit of daylight every chance he gets. Instead, he’s become quite savvy at pressing the line of scrimmage, allowing blocks to clear, and then playing off his blockers’ hips.Even beyond the initial line of scrimmage Womens Dustin Colquitt Jersey , he’s gotten better at throttling down in the open field when there isn’t a clear path to the end zone, and allowing his blockers to pick up on angles. This improved patience has allowed him to go from a dynamic player off one cut to a guy who is incredibly slippery in traffic as he chains his cuts together. Area that needs improving: Upon his arrival in Kansas City there were expectations that Williams was going to be a real threat as a receiver from the running back position, since the Chiefs had successfully used both Ware and Hunt as downfield receivers over the years.The fact that Williams hasn’t been used in the same way may not be Williams’ fault as much as it is the fault of the offense with him to this point.Williams objectively runs better, tighter routes than either of Ware or Hunt, but he’s almost exclusively been used on swings, shoots and screens. He’s done well on them, too — showing natural hands, the ability to control his body while adjusting to the ball, and the ability to make guys miss in the open field.Based on his skill set, it’s a mystery why he hasn’t been utilized more on seam, wheel, and angle/Texas routes. Overall. Damien Williams has been a fantastic find for the Chiefs — and while his name may not have been as far down on the unlikely list as some others, his role is arguably the largest — and he still started the season as the third running back on the team.On the field, Williams looks to continue his hot streak down the stretch, and be the spark that takes some of the pressure from Patrick Mahomes. He’s a dynamic player that can produce chunk yardage any time he touches the ball — a pivotal part of the running back position in the Chiefs offense.Demarcus RobinsonRobinson is the only guy on this list that was on the team last season, but he’s making the list because started the season buried on the depth chart. The addition of Sammy Watkins obviously put another hat on the depth chart above his, and the return of Chris Conley — a very trusted and smart receiver — forced Robinson down to wide receiver four on the chart. This led to small, situational roles - often seeing snaps only when the Chiefs wanted to spread out the defense without using 12 (two TE) personnel. Then Watkins suffered his yearly injury, and Robinson saw his snaps increase — but even then, he was clearly the third fiddle at wide receiver. After a few weeks in which Conley did not produce at a level you would expect for a second wide receiver, Robinson has slowly started having a larger role in the offense — even if it still on a lower snap count. What he does well: Robinson can run some of the prettiest routes in the NFL — not just the Chiefs Steven Nelson Jersey , but the entire NFL. He’s not incredibly consistent with it, but in terms of how good they look, his fakes, footwork and releases can rival any wide receiver. He has good change of direction, and possesses the body control to sell fakes and then breaks away from defenders. He’s also shown the ability to track the ball deep downfield, and have the speed to take the top off a defense — which is beneficial to the way the Chiefs offense is structured. Playing with Mahomes obviously helps all receivers, but Robinson may benefit the most because he and Mahomes routinely seem to be on the same page during scramble drills. As the play breaks down into schoolyard ball, Robinson is arguably at his best — working with the quarterback to get open in a less-structured situation.Robinson also has a great catch radius — despite having sometimes having drops because of poor concentration. When the ball is outside his frame, he catches with his hands and has the ability to extend in any direction to pull it in.He has also shown great spatial awareness throughout the season.Try not to be distracted by the route on this one.Really... just try.Where he needs to improve: The concern for Robinson is less about his skills and traits and more about the mental side of the equation. It hasn’t been as bad this year, but last year there appeared to be communication and spacing issues when Robinson was running the wrong routes. Even this year, there is some confusion; there are times you can see him ask other receivers where to align.The bigger issue this year has been the off-timing of his route stems.Fortunately, this happens only occasionally; we’re talking less than 10 percent of his snaps. Depending on what read he is in Mahomes’ progression, Robinson has to match up his route with Mahomes’ drop. Making extra stutter steps and moves can look good — but it’s not helpful if it delays Mahomes’ progressions. Robinson’s impact on the Chiefs during the playoffs really depends on Sammy Watkins’ health. If Watkins returns, the Chiefs’ likelihood of success in the playoffs increases — but the likelihood of Robinson having a big impact in the playoffs diminishes.Without Watkins, it seems only natural to trust Robinson to play a larger role than Conley — and that might even remain true if Watkins comes back. Robinson adds a level of dynamic playmaking that Conley has been unable to provide this season, making Williams a bigger x-factor during the playoff push. Less than two years after playing on the scout team for the Browns, Wylie is poised to be the starting left guard for the Chiefs"”I really want to make a 53-man roster some time soon,” Wylie told the Midland Daily News, which has carefully followed his career since he played in the blue and gold of the Midland Chemics in high school. “But this is a good position to be in, and I’m happy to be a part of the NFL.”But Wylie’s new dream was still a little bit down the road.The Browns cut him in December.A week later, he was signed to the practice squad of the Los Angeles Chargers http://www.chiefslockerroom.com/authentic-laurent-duvernay-tardif-jersey , where he would spend just eight days.On December 29 — just two days before quarterback Patrick Mahomes would make his first start against the Denver Broncos in the final game of the 2017 regular season — the Chiefs signed Wylie to their practice squad.Two days after the playoff loss to the Tennessee Titans that ended their season, the Chiefs signed Wylie to a reserve/futures contract for 2018.By late August — after Wylie had begun turning heads at Chiefs training camp in St. Joseph, Missouri — there was a chance he could not only make the roster, but start at left guard; even in the week leading up to the final cutdown, the position was in flux.In a film review of Wylie published in these pages, our Matt Lane laid out the case.But standing in Wylie’s way was former first-round draft pick Cam Erving, whom the Chiefs had acquired in a trade from the Browns in 2017.Erving — thought to be a swing lineman as preseason wound down — would end up winning the left guard position, and signed a contract extension just as the season began.But as Matt noted, Wylie — while raw — had potential as a starter.The Chiefs thought so too, and on his fifth attempt, Wylie finally made a 53-man NFL roster.Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports”This year, with the Chiefs, having been here since the beginning for workouts and OTAs and camps, they really worked with me and really gave me a legitimate shot,” Wylie told the folks back home in the Daily News. “They took their time with me, and it has paid off a lot. The front office and the O-line coaches and the offensive coordinator, everyone, really worked with me and gave me time to develop, and it’s been great.”In our first take on the 53-man roster, Pete Sweeney saw Wylie as a swing lineman.Wylie didn’t know exactly what his role would be, but he told the Daily News he was ready for it.“My role being on the active roster is just to help the team in any way I can and to continue to work toward being a starter Womens Allen Bailey Jersey ,” he said. “Hopefully, I have a significant role on game day on the offensive line, and I just want to always be ready if somebody goes down or if they need me to fill in for a drive to switch things up. I’ve just got to always be ready.”And he was.Witzmann lasted just another day on the Chiefs roster.In Week 5, starting right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif suffered a season-ending injury.In Week 6, center Mitch Morse suffered a concussion that kept him out for five weeks.And in Week 7, Wylie made his first NFL start at right guard.He started every game after that — including the 37-31 loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game.He allowed just two sacks and 22 pressures on the season.“We had a lot of highs and some lows,” Wylie told the Daily News, which by then must have had his cell phone number on speed-dial. “Winning our division and winning a playoff game, which is something that hadn’t been done here in a while.We didn’t get the win against the Patriots and get to go to the Super Bowl, so, obviously, that was very disappointing. But for me personally, it was a great year. I did a lot of great things and learned a lot about the game of football and had a lot of fun.”But even before he suited up to play the Patriots, Wylie had already received a high honor from the Chiefs: the Mack Lee Hill award, given annually to the best rookie on the Chiefs roster.Even though he was a second-year NFL player, Wylie’s circuitous route to the team had never included being on an active roster.That meant he was still classified as a rookie, so he leapfrogged other Chiefs rookies like Ben Niemann, Derrick Nnadi and Charvarius Ward to win the award — whose previous four winners had been Kareem Hunt, Tyreek Hill, Marcus Peters and De’Anthony Thomas.“It was a real surprise,” Wylie told readers back in Midland Cameron Erving Jersey , “and I think the thing that means the most to me is that it’s an award that your teammates and coaches vote on. These are guys who I’m with every single day. After being around guys for a while, you get a real sense of their character, and that’s just huge that my teammates and coaches think that highly of me.”They do.When former wide receiver Dwayne Bowe signed a one-day contract to retire from the Chiefs just over a week ago, Bowe was given a chance to catch one more pass from current Chiefs starters.Sharp-eyed observers immediately noted that Wylie was lined up at left guard in the video of the ceremonial catch, raising speculation that Wylie was currently considered the starter at the position.Such a move would make sense.Not only did Wylie gain valuable experience at the right guard position last season, Erving’s stock is down; analytical web site Pro Football Focus had Erving as one of the lowest-rated Chiefs offensive linemen last season.And after Erving was briefly sidelined with a knee injury late in the year, the Chiefs kept former starter Jeff Allen — who had been brought back to the team after two years with the Houston Texans — playing at left guard through the remainder of the season.So after Thursday’s OTA session — in which the media was able to see that Wylie was taking reps with the first-team offense at left guard, it was inevitable that Chiefs head coach Andy Reid would be asked about it.“You know he’s one of the better athletes we have up front there — and that’s a good question because I don’t think people know that,” Reid said of Wylie. “He’s really a good athlete; he gets out and he runs. You see him do that, you see him lock on to people, kind of glue on to people in the screen game and on pulls.”Wylie will face competition as the Chiefs offseason program continues. Even though they didn’t activate him for a single game, the Chiefs kept guard Kahlil McKenzie on the roster for all of 2018.That was a clear sign that they believe the converted defensive lineman is not only worth keeping, but would be snatched off their practice-squad roster if they tried to stash him there.Wylie will also face competition from seventh-round pick Nick Allegretti and undrafted free agent Zack Golditch.Right now, though, the left guard position on the Chiefs roster is Wylie’s to lose — a dream that probably didn’t even occur to him when he was playing in the shadow of the University of Michigan, or taking scout-team reps for the Cleveland Browns just 17 months ago.If he has the job when the season begins, one thing is certain: the folks back home in Midland, Michigan will be anxious to hear all about itAnd they will.