Let’s see what our readers want to know this week."

Welcome to Dixon’s Arrowhead Pride Mailbag Xavier Williams Jersey , where I’ll do my best to answer your questions about the Kansas City Chiefs — and anything else that’s on your mind. If you have a question, you can hit my profile page to e-mail me, or ask me on Twitter.While you’re at it, please follow me on Twitter, too.On to your questions:No, Joe... I don’t.We addressed the possibility of a trade for Clark in these pages earlier this week.Clark is a great defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks, who just made a record-setting deal for their quarterback Russell Wilson.The Seahawks have placed the franchise tag on Clark.If he signs it, he’ll make $17 million this season for the Seahawks.That’s a combination of factors that is guaranteed to generate speculation about a trade.But I don’t the Chiefs will do it.If the Chiefs had wanted to pay franchise tag money to an edge rusher, they wouldn’t have traded Dee Ford — or they would have kept Justin Houston.Instead, they have chosen to bring in Alex Okafor and Emmanuel Ogbah — two established veterans who will cost relatively little money — to mix in with Breeland Speaks and Tanoh Kpassagnon, who are listed as linebackers but will probably end up as defensive ends in Steve Spagnuolo’s defense.While neither of the latter two players has made much of a mark thus far, these moves suggest the Chiefs believe they can be effective in the new scheme.That doesn’t mean the Chiefs won’t be trying to find more edge rushers.They will be seeking them in the draft, and in the moves leading up to the beginning of the season.But with the signing of Tyrann Mathieu — not to mention the near-signing of Earl Thomas — the Chiefs have made it pretty clear that right now, they intend to spend their money on the back end of the defense.We could do that, Jesse — but it isn’t really necessary.The Chiefs led the league in sacks last season. But they gave up 421 points, which was 24th in the league.And as you might have heard, they also gave up 6,488 yards, which was 31st in the league.So maybe getting all those sacks isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.Your question relates to the one I just answered from Joe: the Chiefs have made a conscious decision not to devote as many of their resources to the pass rush — at least not to pass rushing from the edge.Why?Because the game continues to evolve. Andy Reid often speaks about how defenses react to offensive changes — and vice versa.The league began to depend more on the passing game, so defenses concentrated on finding edge rushers to disrupt it.Offenses reacted to that by concentrating on getting the ball out so quickly that edge rushers couldn’t get to the quarterback in time.What we saw in 2018 was that the Chiefs pass rush from the edge — that is Patrick Mahomes Jersey , from Ford and Houston — racked up a lot of pressure and sacks.But what’s lost in that is what happened when the Chiefs didn’t get a sack: they were getting torched by the running game and the short passing game.Getting all those sacks from the edge looked good on paper, but it clearly didn’t help the defense do its main job: preventing the other team gaining yards and scoring.So now the Chiefs are reacting.They have switched to a defensive scheme that should be stouter against the run and the short passing game.By deciding to spend their money on Chris Jones — rather than Dee Ford and Justin Houston — they are committing to bringing their pass rush pressure from the inside rather than the outside.And they’re working on upgrading the secondary to blunt the passing game.So the question isn’t about replacing the production of Houston and Ford.It’s about making the defense more effective at its main job.If this approach works — and the Chiefs offense continues to prosper — the team is going to be very difficult to beat.Thanks for your question, B.R.If it isn’t already obvious by the two answers I just gave, I think the overall emphasis of the offseason has been on the secondary.That would lead to thinking the first player the Chiefs will take off the board is a cornerback or safety.I also think the Chiefs don’t have the capital to trade up far enough to get one of the premier edge rushers — at least not without crippling them for the rest of this draft and/or the next; it looks like those guys are all going to be gone by the middle of the first round.If I’m buying into the arguments I’ve just made — and because I made them, I do — I don’t think trading up past the middle of the first round for an EDGE makes sense.But by standing pat — or moving up a few spots — the Chiefs could land a player like Greedy Williams, Byron Murphy or Nasir Adderly for the secondary, They’ve hosted a visit with Murphy — whose attitude I really like — and also ones with cornerbacks Amani Oruwariye and Joejuan Williams, who could both be available at 29.Of course, we can only guess how Veach rates all these players — and whether he believes the moves the Chiefs have been able to make thus far have filled the holes he thinks he needs to fill.If Veach thinks O-and-O — that is, Okafor and Ogbah — are at best rotational players, then he may decide to make a big move up for an EDGE.But if he thinks otherwise, I see secondary as the first move.And then there’s the dark horse: defensive tackle Jerry Tillery.He might also be available at 29, and he’s also been in for a visit.Again, if I’m buying my own argument — that the Chiefs are committing to inside pass rush — then getting Tillery there could make sense.I don’t know, Shawn.On game days, you’ll find me hunched over a computer, writing about the game as it happens.I attended both of last season’s Arrowhead Pride watch parties and joined friends at local watering holes for several others.But for each one of them, I lugged in my laptop and an extra computer monitor, and after the opening kickoff, spent the whole game doing my thing.I’m not complaining.I really love my job.It’s just hard to imagine doing all of that in the Arrowhead parking lot.But I do like going to the games.Before I joined the Arrowhead Pride staff Mitch Morse Jersey , Terri and I managed to make it to one or two every season, and when we do we always tailgate.Who knows?Maybe we’ll figure out a way to make that happen this season.And if we do, Shawn... you’re invited.Film Review: Safeties Jordan Lucas and Armani Watts On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs defense showed up in a huge way, actively outplaying the Jacksonville Jaguars defense, and holding the Jaguars to 14 points — seven of which were in garbage time — and forcing five turnovers.The Chiefs offense was better than they’re being given credit for.In the first half, the Chiefs did pretty much anything they wanted on just about every drive — but that simply can’t be the story after the defensive performance.As much as I’d love to bring everyone down into The Laboratory to watch snap after snap of Dee Ford dominating — while I munch on popcorn and drink some tea, as I do on the AP Laboratory Podcast that drops Wednesday mornings — even that can’t be the lead story for this week.The Chiefs lost safety Eric Murray on the first drive of the game — a game in which the Jaguars threw the football over 60 times! Murray was replaced by fourth-round rookie Armani Watts for most of the first half. But then Watts suffered an injury and 18th string safety Jordan Lucas had to step up and play huge snaps down the stretch. These young safeties were not only asked to play major roles, but played a significant part in this defensive performance — and are giving Chiefs fans a preview of what could be around the corner for them.So let’s fire up all the screens in The AP Lab, and start digging through the film to see how these guys were able to help the Chiefs achieve an AFC Clash Of The Titans win.Safety Armani WattsShowing improvementEditor’s note: We should remind you that on Tuesday, the Chiefs placed Watts — along with right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif — on injured reserve.Safety Dan Sorensen was already on injured reserve.All three could conceivably be ready to play before season’s end, but under NFL rules, only two can return to the roster this year.So it’s a fairly safe bet that unless Duvernay-Tardif’s injury keeps him out much longer than expected, Watts is done for the year.In college, Watts really struggled in man coverage — whether it was on slot receivers or tight ends. His short area quickness and change of direction just aren’t exceptional, making it hard to stick with athletes in space. That carried over to training camp. In camp, Watts also had a hard time handling press coverage, and was often beaten quickly off the snap. Austin Seferian-Jenkins isn’t the most athletic tight end in the NFL right now — or maybe even offensive tackle on his own team — but here, Watts does a great job fighting through the physicality to hold the press. Watts keeps Seferian-Jenkins from getting into his route — or picking off another defender — and shows good feet in the process.This was goodIn college, Watts was an aggressive player that had good instincts Chris Jones Jersey , and always looked to make plays on the football. This is another rep against Seferian-Jenkins — this time on a slant over the middle with no help in man coverage. Watts does a good job staying balanced during the opponent’s outside fake, and trails behind him without getting grabby. When you are trailing by this much, it’s hard to undercut a slant route without hooking the receiver’s waist and extending across their body, but here, Watts pulls it off perfectly. Why to be skepticalWatts spent the vast majority of his snaps against Jacksonville in man coverage or underneath zones, and while his man coverage was solid overall, he wasn’t challenged or pressed in zone at all. His ability to have proper zone spacing — as well as his ability to read and react to multiple routes — is still an unknown. But the bigger question right now is still his run fits.The depth Watts gets here is debatable — and that could be a coaching issue — but the worry comes from how hesitant and slow he is to come to the run. Watts comes downhill slowly, and then commits the cardinal sin of slowing his feet, getting stuck in mud, and trying to react laterally to what the runner is doing.Watts has to learn to attack and reduce the running lane to the sideline, and react more quickly to the run — especially when he plays up in the box. Safety Jordan LucasShowing improvementBefore being traded to Kansas City just before the season started, Lucas hadn’t seen much playing time in the Miami Dolphins defense, and while this is just one game, Lucas looked really good.Lucas was exceptional in nearly every aspect of the game, and it’s worth noting the Chiefs played him as the center field safety more than anywhere else. He also saw a few reps in underneath coverage and man-to-man. Jacksonville tight end Niles Paul is a solid athlete, and here he has a one-on-one matchup with Lucas on a corner route, with the only help coming on a slant or drag. Paul tries to shake Lucas off the line, but Lucas stays patient.When Paul tries to press vertically into his body, Lucas responds with physicality to stick right on his hip as Paul breaks to the corner. Later in the game — also in man coverage — Lucas showed fantastic feel working through traffic on a crossing route, and working from depth to undercut another pass attempt to Paul.This interception looks like a simple overthrow by Blake Bortles Steven Nelson Jersey , but Lucas’ ability to read the field and stay in a position to take away both seams was impressive. Lucas does a good job balancing his positioning with his hips so he can break on either route immediately — all while climbing to depth.As soon as the quarterback steps to deliver the ball, Lucas is tracking it so he can adjust while coming downhill. The return is just amazing from every angle.Lucas’ ability to read the field as a center field safety like this — on a difficult route combination — is very impressive for a player with so little playing time.This was goodLucas really flies around the field — but does so responsibly, and with purpose. He breaks quickly with good angles overall — really squeezing into help or the sideline — and seems to have a fantastic grasp of each situation.Here he adjusts Terrance Smith’s alignment to play with outside leverage based on the receiver split and the coverage, and then Lucas stays home to help Smith as the post is shown. He breaks out with the receiver just in case he can undercut the ball, but as soon as the ball is thrown to the underneath receiver, he breaks immediately with speed and a great angle. This is big-time help in a clutch fourth-down stop. Why to be skepticalNone of this is to say Lucas was perfect against the Jaguars, but all in all, there just isn’t much to be worried over. There are small zone spacing issues — as well as knowing when a guy can be passed off early and when he has to stick on them the entire way — but that will come with experience.This is a bit of a nitpick, because Lucas reads this play perfectly, stays over the top and works the routes across the field. The one problem is that his first step on his break is overly aggressive, which ends up allowing the reception just in front of him.You’d like to see Lucas attack from depth-forward, or to break laterally and then come downhill at the ball — like his interception from later in the game — so he’s the one cutting off the wide receiver, rather than trying to run behind the receiver on the route.Are these young guns ready to push for even more snaps?Not only was this a great game for the Chiefs, it also gave some young talent the opportunity to showcase their abilities. Watts had been seeing his snap counts increase due to injuries — and was picking up the defense — so Watts being placed on injured reserve is bad news. But the good news is what we saw from Jordan Lucas.Even though Lucas hadn’t been given many opportunities, he made one heck of a case to be given more — thanks to his ability to close on the ball carriers quickly, read the field as a deep safety, and execute well against good athletes in man coverage.And with Eric Murray’s sprained ankle, it seems likely that Lucas could get those opportunities, and prove that he can contribute in the NFL.