MediterraneanGrocery Wholesalers in Kansas City, MO

There has been no better general manager in the NFL than Kansas City Chiefs’ Brett Veach when it comes to finding late-round steals.

Veach managed to grab Isiah Pacheco and Jaylen Watson in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL draft. Each of those rookies made outsized contributions to the team’s Super Bowl-winning season. The season prior, the Chiefs notably selected starting RG Trey Smith in the sixth round. Could they have landed another steal in the sixth round this year?

Our friend Doug Farrar at Touchdown Wire recently revealed a list of the biggest draft steals for all 32 NFL teams. He identified sixth-round pick Keondre Coburn as the biggest draft steal for Kansas City. Here’s what he had to say:

Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo likes to have at least one massive earth-moving defensive tackle on his lines — Khalen Saunders and Derrick Nnadi have filled those roles of late — and Coburn should be a fascinating addition after Kansas City took him with the 194th overall pick in the sixth round. That’s about two rounds lower than I had him based on my tape study after I watched his 2022 season, in which the 6-foot-2, 332-pound Coburn registered four sacks and 31 total pressures. Coburn may be massive, but he’s more than just a stationary earthdog — No. 99 can move quite effectively to the quarterback, and he’s not above taking a guard all the way with him, using just one arm to out-leverage the poor guy.

In our recent look at pre-draft big board rankings, we came to the same conclusion about Coburn. Draft Wire and PFF both had him ranked in the top 150 players in the 2023 NFL draft. What could potentially make Coburn a steal isn’t just his ability to stop the run, but he’s shown the ability to impact the quarterback (as shown above). He managed all of that last season playing on a solid defensive line, but this year he’ll be playing next to Chris Jones. It’s safe to assume that could lead to an even greater uptick in production.

Do you think that Coburn will be the biggest steal of the draft for the Chiefs? Do you have another player in mind? Be sure to let us know your choice on Facebook and Twitter.

On a festive Friday night in September 2011, the man now known as King Charles III helped usher in a new era for the arts in Kansas City. It was a bit of a shock for the nearly 2,000 people who witnessed it.

On that night, a gala was held to open the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, the new home of the the Kansas City Symphony, Kansas City Ballet and Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

After cocktails and oohing over the shell-shaped building with a glass atrium offering a million-dollar view of the city, the guests assembled in the Muriel Kauffman Theatre, one of two performance halls.

They were the first guests to sit in those plush red seats inside a theater inspired by grand opera houses of Europe.

The woman of the night was Julia Irene Kauffman.

The Kansas City busineswoman and philanthropist is the daughter of the late Ewing Kauffman, the founder of the Kansas City Royals, and Muriel Kauffman, the mastermind behind the Kauffman Center. Julia Kauffman carries on her mother’s work supporting the city’s arts as chairman and CEO of the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation.

The night of the gala, Julia Kauffman walked on stage to greet her guests, glowing under the lights in a sequined silver dress and diamonds around her neck. But first, she had a surprise from across the pond.

A giant video screen descended over the stage and the face of then-Prince Charles appeared, larger than life.

A benefactor of the arts and a fan of architecture, the royal delivered a taped greeting, noting that “the arts are a hallmark of our humanity,” he said. “The performing arts are thriving in Kansas City.”

The moment was unexpected and inexplicable. Gasps and giggles could be heard from the audience.

Prince Charles? In Kansas City?

What’s become known in the years since, largely through the British media, is Kauffman’s status as a kindred spirit of the king.

She has been named in news articles as one of many “generous benefactors” of his projects, including work on the Castle of Mey, the beloved Scottish home of the late Queen Mother, a majestic building with fairy-tale turrets and towers, according to The Herald, a Glasgow newspaper.

King Charles is said to stay at the castle every August in memory of his grandmother.

In January 2021, The Herald named Kauffman as one of the donors who helped fund a 10-bedroom bed-and-breakfast on the grounds. The newspaper described her as “American philanthropist Julia Irene Kauffman — the daughter of the late pharmaceutical magnate Ewing Kauffman.”

This weekend that relationship bears rather lofty fruit: Kauffman was set to witness history firsthand.

“I am in London to attend the coronation,” she told The Star this past week, describing the king as “a wonderful, generous person” who will “be a caring, excellent monarch.”

The final guest list wound up at more than 2,200 people, including British royals, assorted European kings and queens and about 100 heads of state. About 400 young people representing charitable organizations will watch from the church next door.

KANSAS CITY -- Thanks to early offense and some tightrope pitching from the bullpen, the Athletics have managed to rid themselves of another unwanted streak.

By hanging on by their fingernails for a 5-4 victory over the Royals on Saturday, Oakland clinched a series win for the first time this season. The A’s have taken the first two games of the weekend set at Kauffman Stadium after arriving in Kansas City 0-10 in series competition on the season.

“We know where we are, the hole we dug ourselves,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “It definitely does feel good to get our first series win, especially the way we did it. Our bullpen really did a great job tonight.”

Neither team could score after the fourth and the Royals certainly had more opportunities. Kansas City loaded the bases in the seventh, put two on in the eighth and two more on in the ninth.

The Oakland bullpen bent but didn’t break.

The Royals wound up stranding 15 runners for the night and were just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position. But whenever an Oakland reliever had to make a big pitch in a high-leverage situation, he got the desired result.

Oakland starter Ken Waldichuk had a rough fourth inning as Kansas City rallied from a 5-1 deficit to close within a run. Waldichuk went back out for the fifth and promptly walked the leadoff hitter. But then he gained his second wind by striking out the next three and leaving after throwing 114 pitches. Waldichuk's pitch count was high partially due to the six walks that he allowed.

“I really wanted to get through five and help out the bullpen,” Waldichuk said. “I was battling a lot with command. But after I walked [Royals second baseman Michael Massey] leading off the fifth and [Kotsay] left me in, I was like ‘Ok, it’s go time. I need to finish this.’”

Kotsay said he let Waldichuk work the fifth with a high pitch count because he was leery of going to a heavily worked bullpen too early. Rico Garcia delivered a clean sixth inning and Richard Lovelady, Sam Moll and Zach Jackson navigated through traffic over the last three frames.

“We made pitches when we had to and it feels great to come out on top,” Kotsay said.

The A’s jumped on Kansas City starter Brady Singer with Esteury Ruiz delivering a two-run single in the second. JJ Bleday continued his hot hitting with a double and a homer, and Ryan Noda ignited a two-run rally with an RBI triple in the fourth.

Noda has reached base nine times through the opening two games of the series, including four extra-base hits.

“Just getting some good pitches and not missing them,” Noda said.

The A’s have a chance for a series sweep on Sunday. But no matter what, they can breathe a sigh of relief that they have taken a series after dropping 10 straight.

“It just shows we can win,” Noda said. “Hopefully, we can use this for momentum and keep it rolling.”

The Kansas City Chiefs’ rookie minicamp runs from Saturday through Monday at the team’s practice facility on the grounds of the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City.

78 players are taking part. Among them are the seven rookie players acquired in the 2023 NFL Draft, the 16 undrafted free-agent rookies whose signings were announced on Saturday morning and four other Chiefs players.

Joining them are a total of 51 players participating on a tryout basis. Almost all of them are rookies.

One or two of these tryout players could be signed to the 90-man roster once the minicamp has concluded, but most will pack their bags and go home.

The team currently has 90 players on its roster — but new International Pathways Program player Chukwuebuka Godrick has a roster exemption. So officially, the roster now stands at 89 players; one other player may be added without waiving or releasing another one.

Accounting for all known transactions, we now estimate that the team has $1.5 million in salary-cap space.

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The Kansas City Chiefs made waves on Wednesday by bringing in veteran offensive tackle Donovan Smith as a free agent. Drafted out of Penn State by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft, Smith spent eight years in Tampa before being released this offseason.

Starting all 124 games of his career as a left tackle, Smith was a cornerstone for the Buccaneers’ transformation and played a pivotal role in keeping Tom Brady clean while helping the Buccaneers beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV.

An injury-plagued 2022 season saw a drastic dip in play from Smith and likely led to his release in Tampa Bay. The Chiefs signed him to a one-year deal worth up to $9 million, showing some level of financial commitment.

Veteran OT Donovan Smith is signing with the #Chiefs on a one-year deal worth up to $9 million, per source.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 3, 2023

While it shows they will be committed to having him on the roster for the season — as our very own Jared Sapp pointed out — this deal is worth more money than the Chiefs currently have available.

Well the Chiefs only have $4.5 million in cap. So I am guessing there are some crazy stipulations like a million for making the Pro Bowl, $2 million for 17 games started.

— Jared Sapp (@TrumanChief) May 4, 2023

Looking at the deal from the perspective that it will be highly incentivized can change how we think about the team's commitment to Smith regarding playing time. The Chiefs had options on their roster for a second offensive tackle — but now, they have options for whether or not they want to move Jawaan Taylor to the left or keep him on the right side, where he played in Jacksonville.

The Chiefs' current tackle room comprises Jawaan Taylor, Lucas Niang, Donovan Smith, Wanay Morris, Prince Tega-Wanogho and Darian Kinnard. Taylor is the only lock to start, but whether he will stay on the right or move to the left is not yet set in stone.

Lucas Niang — the Chiefs’ 2020 third-round draft pick — started nine games in 2021 before being sidelined with a nasty injury until midway into the 2022 season. While he does have experience on the right side, his up-and-down play will likely cause him to have to play the best football of his life to come away with a starting job. It should be noted that in the Super Bowl — when Andrew Wylie had to leave the game for a play — it was Niang to came to fill in.

Wanya Morris was the Chiefs' third-round draft pick this year — and while he brings an interesting blend of talent to the table, as I touched on in my film review of his game, he is still far too inconsistent with cracking into the starting lineup as a rookie.

Prince Tega-Wanogho was the team's swing tackle last season and saw the field minimally. He is the most likely candidate to be cut.

Kinnard was inactive for most of 2022, and despite being an All-Conference tackle at Kentucky, his route to the field will be nearly impossible with the bodies the Chiefs have added. I expect him to transition to guard — his more natural position— and compete for a reserve role.

With Kinnard likely moving to guard and Tega-Wonagho the odd man out, that would leave roster spots at tackle for Taylor, Smith, Niang and Morris. This grouping likely puts Morris in a backup or developmental-type role where he can work on his technique and develop for the future. With Taylor penciled in for at least one spot, this would allow Niang and Smith to duke it out for the final spot.

Niang has more experience in the scheme, but when healthy, Smith would likely be the better option. In the end, I think the Chiefs will go with Smith to start.

Andy Reid puts a huge emphasis on putting the "best five" on the field, and if that best five involves Taylor playing left tackle and Smith playing right, then that is what the Chiefs will roll do. Kansas City is likely to start with the two players at their natural positions and go from there.

As for Niang and Morris on the bench to start the season, that might not last. Any lapse in play from Smith or injury to either he or Taylor will result in a backup entering the game.

With this many options available, it would be hard for the Chiefs to start any struggling player continually throughout the season, which opens the possibility that we might see a few different lineups this year.

The #Chiefs kept nine offensive linemen at the deadline last year. Here's my way-too-early (May) projection after tonight's news:Starters: LT D. Smith, LG Thuney, C Humphrey, RG T. Smith, RT Taylor | Reserves: OG/C Allegretti, OT Niang, OG/OT Kinnard, OT Morris

— Pete Sweeney (@pgsween) May 4, 2023

OL 1: D. Smith, Thuney, Humphrey, T. Smith, Taylor

OL 2: Taylor, Thuney, Humphrey, T. Smith, D. Smith

If an injury were to occur to Donovan Smith:

OL: Taylor, Thuney, Humphrey, T. Smith, Niang

If an injury occurs to Niang and Smith:

OL: Taylor, Thuney, Humphrey, T. Smith, Morris

If there were to be multiple injuries along the line:

OL: D. Smith, Thuney, Allegretti, Kinnard, Morris

It's early May.

Nothing is set in stone right now, and there will be fierce competition come training camp. The idea right now is to prepare for the worst-case scenario possible. Smith and the Super Bowl LV champion Tampa team largely has their rings because the Chiefs failed to develop good depth on the offensive line.

It has been clear since that game the Chiefs will never let themselves be put in that position again.

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