Debating two different sets of Chiefs player rankings

On Wednesday’s Out of Structure podcast, we broke down our Chiefs player rankings, pointing out the big differences in our lists.

On Wednesday’s edition of the Arrowhead Pride Out of Structure podcast, Matt Stagner and I took a break from answering your thoughtful questions from Twitter. Instead, we debated the rankings we have each made for current Kansas City Chiefs players. I posted my Top 20 Chiefs in a series of articles a few weeks ago, while Matt continually updates his Market Movers series by ranking the entire roster.

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Listen to the podcast for all of our discrepancies. I picked out one player that each of us has higher than the other.

Ron: Dan Sorensen

Ron ranked Sorensen 15th. Matt ranked him 29th.

The player I’ve been trying to cut every offseason for the last three years has somehow landed in the top 15 of my list. I have him ranked ahead of guys like Derrick Nnadi, Charvarius Ward and Creed Humphrey. I believe Sorensen has a bigger impact on the team as a whole than some of the younger role players we might be more excited about.

His special-teams impact is one thing — but last season, he also played the second-most defensive snaps on the team. He was one of the most consistent defenders on the team last year; his ability to be the second linebacker in the dime defense — and also sometimes play deep safety — is valuable.

At this point in his career, I know he’s more likely to be trending down than up — but he’s still a very impactful player.

Matt: Tershawn Wharton

Matt ranked Wharton 14th, while Ron ranked him 22nd.

First, a bit of context: the rankings I do are for the Market Movers series — and are intended to be forward-looking; I’m seeking to identify ascending players before they move up the ranks. So I probably give more weight to younger players based on their upside — and Wharton certainly fits that description.

Coming off of a remarkable rookie season, Wharton demonstrated an ability to be disruptive — especially rushing the passer — and with Chris Jones playing more on the EDGE, I think he could have a bigger role this season. If you’re looking at the young players on the rise, Wharton is a player to get excited about — even if I’m a little too high on him in these rankings.

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