Chiefs Fav Five: 2019

It's been a while since I've done this. Not only is it fun, but it creates a great time capsule. None of my favorite Chiefs players from 2015 are on the team anymore. But hey, there are some new ones to put on!

Let's go through the roster

Travis Kelce
Mitchell Schwartz (first ever OL to even get honorable mention from me)
Patrick Mahomes (shocker)
Darwin Thompson (Damien Williams is good so I like him, but I have high hopes for the 6th round pick)
(WR is wide open. Sammy Watkins has a chance this year to join the club.)
Chris Jones
Tyrann Mathieu (Despite him not playing a snap for the Chiefs yet. Frank Clark will take time to earn this)
Juan Thornhill (another rookie)
(I also have hopes for a UDFA for the first time, Gary Johnson to make the roster. Mostly because he's a Johnson LB out of Texas.)
Harrison Butker


(2019 Training Camp Update: I'm already more excited about Mecole Hardman than Sammy Watkins. Watkins is the better player obviously, but it's fun to get excited about a rookie. Likewise, still very jazzed about Darwin Thompson. I know it's rare for rookies to actually turn into all-stars, but still.)

This was tougher than I thought. I like so many Chiefs players, but favorites, those are harder to come by.

5. Butker
4. Mathieu
3. Jones
2. Kelce
1. Mahomes

Chiefs Fav Five: 2015

It's probably pretty obvious why I decided to do this right now.

Here's my first pass through the roster.

Offense
Jamaal Charles
Jeremy Maclin
De'Anthony Thomas
Travis Kelce

Defense
Eric Berry
Justin Houston
Dontari Poe


I think Kelce is awesome. Having 6 awesome players is a good problem to have.

5. Jeremy Maclin
4. Dontari Poe
3. Justin Houston
2. Jamaal Charles
1. Eric Berry

Eric Berry finished chemotherapy one pound heavier than when he started. Read this. That is insane. That is true strength. Here his on the practice field yesterday. I am optimistic that having him on the field could lift the defense and whole team. For what it's worth, the first time that Eric Berry will be welcomed by the Arrowhead crowd will be in week 2, a Thursday night game against...the Denver Broncos.

Chiefs Fav Five 2013

I did this in the off-season, before the draft and before we got Smith. Three games in, I figured it would be fun to do it again.

Here's my first pass through the roster:

Offense
Bowe
Charles
Smith

Defense
Houston
Hali
Berry
Flowers
Poe
Derrick Johnson

Special Teams
Colquitt


Making a top five is pretty hard, for the first time ever. So I'm going to cheat at the 5 spot.

5. Berry/Flowers
4. Justin Houston
3. Dontari Poe
2. Dwayne Bowe
1. Jamaal Charles

Fav Five: Illini Football

Yikes. This could get rough. I decided to list my favorite players of my modern era. Red Grange and Butkus might go 1 and 2 otherwise, but I can't really compare them.

Players that didn't make the cut: Kurt Kittner, J Leman.

5. Mikel Leshoure

He owns the single season record for touchdowns and rushing yards. But I'll remember his 330 rushing yards against Northwestern in Wrigley Field.


4. Arrelious Benn

He was super good and I was there to watch him catch a 56-yard touchdown in the Rose Bowl (though that game wasn't nearly as close as the Sugar Bowl, which wasn't all that close to begin with).


3. Brandon Lloyd

I distinctly remember being there in Block I and having him come over and celebrate with us after the win. I slapped him on the chest pads. Burnsy stole his towel. He also scored a touchdown in the Sugar Bowl.


2. Rashard Mendenhall

Him ripping off a 79-yard touchdown run in the Rose Bowl was pretty special. And he has had two years (so far) of being excellent pro back as well.


1. Juice Williams

Some people think he didn't live up to expectations and remember subbing him out for Eddie McGee. Here's what I know. With him, Illinois beat Michigan in back to back seasons. And Illinois beat #1 Ohio State on the road to secure a Rose Bowl berth. What more could you hope for?

Fav Five: Illini Basketball

I'm going to switch things up for the Illini. Instead of picking my favorites on the current team, I'm going all-time.

My perspective isn't going to be as interesting as somebody else's. Because I am completely biased by my experience with the 2005 Illini. Of course it helps that they were the most accomplished team in the modern era.

So my list is going to favor that team and exclude players before my time...sorry Flying Illini. It sounds naive, but it's just true.

And I'm particularly going to favor the best game ever...Illinois vs Arizona in the Elite Eight. Let's count down.

5. Jack Ingram

Can you make the list for getting a finger tip on a ball? Yes. If that finger tip leads to a three-pointer that ties the game, capping the greatest comeback in tournament history,* and sends Illinois to the Final Four.

*may not be true, but close enough

4. Brandon Paul

After last year's Ohio State win and this year's Gonzaga win, I credit Brandon Paul with making Illinois basketball respectable again.

3. Luther Head

What can you say? Great player. Great shooter. Just wish he would have made one more shot.

2. Dee Brown

He was the face of the team. I will never get tired of hearing "Dee for Three."

1. Deron Williams

It's not that he is the best pro talent by a huge margin. It's not that he has the smoothest hands. He's #1 because he's clutch.

Fav Five: Avalanche

I've been doing this for the Chiefs for a while but never for any other teams. Here are my current favorite players of the Colorado Avalanche.

1. Matt Duchene

He is the inspiration for this post. He is playing an elite level. He's currently 12th in points per game. I know I'm biased but I think the season he's had so far puts him in the top ten players in the game.

Two of my favorite plays of his this year. Him knocking Shea Weber off the puck and passing it to McGinn for the goal. And him hustling to prevent an icing and passing it to McGinn for the goal.

He was a #3 overall pick in 2009. Last year he wasn't performing well and then had injuries. He signed a modest contract in the off-season so now a good number of Avs players are earning more than him. And he's outplaying all of them. And is humble about it too. Can't say enough good things about him.

2. Gabe Landeskog

Coming into the season, he would have been my favorite player. He's our captain in his second season. He hits hard. He drives to the net. It was his effort that resulted in the best moment of the 2011-2012 season.

3. P.A. Parenteau

All Dave Grohl does is make hits. All Parenteau does is produce points. He scored 67 points last year as an Islander. He's currently averaging more than a point a game, good for 18th in the league.

4. Erik Johnson

It should be Ryan O'Reilly, last year's leading point scorer. But his contract holdout was a mess. O'Reilly now needs to prove it. So I guess it's Johnson by default. He's our best defenseman but that's not saying much.

5. Seymon Varlamov, goalie

If the Avs are going to make a deep playoff run in the next four years, it will be because Varlamov goes on a run. He's got the talent. His save percentage is decidedly average (currently 14th) but he's young and the promise is there. (Meanwhile LA's Quick is 35th in save percentage. Go figure.) Since he holds the keys to our car, he makes the list.

Fav Five 2012

I realized that I hadn't done this in a while. This is really for 2012, and may change by August 2013 if we get a new QB.

Anyways, here's my first pass going through the roster, in no particular order:

Baldwin
Moeaki
McCluster
Flowers
Hali
Berry
Derrick Johnson
Bowe
Charles

Fav Five

5. Hali
4. Flowers
3. Berry
2. Bowe
1. Charles


Here's how it looked when I did it in August 2010:

5. Cassel
4. Flowers/Berry (stars of the secondary)
3. McCluster (The Dex-Factor)
2. Bowe
1. Charles

Actually, that's surprisingly consistent three seasons later.

Fav Five 2010

3rd year running...first a look back.

2009 Dave

Hon. Mention: Dorsey and Flowers/Carr

5. Charles
4. Thigpen
3. D. Johnson
2. Cassel
1. Bowe

2009 Mark

1. Megatron
2. Barry Sanders
3. Incomplete
4. Incomplete
5. Incomplete

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

2010

The players that I think are good, but are hard to get excited about, are Thomas Jones, our kicker Succop and punter Colquitt. I kinda like Chambers, but whatever.

5. Cassel
4. Flowers/Berry (stars of the secondary)
3. McCluster (The Dex-Factor)
2. Bowe
1. Charles

Charles is awesome, I would love it for him to break every record that LJ owns. Bowe has got in trouble, but I still think he's great. High hopes for Dexter and Berry.

Fav Five for 2009

Last year I asked who were your favorite five players on your team. This is what we came up with:

Dave
Hon. Mention: Sippio and Dorsey

5. Croyle
4. Gonzalez
3. D. Johnson
2. L. Johnson
1. Bowe

Mark
1. Roy Williams (apart from being the only talented guy on the team, he's hilarious)
2. Jon Kitna (I like that he cares, even if he's only mediocre)
3-5. None. This team is awful. Calvin Johnson might be good, Ernie Sims isn't bad, but I just don't like any of them.

- - -

Cut to 2009. Sippio and Gonzales aren't on the team. Croyle is 3rd string. Everyone thinks LJ is on his way out. Bowe was 2nd only to Braylon in drops and Derrick Thomas and Glenn Dorsey haven't impressed too many people yet.

On the other side, both Roy Williams and Jon Kitna are now Cowboys.

- - -

So after all those moves, who is our fandom pointed at now?

Hon. Mention: Dorsey and Flowers/Carr

5. Charles
4. Thigpen
3. D. Johnson
2. Cassell
1. Bowe

We haven't had a solid starting QB since Green in 2005. Last year alone we had Croyle, Huard and Thigpen line up under center. Will Cassell be the guy?

Will Derrick Johnson ever make a Pro Bowl? Will Bowe stop dropping the ball?

It's pretty sad that I can only find three guys to root for over our 2nd string QB.

But enough about me. Who's in your fav five?

Who's in your Fav Five?

Arrowhead Addict asks who's in Fav Five of Chiefs?

Here's mine...

Hon. Mention: Sippio and Dorsey

5. Croyle
4. Gonzalez
3. D. Johnson
2. L. Johnson
1. Bowe

So who are your top 5 players on your team?