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Matt Verderame#83 of 87 NFL pundits · Jun 8, 2026

Matt ranked the five Chiefs rookies they consider most important to the team, with edge rusher R Mason Thomas at No. 1 and nickel corner Jaden Kennedy at No. 5. They also argued the Chiefs should be ranked sixth or seventh rather than ninth as ESPN's FPI has them.

Said on air, transcribed by us · KC Sports Network (podcast)Hear the original

Waitinggraded once the result is in

What Matt Verderame said

I just think our Mason Thomas is the biggest x factor in the entire team.
Matt Verderame’s words, quoted for attribution
The episode
That Football Show 6/8: Ranking the Most Important Chiefs Rookies for 2026
The original
Hear the original

How the call scored

One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened.

Nothing to score yet: this grades once the result is in.

The call is scored 0 to 100 against what happened, on its own, by the published methodology. The naive guess is what knowing nothing would have scored on the same call; the gap, weighted by how hard the call was, is the skill.

  1. Power Rankings

    “To me, the Chiefs should be no lower than seventh... But I think Chiefs are, like, six or seven. You could even argue higher.”

    VerdictWaiting

    Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.

More power rankings

The same kind of call, about other players and teams.