It’s Super Bowl Red Friday. Kansas City isn’t thinking too much about the Royals right now. But have you ever asked yourself this question: If the Royals were to start a football team with their 40-man roster, what would the depth chart look like? Well, you don’t have to wonder anymore.

So here’s what I think that would look like. I would love to hear your suggestions in the comments.

Offense

Let’s start with the offense. Overall, it’s a good group with a lot of athletes but that lacks size outside the tight end room. This group revolves around Bobby Witt Jr.’s athleticism and a strong pass-catching group. Bobby is a freak athlete that can beat teams with his arm and legs, but a somewhat weak offensive line prevents this offense from being as effective with designed QB runs. So they will rely on Bobby’s creativity with his legs and getting the ball to his weapons.

Strengths: QB, WR

Weaknesses: RB, OL

Quarterbacks

QB1: Bobby Witt Jr

QB2: Brady Singer

QB3: Josh Staumont

Bobby Witt Jr is the franchise guy. He has the pedigree. He’s still on his rookie deal. The Royals have a window to win before he gets his extension. The offense runs through Bobby.

Running Backs

RB1: Kyle Isbel

RB2: Alec Marsh

RB3: Maikel Garcia

This might be the most unexciting group, but we have some nice pieces. Marsh brings some size and change of pace, but I like Garcia as a twitchy pass catcher.

Wide Receivers

WR1: MJ Melendez

WR2: Edward Olivares

WR3: Nate Eaton

WR4: Daniel Lynch

I really like this group, specifically the 1-2 punch. MJ was an easy selection for WR1, for several reasons. He has the best aesthetic on the team, which is a high priority at the wide receiver position. He has a history of catching things and has a similar physical profile to Ja’Marr Chase. He isn’t a burner but has good size and brings lots of juice. All the makings of a WR1

Ed on the other hand is a burner. He has great range and even though he’s lankier, he still brings some height to the group, making him a red zone threat. Eaton is an ideal slot guy, with elite sprint speed and quickness. He is also one of just four Royals playing both ways. And Daniel Lynch is tall.

Tight Ends

TE1: Amir Garrett

TE2: Brady Singer

I really like the Royals pass catchers, and that extends to the tight ends. With Garrett, another Royal playing both ways, you have maybe the best athlete on this squad. Tell me if you’ve heard this before, but he’s also another former college basketball star to thrive as a tight end. At 6’6, 240, the former 4-star recruit and St. John’s small forward brings speed and physicality to a huge tight end room. He also brings juice. With Singer, you get a fiery competitor and the team’s backup QB. He brings size and technique to the room.

Offensive Line

LT: Salvador Perez

LG: Josh Taylor

C: Jonathan Bowlan

RG: Kris Bubic

RT: Brad Keller

You have to protect the QB’s blind side, and Salvy does just that. He isn’t as tall as Keller and doesn’t have the reach of other tackles in the league, but he brings a tremendous combination of strength and quickness. He also has elite hands and footwork.

Aside from Salvy, this might be the weakest group. The Royals lack size because they’re baseball players, so this isn’t surprising. Keller has nice size at right tackle, but they might struggle with internal pressure.

Defense

Onto the defense. Similar to the offense, they lack size. But as I said in the offensive line section, that’s because they’re baseball players and not football players. So we’ll make do. Also similar to the offense, the defensive unit has a lot of speed. We’re running a base 3-4 defense to accommodate for the lack of size and to exploit opposing fronts with speed. However, I envision this defense playing nickel defense far more than a base personnel.

Strengths: CB, DE/Edge

Weaknesses: ILB

Defensive Line

DE: Vinnie Pasquantino

DT: Max Castillo

DE: Carlos Hernandez

Vinnie is a prototypical 3-4 defensive end, bringing size and strength to a small defensive front. He is a strong rusher, but brings real value in run defense and demands attention. Max is a gap clogger. Him and Vinnie occupy multiple blockers and free up a smaller edge group with one-on-one matchups that exploit opposing offensive lines with their speed.

Linebackers

OLB/Edge: Hunter Dozier

ILB: Nick Pratto

ILB: Jonathan Heasley

OLB/Edge: Amir Garrett

One of the weaker groups, along with the offensive line. Dozier brings a combination of size and strength off the edge, making him a serviceable rusher. Garrett is the highlight of this group. I like him off the edge. He might be the best player on this team.

Cornerbacks

CB1: Drew Waters

CB2: Michael Massey

CB3: Nicky Lopez

CB4: Nate Eaton

Arguably the best unit on the team, the cornerback room is filled with speed and range. They lack in size and could struggle with bigger receivers and give up yards after they catch, but all four are sticky and cover well. Waters is the group’s only true outside defender, but the rest of the group thrives in nickel-and-dime groupings.

Safeties

FS1: Bobby Witt Jr.

SS1: Scott Barlow

FS2: Zack Greinke

SS2: Jackson Kowar

With a smaller CB unit, the safeties bring size and football IQ to the table. Greinke is the QB of the defense, and despite lacking the physical tools he once had, provides valuable structural help and deceives quarterbacks with his eyes. Barlow and Kowar are both imposing figures who provide physicality, while Bob is a ball-hawking safety that can cover any position.

Special Teams

K: Zack Greinke

P: Zack Greinke

PR/KR: Maikel Garcia

Listen. We don’t know many things, but we know if the Royals started a football team, Zack would be doing the punting. We know this because he used to take Emil Brown to a Jacob L. Loose Park and punt footballs to him. Over and over. He’s the kicker too. And he’d probably be the best kicker in the league.

That’s the squad. What would your team look like? Let’s throw in former Royals for fun. And of course, go Chiefs!