The Kansas City Chiefs will open the 2026 season on Monday Night Football against the Denver Broncos with two extra bodies on the 53-man roster.
Hours before the home opener at Arrowhead, the Chiefs elevated defensive tackle Marcus Harris and fullback Ben VanSumeren from the practice squad under the standard elevation rule, the team announced.
Both players return to the practice squad after the game without having to clear waivers, a mechanism teams may use three times during the regular season.
VanSumeren’s presence is the more revealing of the two moves. The 26-year-old Michigan native arrived in Kansas City only after the Buffalo Bills released him at final cuts.
He began his career as an undrafted linebacker with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023, later converting to fullback and appearing in 21 games across three seasons while winning a Super Bowl ring.
A torn patellar tendon on the opening kickoff of 2025 ended that year before it started.
Andy Reid has long valued a true fullback more than most coaches, and the Chiefs have not carried one since Michael Burton.
With Kenneth Walker now leading a ground game the team wants to emphasize, VanSumeren offers lead-blocking and special-teams reliability that fits the scheme.
Harris’s call-up carries a different flavor. The 25-year-old Auburn product, a seventh-round pick of the Houston Texans in 2024, has yet to appear in a regular-season game.
After bouncing among several practice squads, he signed with Kansas City late last season, earned a futures contract, and flashed in the preseason—leading the defense in snaps and recording multiple tackles for loss in the finale.
The Chiefs still waived him to claim other players, then quickly brought him back to the practice squad. His elevation now looks like both a reward and insurance: Chris Jones dealt with a tight calf late in the week, and Harris can spell the interior if needed.
Neither player is expected to rewrite the game plan, yet the pair of elevations quietly sketches Kansas City’s priorities. One move adds a specialist who can help the run game and coverage units.
The other keeps a young interior lineman close in case the veteran star is limited.
After the final whistle Monday night both will revert to the practice squad, available again if the next week demands another short-term solution. For one evening at least, they are Chiefs.
