Little-Known Chief to Keep an Eye On: Brian Waters

With the playoffs upon us, we'll document one overlooked player you should watch on each of the eight teams playing this weekend.

Brian Waters goes 6-foot-3 and 320 pounds. Although that's big for an NFL guard, in this day and age, it's hardly noteworthy. Except that on Saturday, Waters is going to be matched up with Indianapolis defensive tackle Raheem Brock, who weighs in at 274. The Colts' defensive linemen have spent all season going up against offensive linemen who outweigh them by 50 pounds or so, and it shows in the Colts' inability to stop the run.

Although Waters told the Indianapolis Star that "You can't just run the ball every single play for a whole game," the Chiefs will try to come pretty close, and Waters is every bit as important to that effort as Larry Johnson. Paul Zimmerman of Sports Illustrated, who is obsessive in the way he studies offensive linemen, graded Waters as the seventh-best guard in the league when studying tape for his all-pro team.

Waters missed two games this season, and as Chiefs FanHouse blogger Phil Yoon noted, his return sparked the line in the Chiefs' Thanksgiving win over the Broncos. With Waters at full speed, the Chiefs' line shouldn't have much trouble overpowering the Colts.