Phillip Maxwell
How about that Brett Veach fella bringing Drue Tranquill to Kansas City? My opinion of every single one of Brett Veach’s acquisitions since taking over the role of General Manager for the Kansas City Chiefs hasn’t always been positive, although mostly positive. Uh, sorta mostly positive. I definitely have a love/hate one-sided relationship with Brett Veach, but the man’s signing of Drue Tranquill was a solid contact hit out of the ballpark!
Drue Tranquill, a Notre Dame product, was selected in the 4th round of the 2019 NFL draft by the Los Angeles Chargers. Drue started his first 3 seasons as a rotational piece for the Chargers and became a full-time starter for them in 2022, where he tallied up 146 tackles, 5 sacks and 4 passes defensed, all in which were career highs.
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I think that Tranquill felt a little slighted that the Chargers didn’t make a stronger push to lock him up to a long-term contract after his rookie deal.
Their loss our gain, because in stepped Veach (with a nudge from Andy Reid) who made it crystal clear, from what I understand, that Drue was someone Kansas City wanted very much to see sporting a Chiefs uniform in 2023. Drue has even said himself during an interview with NFL.com that he felt really honored by the way the Chiefs strongly pursued him.
This guy is one tough football player, and intelligent. Drue immediately went full tilt and buried his head into Spags defense from the get-go. In a press conference back in July, Drue mentions just how different Spags defensive schemes were to him, and how very different from what he experienced in LA, but that hasn’t stopped this guy from becoming an instant defensive presence for the Chiefs… which is a testament to how smart he is.
I have mostly been an offensive minded guy through the years –> score score score! When I coached my son’s football teams, I wanted so badly for him to be the star RB, he was super quick with great hands, with really good physical prowess for his age, but what actually happened was, he turned out to be a top safety in the league, the proof is in the MVP trophies that sit on a shelf in my Man Cave. During his basketball years he got the nickname “100,000-dollar bar” because he played defense at 100,000 miles per hour. I wanted the high scorer, but what I got was the ball hawk who loved to feed the high scorers.
Then there has been David Bell, writer here at ArrowheadOne, I try to talk offense and he steers the conversation back to defense. Every time, defense, the man loves his defense!
Well, It has taken awhile, but I have come around. I no longer get up to grab a beer while the defense is on the field while waiting for the offense to come back out. It is fun as hell to see a hard hitting tackle and I celebrate a Sack almost as much as a Touchdown these days. Guys like Drue Tranquill make it fun to watch. Check this out, as of this game in New York against the Jets — 4 games into the 2023 Season — Drue leads all Chiefs defenders with 23 tackles, 16 solo and a forced fumble!
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Now, after the Vikings game, you can ad another 9 tackles to that total for Tranquill. He has taken to Spags defense… like I take to a cold beer on a summer day. Nick Bolton missing playing time due to an ankle injury would have been pure panic-o-rama for the Chiefs had Drue not been available to hold down the fort in his absence. Steve Spagnuolo has had nothing but praise for Tranquill, and had this to say about him last month:
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“Yeah, it’s nice to have guys like that, that can do more than one thing. He’s played – right now he’s playing, he’s played all three base linebacker positions, and then he’s been in the sub-package when he’s been in with Nick (Bolton), plus he’s been in there with the mike with one of the other linebackers. That helps us a lot – listen it’s all new to him as far as the verbiage and the system so it tells you that he’s pretty intelligent if he’s playing in that many spots this early.”
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It will be very interesting to watch this play out and to see where this goes at seasons end, because unfortunately for Kansas City, Drue is only here on a 1 year deal, and if Drue keeps doing what Drue does best, there should undoubtedly be a sizable list of suitors willing to give him the long-term deal that every NFL player seeks. My money says Drue would love nothing more than to stay a Chief, but there is that whole salary cap thingamajig and there are going to be a lot of other hands outstretched in the near future.
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My understanding is the Chargers didn’t want to overpay Tranquill based on one good season, but I think he has made it pretty clear that 2022 wasn’t a fluke. He appears to be ready to take on that starter roll wherever that may be in 2024, but for the here and now, in 2023, this beast of a Linebacker is ours and he seems to be very happy and content in Kansas City. He had this to say last month:
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“It’s hyper competitive around here, like winning is absolutely everything. It’s kind of egos aside, winning is the ultimate goal. The picture of that Super Bowl ring is on the start of every single slide of every presentation. Whether it’s [Defensive Coordinator] Coach [Steve] Spags [Spagnuolo] saying ‘hey let’s change this up schematically just to try and fool Patrick [Mahomes] to win this day of practice’ like winning is everything to them. You certainly see that with the amount of close games they win on a year in year out basis.”
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He must absolutely love how the Chiefs manage to rise above adversity through the ugly games and simply find a way, something he didn’t always get to experience in Los Angeles. Kansas City is led by great coaches who have made it common practice guiding these great players, week in and week out, towards something special. It’s a winning culture and I sure hope Drue gets to experience a Super Bowl victory in person, for himself, while wearing Red and Gold.
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Go Chiefs!
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Yogi Berra Quote/Truth:
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“When you come to a
fork in the road, take it!”
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Phillip Maxwell
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