Chiefs Right Up the Middle Road: 3 Tech, 1 Tech and Khalen Saunders

Chiefs Right Up the Middle Road: 3 Tech, 1 Tech and Khalen Saunders – the Chiefs are fortunate to have a mix of players to man the middle of the defensive front — which will be based first on a 4-3 look. Whether that is over, under or a Spagnuolo variation remains to be a problem for each game and opponent that the Chiefs face. Attached is a graphic that show how the defensive base set might look.

    • Using Chris Jones, and Derrick Nnadi, in a 4-3 3-tech alignment
    • Using Chris Jones and Khalen Saunders (subbing for Nnadi) in a 3-Tech/1-Tech interior look.

Is Khalen Saunders, at 320+ pounds, capable of being a “Nose-Tackle?” You bet. His weight and low center of gravity make him a fairly ideal prospect for the role, straight up or shaded. Right now the Chiefs have Xavier Williams and Derrick Nnadi who might be earmarked to roll from the 1 Tech/NT position. Our GM Brett Veach drafted Saunders, a big, athletic defensive lineman out of Western Illinois University. Saunders should, as a top 100 pick, be immediately vying for starting snaps on the Chiefs defensive interior.

Back to D Basics

Saunders is a bit undersized — well, under-lengthed — for the ideal Interior NFL Lineman (call him 6’1″). That aside, he has the heft and quickness to succeed. Saunders is an inspiration to others: intelligent, analytic and a quick study for coaches. More than this, his athleticism is top notch. For proof of this, see this video of Western Illinois’s Khalen Saunders doing flips like a gymnast after practice:

 

I find this very impressive and it does explain for me part of the reason why Saunders was the Chiefs 3rd round pick.

His film study tells a lot more about why he can be the immoveable center of gravity for the front 4 as well as being quick of foot and able to rush the quarterback — the exact fit that the Chiefs need lining up next to Chris Jones, who turned in a marvelous tally of sacks and pressures from the interior for the Chiefs in the 34 base sets used in 2018. I envision this as a top “Go-fast” look for the Chiefs front 4 in 2019. Saunders, like Jones, can explode out of the 3 point stance. Both have quick feet. Both are difficult to block.

With Saunders in the middle, he will command double teams and if not he, then Jones will, so it is going to be a major headache for offensive coordinators to figure out how to handle when facing a pass rush from the Chiefs on passing downs.

What We Saw at the Senior Bowl

At the Senior Bowl, Saunders performance turned a lot of heads and Scouts and pundits were immediately on top of it. For KC? He fit and his fit was in the right position for the Chiefs to select him with their 3rd pick in the top 100. The worry about him is not that he can’t play football but he stands at  6’1″ so as noted and is not the length you would wish for the NFL. Everything else aligns perfectly.

The rest is what he does with what he’s got. At the Senior Bowl, he was used from the 3 tech and 5 tech position and maybe a time or two as a 1 Tech either side of the offensive center. He performed admirably whether run or pass defense. He certaInly caught the attention of Chargers Wire analyst Gavino Borquez: who wrote about him:

“Right off the bat, you notice that Saunders has an impressive blend of strength, flexibility and athleticism for his size. Constantly in the backfield, he displayed twitchy muscles to slither through gaps. Saunders was stout against the pass and run, showing great and natural pad level and a variety of pass rush moves, including a club-swim that he used to get sack in the game.”

This is exactly the take that I had when watching film: good balance, good use of his feet and great low center of gravity and pad level to fend off blockers with tough use of the hands. So then I went to various analysts to see where he rated and it was pretty high despite the lack of height.

For example, NFL Profile not a 6.00 but at 5.60 rating which is good but not round 1 and not early round 2 at least. The rating would indicate a late round 2 or early round 3 player and possibly round 4 — in other words a mid rounder but possible in the top 100 which is where he fit and was selected by Veach.

Watch the following video to see how disruptive Saunders was his Senior year:

 

Here, you can see the video summary of his Scouting Combine performance plus a couple of plays on defense at NFL.com.

One more for Saunders from Gauntlet Football:

 

In all the videos you can see Saunders in the 1 and 3-Tech positions. What I see is a big man who has the low center of gravity and the heft that is similar to what Dontari Poe brought to the table. He is not going to be a 345 pound player. He may tip it in at 330 and a bit more as he matures. Right now Saunders weighs in at 320 to 325 pounds and can take a pounding. Provided that he is playing next to Chris Jones, the 84th pick in the draft will fit quickly to be part of the disruptive high impact chaos that I believe the Chiefs defensive front is going to be.

Do I think he is a fit? Yes. Do I think he will play a nearly immediate role on defense? Yes. The questions are where and how?

Steve Spagnuolo has a great group of defensive line players to work with. There should be 9 of them on the 53-man roster. Saunders will be on the active roster — almost immediately on the 44 man game roster — due to his quickness, toughness, athleticism and ability to disrupt offenses both in defending against the run, as well as pass rush.

However, unlike others, I think he fits the role of the 1-Tech, especially on pass rush downs. His low center of gravity and is strong… which indicates that from a toughness frame of reference, he can rush up the middle. He will command double teams because he has very quick feet and multiple interior moves to the Quarterback. He is going to come to training camp weighing in about 325, maybe a shade more, but this could be taken off quickly due to play and heat and humidity. Still, let’s say he is 325 come opening day, considering his lack of length, I believe his fit is to the 3-Tech and 1-Tech. Again, I am thinking on body type, weight and ability rolled into one.

I queried Seth Keysor and Ryan Tracy on this and Ryan responded in time for this article, saying he thought 3 and possibly 5 tech observing that he is a penetrator better suited for a 3 or 5 tech. Ryan went on to speculate that Nnadi and Williams would be used to role play the 1-Tech or go with two guys shaded 1-Techs from the 3-Tech and paired with Chris Jones. I’d think that would be very tough in the middle against the run, or as a pass-rush pair from inside.

I acknowledge that from Ryan… but I am looking at what Saunders can bring as a “Big Unit” with speed, feet and moves.

Why do I think he will succeed? He addressed high school students who were not this or that Star rated. He said of himself that he was zero star out of HS and he did not let this set him back in the least. Saunders is a role model, a and motivational speaker, and player who will be a very welcome addition to the locker room… as well as on the field. Bet on it!

 

David Bell — ArrowheadOne

 

 

 

 

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