Chiefs: The Progression of Darron Lee

Laddie Morse | May 21, 2019

After doing some light reading about the Kansas City Chiefs newest linebacker, Darron Lee, I came across an article by Doug Lesmerises called, “Ohio State’s Darron Lee, from high school QB to NFL LB in two college seasons” in which he states,

That sentence stayed with me and I thought I should do some more research on Lee as a consequence. First, I was hoping to alleviate any suspicions I had that Lee might be an inexperienced player who just isn’t what the Chiefs thought they were getting and that maybe he wasn’t going to get any better either.

Then I read something that Darron Lee said. “I love my life, I love it.” 

There’s something about youthful exuberance that has always captured my attention. Perhaps his statement could not simply be attributed to hubris of the young or whatever. Lee wanted to play for Ohio State so much that even though he was a high school QB, he told the coaches at Ohio State that he’d play any position they wanted him to. Even though, to this day, he’d likely say, he still thinks he’d be a good QB. Well, now that he’s with the Andy Reid led Chiefs, perhaps he can be the 3rd QB off the bench in case the first two get injured in a game (God forbid).

So, Darron Lee shows up at Ohio State not having ever played linebacker. At all. Then, he plays for two seasons and he excels at it enough to get drafted 20th overall. Now, perhaps you can see why there even exists a piece written about him called, “The Progression” because he’s still learning the position. Lee has played for 3 seasons with the Jets and had two at Ohio State so, if you’re doing the math with me here, he’s appeared in 68 games… as a linebacker.

Let’s back up for a minute.

Darron Lee not only played QB in high school, he also played WR… Safety… Kick Returner… and he was a multi-sport star. Lee once ran a 22.21 – 200 meters while on his track team in high school. Although Lee had many accomplishments in track during HS, he was also rated the 29th best Safety in the nation, as well as a 4-Star recruit from Scout.com. 

Darron Lee recognized that he was still in a progression after his first year as a starter too. While getting ready for the Fiesta Bowl game vs Notre Dame in January of 2016, he said:

“If I had played (linebacker) as long as I played quarterback? It probably would be different for sure. I probably would be ahead of the curve from what I am now.”

• In Lee’s rookie season with the Jets, 2016, he was in on 641 defensive snaps playing in 61.8% of the defensive plays, the second most on the team. He appeared in 13 games, started 9 of them, had 70 tackles, 1 sack and no INTs.
• In Lee’s 2nd season, also with the Jets, in 2017, he was in on 1,028 defensive snaps playing in 91.8% of the defensive plays. the 2nd most on the team. He started and appeared in 15 games and he had 94 tackles, 3 sacks, and no INTs.
• In Lee’s 3rd year, with the Jets, he was in on 808 defensive snaps playing in 71.1% of the defensive plays, which was 4th on the team because he only started and appeared in three–fourths of the games (12). He had 74 tackles, no sacks and 3 INTs.

Lee was suspended the last 4 games of the 2018 season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy but his tackles ratio per game in 2018 was virtually the same as it was in 2017, even though he played 4 fewer games.

What really improved in 2018 was Lee’s ability in coverage.

There was good reason why Darron Lee decided to move on after only two years at Ohio State. Had he stayed four years there, then last year would have been his rookie season. Now, the Chiefs get the benefit of seeing Lee reach his zenith. At 24 years of age, he still has years of ascension remaining. You could see his ability as a sophomore at Ohio State when he helped them win a National Championship. I recently re-watched the Ohio State v Alabama Sugar Bowl and kept saying, “Isn’t that Amari Cooper? Isn’t that Ezekiel Elliott? Isn’t that Joey Bosa? Isn’t that….” Some of the biggest stars in the NFL today played in that game… and it was only the semifinal. I want to share Darron Lee’s highlights from that game but first, take a look at some of the stars he was shining in front of:

While this is a great list, it doesn’t include all the recognizable names who played that day. Here’s a few plays that Darron Lee made in that game:

In a film review of four games that Seth Keysor did for the Athletic, he noted that Lee was successful in coverage 11.5 times per game on average (although a 4 game sample size does not represent the entirety of his performance for the season) while the times he missed in coverage was at 2.25 times per game. Keysor makes the point that “coverage” is probably what the Chiefs will be asking Lee to do mostly. Although, the film that I’ve watched shows he’s very good when asked to blitz. Here’s an example of Lee faking a blitz:

If Darron Lee is only asked to play the pass… and do a little fake blitzing… he will help the Chiefs linebacking corp improve in 2019. Anything else, is just gravy. I have a feeling Darron Lee will be serving the full meal deal. Darron Lee is also a very intelligent player and his knowledge of the game should help other K.C. LBs.

I’ve seen Darron Lee get turned the wrong way in coverage so he’s not a perfect player by any means. However, he’s better than any LB on the Chiefs roster right now and he should help Dorian O’Daniel out considerably in his development.

Speed, athleticism, read & react ability, knowledge and a progressive path. Those traits make the Darron Lee trade a bg win, before he even hits the field. Getting another team’s so-called “reject”… could end up being a brilliant move by GM Brett Veach.

Oh yeah… I should say… I am hoping we never get to see Darron Lee under center.

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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