Kansas City Chiefs Laddie Morse

Chiefs: Top 5 Defensive Players I’m Most Excited to Watch in 2019

LadnerMorse May 28, 2019 No Comments

Laddie Morse | My 28, 2019

When the 2019 season begins for the Kansas City Chiefs in just over 100 days from now (but who’s counting), I will be excited to see the Chiefs high powered offense take the field once again. Plus, this time, this year, I will be equally excited to watch how the Defense is dogging opponents. In fact, I’ve narrowed it down to my top 5 defensive players I’m most excited to watch in 2019.

I’ll be watching DT Khalen Saunders. Saunders comes to us out of Western Illinois and is a fireball of energy. Western Illinois is part of the FCS, which is the Football Championship Subdivision of the NCAA, or Division I-AA, a lower level division. Nevertheless, those schools have produced many fine NFL players, notably: QB Carson Wentz of the Eagles, RB David Johnson of the Cardinals, WR Cooper Kupp of the Rams, KR/WR Tarik Cohen of the Bears, and K Adam Vinatieri so, NFL teams don’t want to go to sleep when it comes to scouting the FCS (although, Tanoh Kpassagnon came from Villanova, which is an FCS school). Saunders has been called the “Aaron Donald of the FCS” and if he is even half the player Donald is, that would be saying something. It’s one thing to achieve greatness against what could be considered lower level competition but Saunders was a shining star at the Senior Bowl against many players which found their way onto NFL rosters in April’s NFL draft:

While a celebration is not necessarily the hallmark of greatness, you have to appreciate Saunders’ “Rock-a-bye Baby” Sack-Sway here.

One aspect of Saunders game that may be overlooked is his possible use on the offensive side of the ball. While many might see him only being used in a Hungry-pig goal line effort, when the lead in a game is well in hand, I could see Saunders being used in 3rd-and-short situations in the middle of the field, in the middle of a game.

You might see a big guy like Khalen Saunders leaping over someone once in his career, but 2 or 3 times in one run… now that’s elite athleticism. What will be most intriguing about his game is his ability to move laterally to free himself at the line-of-scrimmage and get upfield to the QB. If he has the ability to do that consistently, then teams will have to begin to plan on double-teaming him and with that comes the added benefit to Chris Jones, who was second in the league in sacks to only, you guessed it, Aaron Donald, with 15.5 QB sacks.

Disambiguation: the reason I’ve chosen Khalen Saunders on the interior of the defensive line here is that Chris Jones is already expected to do well and should continue his upward ascension. As well, second year man Derrick Nnadi is expected to make his own upward progress and while he should be of interest to watch, if Khalen Saunders does well this season, his impact could be the best out of all front 7 players.

I’ll also be watching CB Bashaud Breeland. Now, the signing of Breeland is a bit of a conundrum but that’s about all GM Brett Veach could do, so he did it. The question is… is Bashaud Breeland the player who signed a three-year, $24 million deal with $11 million guaranteed with the Carolina Panthers in May of 2018 (a deal that was canceled a few days later because he failed a physical)… or is he the player who didn’t look very good in the first half of the 2018 season with the Green Bay Packers? With Bashaud Breeland being totally healthy and fully recovered now, I believe he’ll serve well as a #1 CB. If you don’t think so, maybe it would be beneficial to look at his first four years in the league. From 2014 through 2017, Bashaud Breeland had: 270 tackles, 60 passes defended, eight interceptions and seven forced fumbles. In 2017, Breeland and Kendall Fuller were both a part of the Washington pass defense that was 9th in the league. Yes, Washington had Josh Norman to help achieve that lofty status but with Charvarius Ward coming on strong at the tail end of 2018, the Chiefs should be in the top half of the league in that department. Yes, Washington had good Safeties as well to back up their CBs in 2017 including D.J. Swearinger and DeAngelo Hall, but, Tyrann Mathieu, Juan Thornhill, Armani Watts, Jordan Lucas and Daniel Sorensen should eventually be better than those two (by season’s end). I see Breeland as a lynchpin in the success of the defensive backfield and by keeping an eye on Breeland, if he is able to take over the #1 job at CB and make a positive impact, a higher ranking than 15th in the league is entirely possible. To be realistic, the upside with Breeland is that he plays like a #1 CB… but the downside could also be that he ends up looking like he did at the beginning of last season.

Disambiguation: although I could have chosen to watch another CB like Kendall Fuller, I am already pretty sure what we have in him. So, how about Charvarius Ward? I can hope Ward works out too but it seems to me that more hinges on Bashaud Breeland.

 

 

I’ll also be keeping an eye on Tyrann Mathieu. With Tyrann Mathieu ready to be a vocal leader… and more… he’s already light-years ahead of Eric Berry. Sure, we’ll miss Berry and his persona but, persona alone will not win a championship. While many defenses in the NFL have a middle linebackers calling the coverages, and shots, it will likely be Chiefs Safety Mathieu making those adjustments. Having played in the NFC and the AFC, Mathieu has seen it all and his ability to make quick decisions on the fly should be a huge benefit to the Chiefs D. Some may not want to compare Mathieu and Berry but it may be necessary to gain a more complete picture of what Mathieu’s presence will mean to K.C. this season. Here are all of Berry’s snaps for the past five years:

Eric Berry’s Defensive Snaps

2018 = 71 snaps out of 1,178 (6%)

2017 = 70 snaps out of 1,103 (6.3%)

2016 = 1,085 snaps out of 1,118 (97%)

2015 = 1,033 snaps played out of 1.088 (94.9%)

2014 = 361 snaps out of 1.061 (34%)

While Berry was a very cerebral player and watched a lot of tape and was able to digest that and make his moves on game day based on what he’d learned, Mathieu appears to be quicker and faster than Berry and an all round better Safety, especially when you consider his coverage skills. That may be one of the better advantages Steve Spagnuolo will be taking advantage of this season by having Mathieu cover in the slot, or a Tight Ends, or RBs in the flat. That kind of malleableness will give the defense a big advantage over last year’s and make the process of getting a pre-snap read on the Chiefs D much more difficult.

Disambiguation: I will certainly be watching Juan Thornhill too, but I think the way Tyrann Mathieu is moved around and utilized will be extremely revealing as to the efficiency of this defense overall.

 

I will also be paying close attention to LB Darron Lee. Since Lee is the newest kid on the block, he deserves that kind of focus. However, one aspect of Lee’s game that intrigues me is his speed. If you recall a guy named Derrick Johnson, the Chiefs all time leading tackler, he ran a 4.52 – 40-yard dash and Lee? Lee ran a 4.43 – 40-yard dash when he came out of college. DJ was the Chiefs 15th overall selection in the 2005 NFL draft and Darron Lee was the 20th overall selection of the NY Jets in 2016. While DJ has obviously gone on to achieve much success with the Chiefs, Lee is consequently worth watching. He may not even play the same position as DJ but his speed and coverage ability makes him someone to keep track of as the Chiefs move through the season. Another reason I want to keep one eye fixed on Lee is… the Chiefs LB crew was vomit last year. After GM Brett Veach brought Anthony “Hit Man” Hitchens to K.C. a year ago, with a hefty contract, he didn’t at all look the part. So, with the Chiefs forfeiting a 6th round pick to the Jets for Lee, it’s hopefully one of those situations that deserves monitoring… especially because there’s a high probability that the Chiefs made out like thieves on this one.

Disambiguation: there’s no other LB I care to watch-out for, as of now… not among the starters anyway. Ben Niemann is interesting but Dorian O’Daniel even is more so. However, until one of the starting LBs steps up and stomps someone out… the Chiefs D might be stuck in reverse.

 

Lastly, but not least, I’ll be watching DE Frank Clark with great glee. It was sure hard to watch the Chiefs jettison both Dee Ford and Justin Houston. However, Ford had to go after his one-too-many mishaps (and it’s still hard for me to fathom that he asked, “Was I offsides?” in the game against the Pats) and Houston is reaching a breaking point in a career which had already gone south physically years ago when he was leg-whipped just a few games after signing the biggest deal for an OLB in league history. The poor timing of both Eric Berry and Justin Houston’s injuries after being given such large contracts was a burden the Chiefs could never seem to get past… with them still on the roster. So… off they all went… and in comes a new crew to thrill the masses. As a wise philosopher once said, “A bird in the hand, is worth two in the bush” and having a healthy Frank Clark and a healthy Tyrann Mathieu… among others… has turned this defense into one that looks like a winner. On paper. Don’t forget what that wise philosopher said… we don’t yet have a season, “in the hand” yet… so, let’s wait and see just how good they can all be together. Personally… I think Chris Jones and Frank Clark on the same defensive line is going to be more than any team can handle. Especially with the kind of coaching they are getting from the Chiefs exceptional Defensive staff now (that last comment was for you Bert… I hope that will suffice… for the time being).

Disambiguation: I chose one interior defensive lineman (Khalen Saunders) and one defensive end. Those are the two that intrigue me the most right now. Although, if Alex Okafor turns out to be better than advertised… I could change my mind in a Mathieu-minute.

Alright Chiefs fans, who are you most intrigued to watch on the defensive side of things, this coming season?

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Khalen Saunders

Bashaud Breeland

Tyrann Mathieu

Darron Lee

Frank Clark

 

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