The Kansas City Chiefs have had a number of Undrafted Free Agents (UDFAs) come in and start for them over the past several seasons, but none as good, perhaps, as Tershawn Wharton. Wharton is the most recent and he had plenty of success garnering 518 snaps in 2020, which was 48% of the available defensive snaps. His rise from the ashes of countless UDFAs and rookies last year, and his performance of course, are the reason for: “Chiefs UDFAs: Where’s Wharton?”
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To put Tershawn Wharton’s rookie year into perspective, when NT Dontari Poe (11th pick in the 2012 NFL Draft) started for K.C., in his second season he played in 88% of the snaps with 6.0 sacks and 51 tackles (his best year). So, if you double Tershawn Wharton’s snaps, he’d have played in 96% of the snaps and since he had 2.0 sacks in 2020 with 24 tackles, that translates to 4.0 sacks and 48 tackles. Mind you, that was in his first year, and in Poe’s rookie season he had zero sacks, 38 tackles on 74% of the D snaps.
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Of course we could have named this piece after another high profile Chiefs player.
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Safety Daniel Sorensen, aka “Dirty Dan” was really the one who brought UDFAs to the forefront during the Andy Reid era and has been with the Chiefs since 2014. That’s seven years, if you’re counting. Sorensen was in on 82% of the defensive snaps last year and to top it off, was the team leader in tackles, with 91 (the Chiefs closest defender in tackles in 2020, was Anthony Hitchens, with 82 tackles).
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LB Ben Niemann (UDFA, 2018) has been used progressively more over his three seasons with the Chiefs. He played 5% of the D snaps in 2018, 36% of he D snaps in 2019, and 43% of the D snaps last year. When LB Coach Matt House, DC Steve Spagnuolo, and HC Andy Reid re-watched the 2020 season game tapes, they decided they had to upgrade the LB position which resulted in Nick Bolton being drafted. Also, GM Brett Veach continues to search for more help there (i.e.: UDFA LBs, Riley Cole and Lawrence Garner). It would not surprise me if a trade — much like the trade for CB Mike Hughes — is forthcoming for a LB of import, as Cole and Garner have not been impressive.
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UDFAs: Take a Number Please
Of course there have been other UDFAs in the Reid era who didn’t work out. There have also been plenty of UDFA signings over the past 8 seasons who did: RB Darrel Williams, P Tommy Townsend, RB Charcandrick West, WR Albert Wilson, PK Cairo Santos, WR Gehrig Dieter, WR Marcus Kemp, LB Omari Cobb, OL Yasir Durant, and IOL Darryl Williams. Oh, and who could forget, QB Tyler Bray. However, the most infamous UDFA may have been TE Demetrius Harris.
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The Newest Tershawn Wharton
If your looking for an advanced peak into who might be that player who makes the 53 man squad this year, look no further than this list:
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- 2 – DB Dicaprio Bootle
- 6 – QB Shane Buechele
- 6 – DB Zayne Anderson
- 34 – DB Thomas Leggett
- 39 – DB Marlon Character
- 41 – LB Lawrence Garner
- 42 – DB Jayton McClain-Sapp
- 46 – LB Riley Cole
- 97 – DE Malik Herring
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With two days of the Chiefs Rookie Mini-Camp completed already, these three days will go a long way towards telling the Chiefs coaches and staff, who will be in the mix, and who won’t.
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Assuredly, the Chiefs newest UDFA will come from those listed above. It’s worth noting that 4 of these UDFAs are defensive backs. I’ll cover a couple who have a very good chance to stick with the Chiefs.
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#2 – DB, Dicaprio Bootle
Bootle is a 5-foot-10, 195 lbs. DB from Nebraska where he had 32 consecutive starts and was Team Captain. The Chiefs love that kind of consistency, and the fact that any player was a team captain, so those attributes should get their attention. He also has very good measurables, and his Pro Day was a huge win for him.
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Any time a player runs a sub-4.40 40 yard dash, you have to go back and watch their tape again, which I’m sure Veach and Co. did, which is likely what got him an invitation to K.C.. I did, and I liked what I saw. Many times, a player with great speed will depend too heavily upon his speed and not work on using the correct technique. For the most part, that doesn’t appear to be the case with Bootle.
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DiCaprio Bootle’s Film Breakdown:
- On the first play, Bootle mirrors a WR who runs a crossing route, then makes a solid tackle on him behind the line of scrimmage.
- The second play, Bootle collapses the right side of the line of scrimmage and takes an angle which keeps the RB from breaking outside and then he punches the ball out when he tackles him. You don’t always see DBs punching the ball out when they tackle. So, that’s a plus for Bootle.
- On the third play, Bootle runs the route for the WR. Some call that, “staying his his hip pocket,” and in fact, the WR interferes with Bootle (which isn’t called), but he shields the WR off from making a catch.
- On the fourth play at the back of the end zone, Bootle does the same thing, walling the WR off from the ball and using his the back of his body to push the WR out of bounds. A crafty move. A play where he uses his speed to his advantage.
- On the fifth play, at the goal line, Bootle makes a play on the ball and knocks it away.
- On the last play, it looks like Bootle turns the wrong way, but he’s so close the WR, that he’s able to keep his body between the receiver and the ball.
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Bootle may be too small for the Chiefs liking, but if he can play the slot as well as outside, and be effective, he may have a place on this roster. Since K.C. hasn’t made a CB a priority this offseason — although they traded for Mike Hughes — they didn’t take one in the draft, and that’s the reason for focusing on Bootle.
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Linebacker Riley Cole is another UDFA player in the Chiefs mini-camp and someone I watched tape on. However, I’m going to project that he won’t be one of those UDFA player kept by K.C.. Below are three plays of Cole in a game vs. UAB. More than 9 out of ten plays I watched were negative plays for Cole and although he may have some value as a Special Teams player, The Draft Network says he plays better at the SAM (outside, over the tight end) than as the MIKE (middle LB) and after watching his tape, I can confirm that he’s not very good in the middle. If he does make the team, it will be as a Special Teams player with the possibility of coming off the bench in an occasional relief role at OLB.
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Three Plays of Riley Cole:
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Linebacker Lawrence Garner is in the same boat that Riley Cole is in, only I don’t think he’s as good as Cole. I watch three game tapes from 2019 in which Old Dominion (his tea) lost to their opponents, because they went 1-and-11 that year (and last year they didn’t play at all), and I could not find one positive play by Garner.
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#6, DB, Zayne Anderson
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With the attention surrounding QB Zach Wilson, the number two pick in the 2021 draft, or the media buildup for Tackle Brady Christensen, the BYU Pro Day was more of a circus for DB Zayne Anderson and he was not the center of attention. Anderson could end up being another hybrid DB/LB for the Chiefs, albeit a smaller version of Daniel Sorensen, but not by much. Dirty Dan stands, 6-foot-2 and weighs in a 208, while Zayne Anderson is 6-foot-1, 1/2 and 206 lbs. so, if Steve Spagnuolo wanted to get the next Dirty Dan, he might just have his man in house this weekend.
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Daniel Sorensen ran a 4.67 40 yard dash at the Combine in 2014. Listen to an interview, with highlights of Zayne Anderson, which I clipped from a video by BYU Sports Nation:
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This interview was taken from April of 2020. Anderson was playing Linebacker and has played Safety, as well as Cornerback, a position he was working on. In the tape I’ve watched on him, he’s not afraid to hit, in fact he seems to like contact, and plays the back half of the defense with sound judgement. We also know Andy Reid likes BYU guys so there’s that.
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Dave Merritt and Sam Madison, the Chiefs DB coaches, have done perhaps the best job of developing the players they’re given to work with of any of the position coaches the Chiefs currently have employed. Bringing rookie Juan Thornhill up to speed two years ago so he could be a starter… then preparing L’Jarius Sneed, a 4th round pick (138th overall), to not only start, but have the best season among all rookie CBs in the league, should calm anyone’s nerves about the Chiefs defensive backfield in 2020. If they tell Brett Veach they need Bashaud Breeland to come back for another year, then I’m sure Veach will make it happen. If Sam and Dave don’t think they need Breeland, then you can thoroughly rely on their judgement about the DB situation this year.
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UDFA Summary
The Chiefs could have a player not on my list who rises to the top of the heap, sure, and maybe he’d even surpass Tershawn Wharton in his first year. If the Chiefs are going to keep a couple of these UDFAs, there’s a better than good chance Brett Veach is going to make a trade to shore up another position, or snatch up a veteran who’s cut in early September.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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