Kansas City, Start Talking About the Chiefs Defense

Kansas City, Start Talking About the Chiefs Defense – before we do anything, let’s get something taken care of first and foremost — MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU! BTW, the ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ is coming to Disney Plus early, for May the Fourth… which is today! Ah, something to look forward to with all that extra time.

Admit it, when you think of the Kansas City Chiefs the first thing you think about is their high powered offense and Patrick Mahomes. Right? Of course right, and rightfully so. However, it’s time for fans to start thinking about the defense in lofty terms as well. In fact, there would have been no Lombardi trophy without the defense. No parade without the defense. In fact, no Super Bowl, period.

When the 1969 Chiefs won Super Bowl IV, although it was not yet referred to as, “The Super Bowl”… what do you think of? Lenny Dawson sure. Otis Taylor sure. How about Bobby Bell… Emmitt Thomas… Johnny Robinson… Buck Buchanan, and more. I think mostly of those defensive players when I remember that team.

The Chiefs Defensive Coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, is just starting out in the construction of a championship defense, but give him credit, he did it in year one. Think about what his defense can achieve over the next few seasons if the core remains in tact and important additions are made. Spags 1.0 was pretty darn good.

The 2019 Chiefs Defense finished the season giving up 308 points which ranked them 7th overall. Seventh. For the WHOLE season. Many will tout their second half stats but if you look at the whole season, they were strictly top ten. Let’s see now… who predicted a top ten finish for the D? That would be Michael Travis Rose and one David Bell. I was not so insightful but thought they could make it to the top half by year’s end. Turns out… they were right and I was wrong, and I don’t mind admitting it.

From ProFootabllReference.com:

K.C. Chiefs Defense in 2019:

• Tied for 8^th in TDs allowed
• 8th in knocking the QB down
• 11th in sacks
• 14^th in QB Pressures
• 25^th in passing yards allowed
• 3^rd in total air yards on completions

The Chiefs gave up a lot of passing yards because teams were playing a lot of catch up or trying to out distance Patrick Mahomes and crew. So, why the disparity between, total passing yards allowed and total yards in the air? Because the Chiefs defense allowed way too many yards after catch. An area where they can improve.

It’s clearly the reason the Chiefs targeted speedy LB Willie Gay Jr. in this draft. I’m just speculating, but I believe a lot of those YAC yards came from RBs not covered well out of the backfield, something Gay should be able to help K.C. improve upon. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Gay was their target from mid-February onward, right after they finished evaluating the team’s needs. The DBs they drafted as well as their UDFAs, display speed and willingness to tackle, traits often lacking in 2019, even though that defense turned out to be a top ten unit. We could be looking at Spags 2.0 as a Top Five in 2020.

I’ve been harping on getting a top level corner in the draft for quite some time now. After the Bashaud Breeland situation is resolved, that may still be the case. However, I’m not in any way concerned that GM Brett Veach won’t be able to pick up a quality CB from a team that’s released one, like he’s done so many times before with players at other positions (e.g., late Thursday he signed DE Taco Charlton).

Not only that, but I’m convinced that the missing component in prospect evaluation for analysts and writers like myself, sitting on the outside — and by the way, that includes BJ Kissel who, oddly enough, gets his paycheck from the same people who pay Andy Reid — the missing link for us Kingdom Commoners, is that we’re not at all privy to the personalities and characteristics of the people they’re scouting closely. Furthermore, that’s what the prospects are, first and foremost: people. Football prospects second.

If you look at a player like DB L’Jarius Sneed, the Chiefs 4th round pick, his tape shows someone who compares well with almost any other corner in the draft. Players in college, in this modern era, have good coaching and great workout rooms, plus excellent nutrition programs, all available to them across the board. In other words, you don’t have to go to Alabama to become a great running back. The Chiefs first pick, Clyde Edwards-Helaire proves that one. Although, I’m referring to players who don’t even go to any of the SEC schools. Prior to CEH joining K.C., the Chiefs had only drafted two SEC players: Mecole Hardman and Chris Jones.

The point is, the Chiefs scout far and wide and are looking at every potential prospect at every school, here and in Canada as well. Getting a handle on individuals beliefs, generational influences, family support, study habits and intellectual attributes, humor and personality quirks, are part of what makes the current collection of Kansas City Chiefs a special unit. This team is now 100% molded at the hands of Andy Reid and his cronies since Dustin Colquitt is gone. When you look at the players they’ve brought in, you don’t just look at their tape as the end of the story. Well rounded individuals who are cerebral with a positive mindset, is apart of the evaluation process too.

So, you have to love the attitude of a player like Bopete Keyes who said:

“I know that I got drafted in the seventh round, but I’m just ready to get on the field and do everything to show everyone that I can potentially be the best corner in the league… soon.”

“... be the best corner in the league?” While my knee jerk is to doubt, who am I to say it can’t happen? The Chiefs scouts have gotten to know these people much better than you or I, and we’ve all seen what the internal drive and heart of a player can accomplish in the NFL.

Keyes may have come to the Chiefs in the 7th, but consider the Chiefs long legacy of signing players who weren’t even drafted, UDFA DBs like: Emmitt Thomas, who also spent a generation coaching DBs as well. If that’s too far back for ya… how about DB Deron Cherry? Still too far back? Think Daniel Sorensen.

At least Bopete Keyes is starting out taking the right tact. Plus, who’s to doubt the reigning Super Bowl DB coaches: Dave Merritt and Sam Madison.

That magnetism and Super Bowl catnip the Chiefs could represent to Free Agents is something I’ve been waiting to kick in, and now it’s just beginning to take an upward trajectory… not just with a Defensive Lineman like Taco Charlton… but it can also be seen in the number of UDFAs who are the best talents among the so-called leftovers from the draft:

Some of those top UDFAs are offensive players but the 1st and 3rd best UDFA CBs could make the Chiefs 55 man roster and more importantly, fill a big depth need at that position. I was wanting the Chiefs to look into drafting Lavert Hill so, his signing is a plus on my dance card.

The Safety position remains a strong hold position for K.C.. Tyrann Mathieu, Juan Thornhill and Daniel Sorensen make up one of the best Safety trios in the NFL.

The front four will be just as strong in 2020 with Alex Okafor returning from a pectoral injury and Chris Jones will be even better as he enters his prime and a franchise tag contract year (assuming he doesn’t get signed).

The addition of Willie Gay Jr. to the LB core is a huge plus and the possible addition of UDFA Omari Cobb may surprise, even if it takes half the year to get them up to speed. Perhaps, most important to the LB core is the second year improvement that both LBs Damien Wilson and Anthony Hitchens should show in another season in the same system with the same coaches.

The CB position is my greatest concern until we find out what the newbies can do, and whether or not another high profile CB needs to be signed to replace Breeland, if need be.

When I think back to what the Chiefs started out with in September, at the corners, it seems like a miracle to me that the team won the Super Bowl. I’m not as comfortable second guessing the Chiefs at any position right now, especially CB. Not since they’ve won it all. Here’s a reason why…

Just how good or bad do you think CB Charvarius Ward was in 2019? Once I researched his stats, I found he’s been much better than publicized. Ward was one of the better CBs in the league last season and I’d expect him to receive a Pro Bowl berth sometime in the next two seasons once the rest of the league wakes up to that fact. Here are some of his 2019 stats from PlayerProfiler.com:

Ward was almost always “very good” but he was consistently better that Bashaud Breeland. Although Breeland had his lapses, he was also one of the better corners in the league in 2019 and was “very good” in big moments:

One of my favorite defensive plays is, the sack. I used to dream of Justin Houston and Tamba Hali meeting in the middle of the offensive backfield like a couple of locomotives crunching the QB in between. Although that dream was short lived, nowadays it’s Chris Jones and Frank Clark having a meeting of the middles. One of the most anticipated aspects of the 2020 Chiefs has to be a healthy Frank Clark… all year long. Once healthy in 2019, Clark had 7 sacks in his last 8 regular season games and added 5 more sacks in 3 payoff games. That’s 12 sacks in his last 11 games last year counting the postseason.

Note: I wrote this piece on Friday, then on Saturday, BJ Kissel came out with this:

Thinking back to Super Bowl LIV — 3 months and 2 days ago — when Patrick Mahomes was running up 21 unanswered points to secure a victory over the 49ers, none of that would have been possible unless the defense made one stop after another. That’s why we use the word, “unanswered.” It takes two to tango and the last dance belonged as much to Spags defense as to Andy’s high powered offense. Here, Good Morning Football discusses the Chiefs performance vs RB Derrick Henry following the AFC Championship game:

Yes, the defense has growing to do but it also has a list of stars that K.C. fans should be celebrating like: Frank Clark, Chris Jones, Tyrann Mathieu, Juan Thornhill, Charvarius Ward and now their speedy second round LB, Wildman Willie Gay. There are so many excellent defensive players here in Kansas City, we should be talking about our defense more. A lot more.

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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