Self Scouting: Chiefs OLB Tyrone Holmes

A lot has been made of Veach’s recent moves. Ragland was a poor scheme fit for Buffalo, Erving never developed in Cleveland, and Amerson showed some promise in Oakland, but not enough that they wanted to keep him. These moves all look like they could pay off, nicely for the Chiefs. In looking over Kansas City’s off-season contracts, I found an intriguing player that has gone largely unnoticed: former Montana stand-out, Tyrone Holmes.

A Little History: Tyrone Holmes was a draft prospect in 2016, having posted an eye-popping 18 sacks and 24 tackles for a loss in 2015, his senior year. Holmes wasn’t invited to the combine, but posted some pretty impressive numbers at his pro day. He was selected in the 6^th round by the Jacksonville Jaguars as a developmental 4-3 defensive end. While Holmes athleticism was among the tops of his class, he was known to be a bit raw in his technique. Jacksonville cut him, likely with plans to add him to their practice squad, but he was picked up on waivers by the Cleveland Browns. Holmes was on and off Cleveland’s roster in 2016, as they worked on his game but, in 2017 the Browns switched from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense. Holmes development started over again. Largely relegated to STs, he was released near the end of the year and picked up by the Chiefs, for their practice squad. K.C. then signed Holmes to a reserve futures deal. He is under contract in 2018 and 2019.

Athletic Profile: In my view, Holmes was always better suited to 3-4 OLB than 4-3. He lacks the height and weight to play inside, but possesses an excellent burst for the outside. In his limited college tape, you see a player who rushes best either standing, or from the wide 9 (where a DE rushes from way outside the OT). For Comparison purposes, I though we’d look at Holmes numbers side by side with Dee Ford‘s.

	Dee Ford	Tyrone Holmes
Height	6’2”	6’2”
Weight	252lbs	253
40 Yd Dash	4.59	4.59
20 Yd Dash	2.69	2.64
10 Yd Dash	1.67	1.65
Bench Reps	29	28
Vertical Jump	35.5”	37.5”
Broad Jump	10’4”	9’5”
20 Yd Shuttle	4.73	4.30
3-Cone Drill	7.07	7.00

A few differences stand out here. First of all, Ford has a better first step, which is born out in his better broad jump. However, Holmes is a significantly more fluid athlete. He posted better time in both the 3-cone drill and the shuttle. Ford’s biggest issue, thus far, has been his inability to present a viable counter to his speed rush. This is largely due to the fact that when Ford is faced with changing directions, he doesn’t accelerate well. When looking at combine/pro-day numbers, always compare the 40 time to the 20 yard shuttle. You want to see the shuttle time be substantially lower than the 40 time. For Holmes, it is. For Ford, his shuttle time is actually LONGER than his 40 time. That’s the sign of an athlete who can’t change direction very well, or accelerate out of breaks. Holmes will need some work on his technique, but he’s overall a better athlete than a guy the Chiefs took in the 1^st round in 2014.

Tyrone Holmes’ Tape: For any prospect, the true story is told by the tape. Even against inferior competition, you can see things like burst, motor and tackling ability. Since Chiefs are planning to use him at OLB, I focused on three snaps where he rushes either standing up, or from the wide 9 position.

Holmes didn’t rush standing up a lot, but you can see, from this snap, that he can absolutely do it. He has a nice burst off the edge and forces the offense to use an extra blocker to keep him from reaching the QB.

Here, Holmes shows some ability to bend the edge and a freakishly strong grip. That QB that he’s pulling down with one arm? That’s Carson Wentz guys. He is not a small man.

If you want to be an outside rusher, you have to be able to counter back inside. Holmes does that nicely on this snap to record a quick pressure on the QB and does so without getting chipped, effectively, by the RB.

While every reserve future signing is a long shot, Holmes has more promise than most. With his natural athleticism, he has a chance to prove that he just landed in bad spot, and is still a good player. If the Chiefs can develop him more successfully than the Browns (which shouldn’t be hard), they should at least have a solid depth player on their hands. At OLB, that’s something they desperately need. Go Chiefs.

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