The Chiefs New Defense of 2023

Laddie Morse

The Kansas City Chiefs have made some changes to their defense and in this case, the changes should be thought of as upgrades. With Frank Clark yet to return to the Chiefs roster, and the addition of Charles Omenihu in Free Agency and the drafting of first round Edge Rusher Felix Anudike-Uzomah – FAU — the DL should be much better, starting with the front line.

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There are many names missing form this visual listing, like: Malik Herring, Cole Christiansen, Phil Hoskins, Matt Dickerson, Joshua Kaindoh and Daniel Wise. The Chiefs brass will have the hardest time ever making their final cuts. Looks to me like they have a number of prospects who could make this team, so it will be with some drama and intrigue that we watch as the roster takes shape.

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Defensive Line

As soon as the Chiefs are able to re-structure Chris Jones’ contract for 2023, it should give them more cap space to bring back either Frank Clark or Carlos Dunlap — or both — and that will mean a lot to their young guns like FAU, and the Chiefs fifth round picks (DE) B.J. Thompson, not to mention sixth round pick, (DT) Keondre Coburn.

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With this group Spags will have an excellent rotation set up… and that’s long before the Chiefs think about bringing back DE Frank Clark. There’s a huge daily push on Twitter right now for the Chiefs to bring back Frank Clark and I’m also hoping for his return.

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Of course, they may not want to do that because in reality it means having to cut a fine young player just to bring FC back.

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Linebackers

Not even the Linebackers will be devoid of changes this offseason. Even though second year man Nick Bolton finished 2^nd in the NFL in tackles with 180, Brett Veach found Drue Tranquill to help out in coverage.

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So, Nick Bolton, Willie Gay, Drue Tranquill, and second year man Leo Chenal will make up and incredibly improved – and much stronger – Linebacker corps compared to the 2022 group.

The Linebacking group also added a couple of UDFAs to the stockpile and here’s what SI.com and Zack Eisen has to say about them:

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“Jack Cochrane, a UDFA [UDFA] in his own right, was that guy throughout the [2022] season, but Isaiah Moore and Cam Jones have the chance to usurp him for that spot.”

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Here’s a Cam Jones interview at the Senior Bowl (2:22):

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CornerBacks

The Chiefs CBs are perhaps stronger than they’ve ever been. With Dave Merritt coaching the corners, I have no problem thinking the Chiefs could return to a fourth Super Bowl in the past five years. The question many of us have now, including David Bell and myself, is… what happens next offseason. Meaning: will the Chiefs be able to bring L’Jarius Sneed back or is he going to be too costly?

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With L’Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie holding down the opposite sides of the field, the Chiefs are as good as anyone in the league, especially with Steve Spagnuolo scheming it up and calling the plays. Add in the players that were rookies in 2022, like Jalen Watson and Joshua Williams, and you have a very strong cover group.

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Safeties

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The Safety unit will be better as well. The addition of Mike Edwards in Free Agency and the signing of UDFA Safety Martez Manuel makes this unit head over heals stronger. Here’s what RockMNation.com had to say about Martez Manuel:

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“If any player has ever defined “sideline-to-sideline” defender, it is Martez Manuel… He’s explosive when he takes on contact while taking appropriate angles, and Manuel is more than willing to get his hands dirty in the trenches. His ability to challenge blockers and burst through the line of scrimmage allowed him to register 10 tackles for loss in 2022 (third on the team).”

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Martez Manuel ran a somewhat pedestrian 4.60 40 yard dash… until you consider than he did that with a quad injury. He was projected to go in the 4th or 5th rounds, but fell out of the draft altogether, presumably because of his slow 40 time. Consequently, the Chiefs were very fortunate to get him. It’s like they got another draft pick… just by him signing with K.C..

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Summary

This visual take gets us much closer to the action than just listing names. What do you think? Does this defense look as improved to you as it does to me?

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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