The New Face of the Chiefs D

 

 

 

 

The New Face of the Chiefs D

 

by Laddie Morse | April 24, 2019

 

With the 2019 National Football League’s annual draft about to get under way, the Kansas City Chiefs have already taken their first draft pick in the form of a trade with the Seattle Seahawks for their star Defensive End, Frank Clark. While that makes tomorrow evening rather anti-climatic, yesterday was oodles of fun… if you’re a fan who supports this trade… and why wouldn’t you be. Sure, the Chiefs gave up their first round pick this year… plus a second round pick next year (whichever is lower as the Chiefs had two 2nd round picks next year from the Dee Ford trade earlier this offseason)… plus the Chiefs are trading their 3rd round pick this year for the Seattle 3rd round pick… which means the Chiefs are moving up from #92 to pick #84.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While some fans are remembering the Justin Houston contract and how that didn’t turn out too well for the Chiefs… those are likely the same fans who said the Chiefs gave up too much when the Chiefs traded up for Patrick Mahomes. All I can say at this point.. to those fans… is that the past does not equal the future.

 

In any event, the way the Chiefs defense will look in 2019 is completely different than it looked in 2018. Eric Berry, Justin Houston and Dee Ford paved the way over the past few years and the Chiefs still came up short. The new face of the Chiefs D has Frank Clark, Chris Jones up front with Bashaud Breeland, Tyrann Mathieu and Kendall Fuller starring in the defensive backfield. Frank Clark is coming as a happy camper, and that’s always a good thing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sure, the Chiefs still need to draft smart beginning this Friday evening, assuming they don’t use picks to jump back up into the 1st round, and I don’t think they will, so this draft really gets started around 9:30 PM the day after tomorrow. For now, let’s take a look at how the Chiefs new defense will look, prior to the draft. beginning with the Defensive Line:

 

 

 

 

When the offseason began and the Chiefs cut loose of Justin Houston and Dee Ford, I was concerned that they’d ever be able to put together a front that could apply as much pressure as those two helped to create. Now, I have no doubt that Steve Spagnuolo and his front can create pressure from anywhere along the los. One of he most important factoids I have heard about the addition of Frank Clark comes to us from Ransom Hawthorne:

 

 

 

 

To further compare the two:

• Dee Ford (6-2, 252) is 28 years old, has had a 5-year career and has 30.5 sacks
• Frank Clark (6-3, 265) is 25 years old, has had a 4-year career and has 35 sacks.

 

 

 

Looking beyond the sacks… which obviously didn’t get the Chiefs into the Super Bowl last year… it’s critical to note that the run-defense should be greatly improved: Clark is excellent at setting the edge, Alex Okafor is very good in that department as well, and I believe that is a staple of Steve Spagnuolo’s plan, to funnel everything inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the Chiefs new Defensive Ends can consistently turn running backs inside, that’s where LBs Anthony Hitchens and Reggie Ragland can exercise their strengths. There were too, too many times that Hitchens could be seen, last year, chasing a play down the sidelines from behind. That should be minimized this year.

 

 

 That brings me to another point about the Frank Clark trade: Clark should make others around him better because he’s so good at what he does. With only Chris Jones slated as the one and only star on the D-line (prior to the Frank Clark trade), it was going to be tough sledding vs the run and the pass. Now, with Frank Clark tearing up one side of the field, and teams having to plan around him, other players will be left one-on-one and be gifted with situations they can produce more personal wins. If you haven’t heard… winning… is good.

 

Let’s move on the the Linebacker group:

 

 

 

 

 

While there have been no changes to this group since Veach brought in Damien Wilson as a Free Agent from the Cowboys, it should be noted that this 4-3 defensive scheme that Spags is going to utilize as the base defense, may end up being much better suited for the talents of these individuals. We can only hope so, because 2018 was a huge step backwards for this position.

 

Here then are the players who will compose the cornerback corps:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Towards the end of last season, after Bashaud Breeland had recovered from an injury, he played well but not great as a slot CB. The plan should be to use him on the outside where he should serve as a big upgrade over Orlando Scandrick. [stats from PFF]

 

 

 

 

 

2nd in passer rating allowed in the last 8 games of 2018? That’s pretty darn good. Kendall Fuller should be as good or improved. He was the one shining light in the defensive backfield in 2018. Improvement can be expected from Charvarius Ward after turning in several very good performances late in the season as a starter and Keith Reaser can hopefully provide a lift as he was the best corner in the AFF plus he’s returning to the Chiefs from a year ago and should be familiar with the One Arrowhead Way environment. Tremon Smith offers speed but until we see some consistent improvement out of him as a corner, he can’t be counted on right now. Any help the Chiefs can gain from a draft pick will hopefully turn this gang in to gang busters. Now let’s take a look at the Safeties:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tyrann Mathieu is one of the best talents and leaders at his position in the NFL. Daniel Sorensen may be slated as a starter when the season rolls around unless the Chiefs can find a very good one in the draft. Jordan Lucas and Armani Watts should both log plenty of minutes and if one of them has a great camp they could take the #2 spot from Dirty Dan.

 

 

The new face of the Chiefs D looks to be coming along great. There are other players on the roster but these are the main men who will likely be on the roster in September. The draft hasn’t hit yet and we can expect more help for this defense… which is needed after finishing belly up in the fish tank last year.

 

 

 

Before signing off, here are two mock drafts: one is a Day Two Mock and the other is a Simple Trade Back Mock. FYI, the first mock was done at FanSpeak.com and they have already removed pick #29 from the Chiefs list of choices, and yes, all those prospects were available for the picking, so no, I didn’t just make it up. The 2nd mock was done at First-Pick.com and they had taken away pick #29 but failed to trade out the 3rd rounders. Both of these mocks show that… there is plenty to get excited about in the draft this weekend. Just thought you should know that, in case your excitement endorphins are on the wane:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How’s the team looking to you now? Are you encouraged… or not? I sure am… encouraged!

 

 

 

 

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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