Five edge rushers we think the Kansas City Chiefs could target in upcoming NFL Draft
Within a few weeks of the end of the season, Chiefs coaches and front office personnel identified a couple of pronounced ways to improve defensively.
Among them: pressuring the quarterback. The Chiefs’ sack rate took a considerable dip from 2019 (45 sacks) to 2020 (32 sacks). And while they will tell you the goal is to affect the quarterback — hurried throws and the like — as much as it is to actually bring him to the ground, the analytics provided a similarly clear picture there, too. They simply weren’t as successful as they were one year earlier.
So they’ve addressed it this offseason.
Kind of.
The Chiefs signed free agent Jarran Reed, who had 19 sacks over the past three seasons with Seattle. But Reed plays on the interior of the defensive line, leaving a need on the edge. With Frank Clark occupying one defensive end, the Chiefs have no one to his opposite side that had at least three sacks last year.
The NFL Draft awaits.
It’s not a bad year to be searching for an edge rusher. It’s a good draft class, with depth more the standout than obvious star power, though years down the line, it could conclude as having both.
The Chiefs hold eight selections in the draft, their earliest at No. 31 overall. For now. General manager Brett Veach has certainly shown a willingness to move around over the course of draft night.
But for argument’s sake, let’s say the Chiefs hold their current picks on the first couple of days. While a left tackle remains perhaps the team’s most obvious need, Veach prefers to draft best available player. And that could make an edge rusher an early fit. Here are some they could target:
Gregory Rousseau, Miami (6-7, 265)
It’s hard to ignore the numbers. Although Rousseau opted out in 2020, he had 15 1/2 sacks in 2019, second in the nation to Chase Young, who went No. 2 overall in last year’s NFL Draft.
There’s a lot to like here — Rousseau is lengthy, and he often moved inside and still created havoc there, putting pressure on the quarterback. That’s a trait that suits Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who doesn’t mind moving a guy around the line.
On the other hand, Rousseau has essentially one full season on tape. He’s a former wide receiver who converted to defensive end late in his high school career, and his freshman college season was limited with injury. He opted out of the 2020 season. So nearly all of his production came in just one season.
He’s clearly capable of taking advantage of mismatches, which prompted his movement along the defensive line in college, but there will be questions about whether he can win versus truly elite pass protection at the next level.
Even so, those 15 1/2 sacks ...
Jayson Oweh, Penn State (6-5, 255)
The most intriguing edge rushing prospect in this year’s draft. Get this: Oweh did not have a single sack in seven games in 2020, and yet he still projects as a potential late first-round pick.
Why?
He has all the tools you can’t coach. The NFL Combine robbed us all of a showcase — he’s an incredible athlete who figured to have tested off the charts in some drills. (He reportedly ran a 4.36 40-yard dash ... at 255 pounds.)
The Chiefs need speed and explosion at this spot, and it’s clear he has attractive physical traits, but there is that one problem. Production. You’d prefer your edge rushers to, you know, sack the quarterback from time to time. According to ESPN Stats, he’d be the first player since 2014 to be drafted in the first two rounds after not tallying at least one sack in his last college season.
Do the Chiefs think the output will catch up to the athleticism? It’s a boom-or-bust pick that would certainly put defensive line coach Brendan Daly to work.
Azeez Ojulari, Georgia (6-2, 250)
He played more of a hybrid linebacker spot in college, but his pass rushing skill-set projects him as an edge rusher in the NFL capable of playing defensive end in a 4-3 scheme. He could be gone by the time the Chiefs pick at 31, but some national mock drafts have him still available, so we’re including him.
Ojulari totaled 14 sacks in his last two college seasons (24 games), and led the Southeastern Conference in sacks in 2020. He also forced four fumbles. The burst and speed are evident in the highlights, and his ability to attack the top of the pocket would be a coveted trait opposite Frank Clark.
Ronnie Perkins, Oklahoma (6-3, 250)
If the Chiefs go with a left tackle with their first pick — not just a possibility but perhaps a likelihood — they could delay the edge rusher to the second round.
Perkins might be there waiting.
A St. Louis product, he had at least five sacks in all three college seasons, despite being limited to just six appearances in 2020.
There are some red flags with Perkins — he was suspended for the Sooners’ playoff game in 2019 season and the first five games last year, reportedly the result of a failed drug test.
On the field, he can produce, and not just a pass rusher. Perkins is effective against the run, too. When the Chiefs added Frank Clark to the mix two years ago, their reasoning was the way he set the edge. So Perkins’ ability to contribute in every facet would be an attraction.
Rashad Weaver, Pittsburgh (6-4, 260)
In the scenario the Chiefs wait to address their edge rusher need, we’ll include Weaver, a player they could potentially get in the third round.
He doesn’t boast the eye-popping athleticism on tape, but he’s a player without obvious weaknesses, either. In nine starts in 2020, he had 14 1/2 tackles for loss (7 1/2 sacks) and was named a first-team All-American. Weaver figures to be a reliable rotational player, particularly in a system that values balance. He’d be a nice early-down compliment to pair with the pass-rushing traits of Taco Charlton.
If he falls to the Chiefs in the third round at No. 94 overall, they could certainly do worse than Weaver, whose 28 career college starts place him in a spot to be more NFL ready than others at his position.
