Kansas City Chiefs: Dee Ford Not Progressing At All
The Kansas City Chiefs turned heads when they selected Dee Ford 23rd overall in the 2014 NFL Draft. Ford has not lived up to that draft pick.
Teams strike out in the first round of the NFL Draft from time to time, and the KC Chiefs know that story all too well, as their first-round pick from 2014 has not lived up to the hype.
Ford, a linebacker out of Auburn, was drafted by the Chiefs to eventually replace either Tamba Hali (due to his age) or Justin Houston (who was on the final year of his rookie deal). Instead, Houston was given a monster contract before 2015 and Hali was just re-signed to a three-year deal this past offseason.
So, that leads us back to the main point… What has happened with Dee Ford and will he ever be able to contribute on the defense?
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In only two years, Ford has shown the Chiefs next to nothing. He had three sacks last season against the Chargers, but it was against third-string offensive linemen. Since then, he’s been worthless on the field.
With Houston possibly missing the entire 2016 season (let’s hope not) and Hali getting up there in age, the hope was that Dee Ford would step up this season and give the Chiefs that scary pass rusher. Instead, Ford has shown the team and fans nothing, including during the preseason.
The preseason should be Ford’s time to “eat”, so to speak, but instead, he’s looked lost. Sixth round pick Dadi Nicolas has outshone Ford in almost every aspect, and it appears Ford’s future in Kansas City isn’t as bright as we hoped it’d be two years ago.
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The rookie year struggles I understood. Most rookies do struggle in the league, and that’s fine (to a point).
The second year struggles were a little more concerning, but the growing pains I still expected to see. When Ford had that big game against San Diego, I thought, “Okay, great! He’s finally turned the corner!”, but then he went back to poor play.
If a player is going into his third year and still looks lost, that’s not a good sign at all. Unfortunately, that’s what it looks like for Dee Ford so far this preseason, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he wasn’t even a starter for the team this season (or at the very least lost his job).
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As for getting rid of Ford and parting ways, I don’t see it happening. He was a first rounder just two seasons ago and still has two years left on his deal. As bad as he’s been, I don’t think that’s plausible.
The part that is irritating, however, is that if Ford were picked in any other round of the draft, he’d be long gone by now. Because he’s a former first-rounder, however, the KC Chiefs will have to tough it out with him for at least another season most likely.
Fingers crossed that I’m wrong on Ford and he comes through in a big way for the Kansas City Chiefs this season, but from what we’ve seen so far, I’m not going to hold my breath on that one.