2017 NFL Draft Kansas City Chiefs Scouting Report: Haason Reddick
By Ben Almquist
The Kansas City Chiefs were busy interviewing players at the NFL Combine. One of those was a pass rusher out of Temple, Haason Reddick.
A pass rusher isn’t high up on the draft boards of most Kansas City Chiefs fans, analysts, and pundits. However, that doesn’t mean the team feels the same way. In fact, there could be a very strong argument for drafting a pass rusher this year. It would certainly explain why the Chiefs interviewed several pass rushers including Haason Reddick of Temple University.
The argument for the Chiefs drafting a pass rusher is an interesting one. With Justin Houston, Tamba Hali, and Dee Ford on the roster, you wouldn’t think it was an issue. However, further review shows that this may actually be a concern for Kansas City.
Justin Houston has struggled to stay healthy for the Chiefs. The same is true for Tamba Hali, who is also close to retirement. Dee Ford was drafted to help replace Hali, but the truth is that he has failed to do this. Outside of a stretch of five games this past year, Ford has pretty much been a bust. With all of that, it suddenly does make sense that the Chiefs would want a stud pass rusher.
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Haason Reddick was a top-40 prospect in November. But he has put himself in the top-20 mix with his Senior Bowl and Combine. #Stud
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) March 5, 2017
Haason Reddick – OLB – Temple
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If you’re a fan of the game of football in general, it is almost impossible to not like Haason Reddick. This is a young man who simply goes out on the field and gives everything he’s got on every single play. The end result of that is that Reddick finds himself in position to make a play quite a bit. Football coaches love that.
Haason Reddick is a phenomenal athlete, as his Combine performance showed. Reddick excels at getting into the backfield and creating disruptions. He shows excellent speed and a high motor to catch ball-carriers in pursuit. Reddick has experience on both sides of the defense and in both the three-point and two-point stances.
The biggest questions on Haason Reddick all revolve around his size. There is some concern he’s maxed out his frame, and won’t be strong enough at the point of attack against the run. Reddick doesn’t generate the force to move blockers backwards, relying on his speed and agility to get around them. He lacks experience in coverage and playing in space.
Haason Reddick is a late riser on many draft boards as he was relatively unknown during the season. That could mean that analysts are over-valuing what they are seeing. However, the game tape I’ve watched shows a legitimate football player who goes full tilt on every snap. Reddick also emerged as a team leader for the Owls over the past two seasons.
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If the Kansas City Chiefs are looking for a pass rusher, they could certainly do much worse than Haason Reddick. The star of the Temple defense jumps out at you in everything he does. If the Chiefs were to use a first round pick on him, it would send quite the message to the rest of the pass rushers on the roster.