Kansas City Chiefs Draft Ukeme Eligwe with 183rd Pick in 2017 NFL Draft

The Kansas City Chiefs drafted a defensive player with their fifth round pick and the lucky guy is Ukeme Eligwe out of Georgia Southern. Eligwe spent two years at Florida State and his final two years at Georgia Southern.

The KC Chiefs have added an outside linebacker to their defense in Ukeme Eligwe, who recorded 36 tackles, two and a half sacks, and an interception last season at Georgia Southern. He’s a big linebacker and was apart of Florida State’s National Championship team in 2013.

While Eligwe was a standout at Florida State, he was forced out due to violating team rules and then transferred to Georgia Southern. The move to a smaller school is likely why Eligwe got pushed back to the later rounds, but make no mistake, this kid can play and he will be a nice project for the Kansas City Chiefs to work with.

When it comes to the linebacker corps in Kansas City, Justin Houston can’t stay healthy, Tamba Hali is getting older, and Dee Ford vanished in the last half of the season after finally looking decent in the early games in 2016.

The point being that the Chiefs can put Ukeme Eligwe right to work and he very well might be Ford’s replacement, as a fifth-year option hasn’t been agreed upon by the two sides.

I actually had the Chiefs drafting Eligwe in one of my earlier mock drafts, but I had the Chiefs grabbing him in the seventh round. This is what I had to say about that selection,

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"Eligwe could actually end up paying dividends for the Chiefs if this is the pick they go with late in the draft. He’s worth taking a chance on at this point of the process.He could also help with the recent injuries of Justin Houston and be a hopeful prominent force in the tackling game."

This draft has been different for Chiefs fans, as the team has been aggressive in trading up. Not only that, but they’re drafting playmakers on offense rather than on defense. That’s why this pick was needed, as linebacker is a major need for the KC Chiefs.

Later on after the pick had been announced, Terez Paylor tweeted that Eligwe could be used as an inside linebacker for the Chiefs, which means he could be Derrick Johnson’s eventual replacement.

I’m still a bit curious as to why the Chiefs haven’t grabbed a cornerback yet, but perhaps it is on the way soon. John Dorsey has been straight up dealing in this draft. It might even be Kansas City’s best draft under the current regime.

What do you think of this pick, Chiefs fans? Are you happy about Ukeme Eligwe joining Chiefs Kingdom?