Kansas City Chiefs need to focus on defensive front seven
By Chris Taylor
The Kansas City Chiefs have a lot of work to do this off-season. The defensive front seven should be the focus of Chiefs general manager Brett Veach.
Brett Veach has made waves during his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs general manager. After he got Washington to agree to a trade that included the young and talented Kendall Fuller to bolster the secondary, all eyes now have to be on the defensive front seven.
The front seven has the potential to be unrecognizable next season. For Bob Sutton’s sake, it probably needs to be. All jokes aside, a complete overhaul isn’t necessary.
Defensive line
Bennie Logan is probably the biggest defensive free agents the Chiefs have to deal with. Logan has quietly become one of the best defensive tackles in the league. He had 52 tackles this season, which is pretty good for a tackle. Some believe his price tag will be too much, but with the added moves and cuts the Chiefs undoubtedly will make should free up more than enough money to bring Logan back at a reasonable price.
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Rakeem Nunez-Roches should be retained as well. The Chiefs love him, and he’s proven he can be a spectacular backup, as well as a good but less spectacular spot starter. His price tag is cheap and he provides depth and laughter to the defensive side of the ball. He’s worth some money just for his personality.
In my opinion those are the easy decisions. The Chiefs still need help on the line opposite of Chris Jones. Allen Bailey had a down year statistically, and he appears to have hit his ceiling. It seemed like he was destined for stardom in 2014 and ’15, but his play on the field hasn’t shown.
Potential additions could come in various ways, determining on what the Chiefs do and how much money the Chiefs save. Some costly additions could come in the forms of Ezekiel Ansah from Detroit, Alex Okafor from New Orleans or Adrian Clayborn from Atlanta. Clayborn and Ansah both had over 10 sacks last season. Cheaper bargains include David Bass and DaQuan Jones at the end position.
If Bennie Logan doesn’t return, his replacement will be quite expensive. So if your’e going to spend money, spend it on the guy you know. Speaking of guys you know, Dontari Poe is out there, and no, I don’t see that happening.
Linebacker
The linebacker position is the what-if position for Kansas City. The only free agents here are Ramik Wilson and Kevin Pierre-Louis. Wilson has been as good as gone since early on in the 2017 season. KPL has a chance to be brought back. The Chiefs like him, the fans do to. Even with his recent arrest, he should be back in Kansas City.
The issue with the Chiefs linebacker position is age, not talent. Tamba Hali has reached the end of his rope. Derrick Johnson is no longer an every down player, but still has good football left in him. Look for a restructure for DJ and a pink slip for Tamba. Hopefully he retires a Chief and continues his new music career, which isn’t bad at all.
Another possible cut is Dee Ford. For all the reasons a player gets cut, Ford qualifies. He just hasn’t met expectations and the money saved by his release would definitely bring in someone who is proven.
This basically leaves Justin Houston and Reggie Ragland. So it’s an obvious move in this scenario to spend some money. Some good linebackers out there for the taking include Tahir Whitehead, Ramon Humber and Junior Galette. All three outside linebackers come at different prices, with Whitehead leading the way. Galette could very well be the steal of the free agency period.
Preston Brown of Buffalo pops out on the stat sheet. At 25 years old, he had 144 tackles last season. Anthony Hitchens and Jon Bostic both could be young talented inside linebackers the Chiefs chase after. The likelihood is however that the Chiefs retain KPL and settle, focusing on outside linebacker.
What about Tanoh Kpassagnon? The jury is still out, and if his talent is strong enough to overcome himself being green, there’s a good chance they play Tanoh everywhere.
The Chiefs offense will be fine, the special teams should be ok, the defense will need at the least two of these players or their likeness for there to be a better outcome in 2018.