Kansas City Chiefs: Ten players who must have big seasons in 2018

NUMBER 4: DEE FORD

Every year Chiefs fans have said that Dee Ford has to step up or else he’ll be out of KC, but this year WE MEAN IT. That’s mainly because this is the last year of his rookie contract and he’ll hit free agency next winter if the Chiefs don’t opt to re-sign him.

Ford has been frustrating since the Chiefs drafted him in the first round back in 2014. He’s shown flashes of brilliance, like in the first half of the 2016 season where he at one point led the league in sacks. At other times, however, Ford has looked lost and been ineffective on the gridiron.

The other big issue with Ford is the fact that he’s been injured a lot over the years. He only played in six games last year and it got to a point where we all were basically giving up on him ever amounting to being a true pass rushing threat.

Teams swing and miss on first round draft picks all the time and that’s where we’re at with Dee Ford right now. If he has another lackluster season in 2018, his chapter as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs will be over and for a lot of fans, that will be just fine.