Kansas City Chiefs: Tanoh Kpassagnon’s development in 2017
The Kansas City Chiefs selected Tanoh Kpassagnon with their second-round pick in 2017. How much has he developed and is he ready to start?
Before the Kansas City Chiefs start training camp on July 26 in St. Joseph, Missouri, I wanted to take a look at some players and how they progressed last season. One of those players is 2017 second-round pick Tanoh Kpassagnon. Making the transition from Villanova to the NFL is already a big leap, but switching from defensive end to outside linebacker makes it even more significant.
Kpassagnon was extremely raw coming out of college. He spent his college career manhandling offensive linemen that were well below his talent level. Making the transition not only from a small school to the NFL but changing positions will be great to watch as head coach Andy Reid and defensive coordinator Bob Sutton develop his raw talent and outstanding athletic abilities into an edge rusher.
Standing at 6’7″ and 280 pounds, Tanoh is bigger than most outside linebackers even in the edge rushing role. Given the fact that general manager Brett Veach brought in another big edge player with the 2018 second-round pick Breeland Speaks, it’s obvious the Chiefs are heading in a new direction at the position. They want to get bigger and stronger.
Kansas City plays their outside linebackers much like defensive ends. Lining up with two down linemen and two outside pass rushers, it’s not hard to figure out why outside linebacker Dee Ford has struggled to develop in the position sitting at 252 pounds. Given his injuries and lack of development, Ford will likely find less time on the field in 2018 if Kpassagnon and Speaks find playing time.
I wanted to take a look at what Kpassagnon looked like throughout the preseason and compared it to what we saw in week 17 against the Denver Broncos. I was thoroughly impressed with how much Tanoh got better each week of the preseason. He looked more comfortable each game standing up, but still had his fair share of mistakes.
Even in the game against Denver where he played every defensive snap, Tanoh still showed signs of needing to improve his technique and awareness. However, there was a vast improvement from what we saw in the preseason. Let’s start with what he looked like in the preseason.