Kansas City Chiefs: Tanoh Kpassagnon and Breeland Speaks development
The Kansas City Chiefs will need their young pass rushers to step up in the 2018 season. How did Tanoh Kpassagnon and Breeland Speaks look against Houston?
One of the most significant concerns for the Kansas City Chiefs this season is pass rush production. Last season, the defense struggled to get after the quarterback with little help for outside linebacker Justin Houston and defensive end Chris Jones. In 2018, the two will need help producing pressure to bring down the quarterback and help the back end of the defense.
It’s apparent that Kansas City wants to get bigger and stronger at the outside linebacker position. In 2017, the Chiefs drafted Villanova defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon in the second-round for his raw, but great athleticism. In 2018, the team again went for a defensive end to convert to outside linebacker by selecting Breeland Speaks in the second-round.
Considering these two young pass rushers are the only players that have been brought in the last two seasons to bolster the pass rush, the Chiefs defense desperately needs at least one of them to take a significant step forward in 2018. Dee Ford has returned from injury during training camp after having back surgery in the offseason. It’s his second back surgery.
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If Ford is healthy for the 2018 season, he will help generate pressure on the opposite side of Houston for the defense. However, his inability to be more than a liability in the run game and his injury history could find him being more of a positional player this season. It would not surprise me to see Ford on the field primarily on passing downs.
The hope is that with so much to play for, Ford will have a breakout season. Coming off another injury riddled season and entering a contract season, Ford has everything to prove if he wants to get a large contract next offseason.
Tanoh Kpassagnon and Breeland Speaks are being looked at as not only this seasons guys to contribute to the defense but the future of the position. Both have plenty of development coming out of college that needs to happen in order for them to be a dominant force in the NFL. Kpassagnon came in as a more raw talent than Speaks, but both need some development before they take the next step in the NFL.
Let’s take a look at what each of them brings to the table and what we saw from the Week 1 preseason game against the Houston Texans.