Kansas City Chiefs: Three UDFA signings no one is talking about

Tim Ward

Defensive End, Old Dominion

As mentioned above, Ward tore his ACL late in November so will likely miss the whole season and this has understandably tempered a lot of the excitement around him. In addition, he played at a small school Old Dominion and was overshadowed by fellow Monarch, Oshane Ximines, who was drafted in the third round.

This is causing Ward to slide way under the radar. His stats aren’t eye-popping, but what should be getting Chiefs fans excited is his physical gifts. He stands at freakish 6’6″ and 255 pounds. He’s not quite Tanoh Kpassagnon freakish yet and could stand to put on some weight, but if he can gain 30 pounds or so you’re looking at a Kpassagnon twin.

Remember how excited Chiefs fans were and some continue to be about Kpassagnon? This kid is similar in size and put up a similar stat line while starting and playing in fewer games as Kpassagnon did in their respective final years in college. Ward may be even more of a raw talent that Kpassagnon was coming out of college, so he has work to do, but has the build to be a great player in this league.

If build alone isn’t enough to grab your attention, even Brett Veach seems excited about this kid. After the scouting Ximines, a scout mentioned Ward and Veach must have liked what he saw. He signed him after the draft and stated,

"“You may not see [Ward] this year, but we’re going to take our time with his rehab, we’re not going to rush him, and he could be a guy that could really develop and be a player in the future.”"

Veach also talked about how raw he was and that he started playing football late, but seemed to be impressed with his length and athleticism and mention how you could see improvements on his tape from later in the season.

Here is a play that shows what Ward could do with his athleticism if he continues to develop. He will have a year to learn while he recovers so hopefully he can use that to his advantage and make the team next season.

Ward is definitely a project, but if you like big athletic guys with a lot of raw talent (e.g. Kpassagnon) this is a guy you should get excited about. This is definitely going to be a guy who is at the top of the list of UDFAs who could make the 53-man roster next season.

So stop sleeping on Tim Ward Chiefs Kingdom!