Kansas City Chiefs: Four dark horse roster candidates for 2019

Dark Horse Candidate #3: Ben Niemann, LB

To be completely frank, Ben Niemann may have the hardest time out of all of these dark horse candidates to make the roster next year.

Kansas City has an absolute logjam at the linebacker position. Here is a list of all the serious names that are currently on the roster and have a realistic chance to stick: Reggie Ragland, Anthony Hitchens, Darron Lee, Dorian O’Daniel, Damien Wilson, Jeremiah Attaochu, and Ben Niemann.

That is if you don’t consider Tanoh Kpassagnon and Breeland Speaks as linebackers in Steve Spagnuolo’s new base 4-3. The Chiefs will still give 3-4 looks at times, adding more competition for Niemann.

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Last year, the Chiefs kept 14 players on the roster between the defensive line and linebackers. This is important to note because of the scheme shift. In a 3-4, you have more linebackers. In a 4-3, you have more linemen.

The base number of players will stay around 13-15. If you consider Chris Jones, Derrick Nnadi, Alex Okafor, Khalen Saunders, Frank Clark, Emmanuel Ogbah, Ragland, Hitchens, Wilson, Lee, and O’Daniel as locks for the roster, that leaves only a couple spots left on the front seven. Players like Kpassagnon and Speaks will have an advantage in being early round picks to claim those spots.

Now that we have covered just from a logistics standpoint, let’s look at why I think Niemann has a real shot at the 53-man roster.

First, I expect the Chiefs to either explore a trade or cut Ragland. He was originally traded to the Chiefs from Buffalo because he didn’t fit their new 4-3 scheme. Sound familiar?

The Chiefs also have a ton of bodies in the middle for linebackers, and most of the players are versatile. Ragland lacks real coverage skills, and as a run stuffer would only see minimal work in today’s pass happy NFL.

The reason Niemann would be seen as more of a priority for the Chiefs than Ragland is he can be used on defense and special teams. In fact, Niemann was just named the best special teams player in the entire NFL by Pro Football Focus.

That is extremely valuable for players on the roster bubble, especially considering the Chiefs’ Assistant Head Coach happens to be Special Teams Coordinator Dave Toub. Toub has always had the Chiefs special teams unit near the top of the league, and arming him with players like Niemann will keep that trend going.

Expect Toub to pound the table to keep Niemann around, and for the Chiefs to find a way to open a spot up for him on the final roster.