Kansas City Chiefs: Predictions for 2019 draft class

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Defensive lineman Khalen Saunders of Western Illinois (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

KHALEN SAUNDERS, DT (R3:P84)

Khalen Saunders was the third pick for the Chiefs in the 2019 NFL Draft;The big man who can do a backflip. Saunders was drafted out of Western Illinois and profiles at 6’0” ft, 324 pounds. Once mentioned by analysts as the Aaron Donald of the FCS, Saunders is going to be a guy you see come in on a rotational basis his first year in the league.

During his career for the Leatherneck, Saunders was a busy man on the defensive line. Playing in over 45 games, Saunders covered the stat page with numbers such as: 204 Total Tackles (127 Solo, 77 Ast), 34.5 Tackles for Loss, 18 Sacks, 6 Pass Def, 4 Forced Fumbles, and 3 Fumble Recoveries.

Also during his senior season, Saunders punched one in from the goal line for his offense so we may have “Poe Heavy” 2.0 on our hands again. (Stats courtesy of Western Illinois athletics’ website)

Getting onto the field for Saunders shouldn’t be a problem, but staying on the field for long periods of time may eat into his numbers. Having veteran guys like Chris Jones, Alex Okafor, and others ahead of him will leave him fighting for snaps. Saunders’ numbers should look like this closing out the season

Tackles: 29
- Solo: 20
- Assist: 9
Sacks: 2
Tackle for Loss: 5
Pass Def: 2
Forced Fum: 1
Fumble Rec: 1

Having a big camp and preseason will go a long ways for Saunders in his rookie year. Showing he can hang or even play better than some veteran guys will make the difference in his numbers and help them go up.

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