Kansas City Chiefs: Most surprising defensive players in 2019

EMMANUEL OGBAH

The Chiefs took a gamble when they traded away mediocre safety (Eric Murray) to the Browns for a guy who was looking like a draft bust in Emmanuel Ogbah. The Chiefs won the gamble big time, as Ogbah really came into his own in Kansas City.

Ogbah appeared in ten games in 2019 while starting four and it was unfortunate when his season was cut short due to injury. Just imagine how much more lethal this defense could have been with Ogbah out there during the playoff run.

The first round pick out of Oklahoma State recorded 32 tackles and five and a half sacks while hitting the quarterback 11 times in his ten games. Ogbah is hitting free agency this spring and it’d be very wise for the Chiefs to try their best to bring him back because the guy was a beast.

TANOH KPASSAGNON

The 2017 NFL Draft will be forever known as the draft where the Kansas City Chiefs traded up to draft Patrick Mahomes, but what casual fans probably don’t remember is that in the second round, the Chiefs selected Tanoh Kpassagnon out of Villanova.

I wouldn’t have blamed even the biggest of fans for forgetting about Kpassagnon’s existence during his first two seasons because he was a non-entity. In those first two years, Kpassagnon appeared in 29 games and only started one while totaling 18 tackles and two sacks with three quarterback hits.

In year three – the first under defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo – Kpassagnon had a total of 29 tackles, 11 quarterback hits, and four sacks while appearing in all 16 games and starting half of them. The difference between years one and two from year three was night and day, as Kpassagnon showed why he was a second round pick.

Hopefully year four is just as good to Tanoh Kpassagnon.