KC Chiefs: Questions to address along defensive line in 2020 offseason
Continuing on with the questions the KC Chiefs need to answer at each position this spring, we now turn to the defensive line. What are the biggest storylines in the trenches?
The Kansas City Chiefs were able to turn things around in 2019 because of how their defense started to play at the halfway point. The defense – which had been a major weakness throughout the 2018 season – became a strength near the end of the 2019 regular season and throughout the playoffs as well.
Part of what the Chiefs defensive resurgence came because of their play by the defensive line. What questions will Kansas City have to answer along the defensive line this spring?
The biggest is obviously what the unit will look like in 2020 since several key guys are hitting free agency this offseason. Chris Jones is easily the biggest storyline not just on the defensive line, but on the whole roster this offseason and we saw that the Chiefs – at least for the time being – temporarily answered the question of what Jones’ future might look like by franchise tagging him.
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That doesn’t mean this question is fully answered though because it might not end with tagging Jones. We saw last year that the Chiefs tagged Dee Ford and then wound up trading him, but Jones and Ford are not the same type of player. Fans didn’t want Ford back, especially after the offsides situation, so him getting dealt wasn’t all that surprising.
Mike Pennel is another big name to keep an eye on this offseason. He made a huge difference for the defense in 2019, but the 28-year-old might have made a big enough impact in the 2019 season that other teams will be willing to offer him a lot more money than KC.
Even with the Chiefs improving their run defense this past season, turning to the draft for a run stopper wouldn’t be a bad idea. Some of the better interior defensive linemen that could be available when the Chiefs are on the clock are Neville Gallimore out of Oklahoma, Ross Blacklock of TCU, Justin Madubuike out of Texas A&M, and Raekwon Davis of Alabama.
The defensive line showed improvement in 2019 and that was a sight to behold for Chiefs fans. The important thing now is keeping it up to par and making sure that it can continue to play at a high level in 2020 and beyond.
Chiefs Kingdom will have their eyes peeled for what happens with Chris Jones and where Mike Pennel ultimately ends up. Hopefully both are back in Kansas City in 2020.