KC Chiefs: Questions to answer at linebacker in 2020 offseason
The KC Chiefs could use some upgrading at the linebacker position and that’s what a lot of the questions at the position revolve around this offseason.
When looking back at the 2019 defensive resurgence by the Kansas City Chiefs, the linebacker play still wasn’t great. The solid safety play of Tyrann Mathieu and Juan Thornhill helped the linebackers out and this is absolutely a position the Chiefs need to consider addressing over the offseason because stopping the run was still something the defense struggled with.
Looking at the linebacker corp for 2020, it’s almost certain that Anthony Hitchens will be part of that crew due to the large contract he signed prior to 2018. It wouldn’t make sense to cut bait with him now, even with him not performing all that great.
Darron Lee and Reggie Ragland are hitting free agency and there probably won’t be a lot of questions surrounding their futures in Kansas City. I wouldn’t be totally shocked if Brett Veach opted to re-sign Ragland to a cheap deal, but that seems unlikely.
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So, with no big free agents hitting the open market, what is the big question at linebacker this offseason? To me, it seems pretty obvious: What will the Chiefs do to upgrade the position this spring?
Free agency doesn’t have a ton of impressive names out there, but a player like Christian Kirsksey could be a potential target this spring. The draft should certainly be somewhere the Chiefs look for linebacker help, but they might end up trading out of the first round due to holding the final pick. If they can maneuver around and gain a few draft picks out of it, that’s never a bad idea.
The best linebackers in this year’s draft class according to The Draft Network are Isaiah Simmons (Clemson), Patrick Queen (LSU), Kenneth Murray (Oklahoma), Malik Harrison (Ohio State), and Jordyn Brooks (Texas Tech). Simmons will most certainly be off the board by the time KC is on the clock and Queen and Murray being available at pick 32 would be shocking as well. Harrison and Brooks could be second round options for sure.
While the Kansas City Chiefs aren’t really losing any valuable linebackers between now and the start of the 2020 season, they need to decide what additions they want to make at the position. As I mentioned earlier, the defense improved in 2019, but the linebacker unit still wasn’t great and could definitely use some improvement this offseason.