Chiefs News: Willie Gay bolsters linebacker position for Chiefs

Chiefs news has the next member of the Kansas City Chiefs 2020 draft class with Willie Gay joining the defense. He’ll hopefully be an immediate playmaker at the linebacker spot.

The newest member of the Kansas City Chiefs is Mississippi State inside linebacker Willie Gay, who the Chiefs took with the 63rd overall pick. Through three years, Gay totaled 99 tackles and six sacks.

The broadcast noted that Gay did have some off the field issues while at Mississippi State, but one of the analysts said they had heard it was overblown. Hopefully it’s not an issue for Gay as he joins the Super Bowl champs.

The Chiefs have a big need at linebacker and have ever since Derrick Johnson got old and was eventually released. With Anthony Hitchens not impressing much at the linebacker spot, Gay should have a chance to prove himself from the get-go and get on the field early on.

Something noteworthy per The Draft Network, however, is that Willie Gay might need a year to develop and that his second year is when we should truly be judged for his play. They also pointed out that he only had six starts and will definitely need to be coached up moving forward, but that’s to be expected with any young player entering the league.

The main takeaway here is that the Chiefs had a need at the linebacker spot and they filled it with the Mississippi State Bulldog (which is also where Chris Jones played – so yay!). If Gay needs a year to fine tune his skills, then so be it. Hitchens might not be on the roster in 2021, so if he can be heavy contributor in year two, that’d be ideal for Kansas City.

While I was really hoping Kansas City would go with Zack Baun here, Willie Gay is someone who should be able to step in and make an impact if coached up in the right way.

This might not be the electric pick fans were hoping for, but Brett Veach deserves the benefit of the doubt here. Fingers crossed that Gay can fit right into this defense and fill the void of Reggie Ragland in 2020 and beyond.

What do you think of this selection, Chiefs Kingdom? Yay or nay?