Five Kansas City Chiefs players entering make or break seasons in 2020
By Tyler Miller
Kansas City Chiefs entering make or break season in 2020
player. 124. . Nose Tackle. Kansas City Chiefs. Derrick Nnadi. 2
The Kansas City Chiefs drafted Derrick Nnadi in the third round in 2018 with the idea that he’d be a big strong body in the middle who would clog running lanes and free Chris Jones up to create havoc. To his credit, he’s done exactly that.
Nnadi became a strater about quarter of the way through his rookie year and has held his position ever since. Now, Nnadi doesn’t jump off the stat sheet totaling one sack and three tackles for a loss in his career, but again, that’s not his job. He clogs holes and demands double teams, so other players (namely Jones and Frank Clark) can be free to attack the backfield.
So, why is Nnadi on this list?
Well, the reality is that the Chiefs are able to find guys like Nnadi fairly easily, as Mike Pennel is a name that jumps to mind. Nnadi is good at what he does, but he isn’t an elite enough of a run stopper to make up for his non-existent pass rush ability.
That will make it very difficult to pay him when Kansas City has already invested big money in Clark and (hopefully) Jones. The Chiefs also have last year’s third round pick Khalen Saunders, who is already showing a much higher ceiling.
Nnadi is going to need to demonstrate that he is a great run stopper or become a better pass rusher in 2020 or he’ll see his snap count diminish to Saunders and eventually be playing elsewhere.