As the season approaches, I’ll be covering the “10 biggest questions” regarding 2023 Kansas City Chiefs. Until now, we asked…
In this post, we’ll turn our attention to the Chiefs’ young pass forwards: Felix Anudike-Uzomah and George Karlaftis.
How far did Georg Karlaftis and Felix Anodic-Uzuma run in the traffic race?
Last season, the Chiefs’ pass rush was excellent. bosses He is second in sacks with 55And Fifth in cyst ratioAnd First in total pressure And it was Fifth highest compression ratio in the NFL. Defensive tackle Chris Jones had the best season of his career, finishing with a team Most pressures he’s had in a season with 77 in his career and connection Highest in 2018 for sacks with 15.5. On the verge of receiving his third contract, Jones placed the NFL Defensive Player of the Year caliber season.
However, Jones wasn’t just off season for the beast. The Chiefs have done an excellent job filling their roster with supplemental rushers, particularly at the defensive end position. After a rough 2021 season, the Chiefs brought back Frank Clark, who had a healthier and more consistent season in the Chiefs tenure. Carlos Dunlap was signed in July but has been productive with only three losses all season. Mike Dana and defensive tackle Kalen Saunders have had career years, and George Carlaftis, a first-round draft pick, had some of the best seasons we’ve seen from a rookie defensive end in the past decade.
Hiring Defensive Line Coach Joe Cullen was massive for the unit. It can be hard to quantify the training, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Dana and Saunders had the best seasons under Cullen. Veterans such as Clark saw their play improve significantly, and Jones had his peak season under Cullen’s tutelage. Even having Karlaftis produce as well as he did as a rookie is a huge testament to Cullen’s coaching.
However, the Chiefs have seen a lot of change in the defensive line room this offseason. Clark, Saunders, and Dunlap (so far) have all departed, and linebacker Charles Omeniho and a pair of rookies have replaced him with defensive end Felix Anodic-Uzuma and defensive tackle Condrey Coburn. The Chiefs lost a lot of production from last year’s team, but they brought plenty of talent to supplement Jones as a rushing player.
Coburn doesn’t necessarily enter into this equation as he will essentially be a backup to Derrick Nnadi at nose tackle. Omenihu was an outstanding signing, giving the Chiefs an inside presence they haven’t had since Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was in Kansas City. Danna has been surprisingly good as an inside forward in 2022, but Omenihu’s combination of height, strength, and pace made him the best inside pass to Danna. Omenihu instantly raises the floor of that pass rush and helps open up Jones to rushes from anywhere on the defensive line. The Chiefs can go hunting for matches a lot more this season – something they haven’t had in a long time.
However, while I think Omenihu is a great floor raiser, he’s not impulsive enough to raise the roof of this dashing arcade to where it was last year. Dana also fits the mold. Both are good passers and can win from a wide variety of lineups, but neither are good enough to complete passes for Jones and relieve pressure on him. For chiefs to reach their peak cap, it will come down to developing Karlaftis in year two and how fast Anudike-Uzomah can hit the ground running as a rookie.
Karlaftis in year 2
I thought Karlaftis had an incredibly strong rookie season. I was going back and reviewing his movie from last year, and there was a clear growth in the back half of the season. Karlaftis can mix more counters in addition to his bulls and even some winning ability around the corner. Looking at Karlaftis, he was asked to play high leverage shots on a power A contender as a rookie, he hit every mark the Chiefs needed.
Worrying about Karlaftis since being drafted has been through the roof. I was pretty high about Karlaftis coming to that draft, but even I admit I wonder what heights he could reach as a player. I think there is a lot of growth in his game. As he learns to blend into the counters and pull moves into his game, the already strong foundation of his explosiveness and power will stand out even more.
However, can Karlaftis blend enough speed and fluidity into his game to round out his profile as a rushing passer? Or will he stick around as a high-quality defensive end, but won’t make it in any game he faces?
Felix General 1
With Anudike-Uzomah, there is a fair amount of pressure on it to produce quickly. The bosses decide to let Clark – the best speedster – walk to open this role for Anodic-Ozuma. I was incredibly ecstatic at Anudike-Uzomah’s exit due to his balance, flexibility, and ability to add weight to his frame, but bosses will need his speed and explosiveness to show up right away.
I’m not too worried about Anudike-Uzomah being able to speed up the learning curve since he was so productive at an early age in college and being coached by Cullen, but how good can he be right away? Asking him to be as good as Clark right away is tough, but what percentage of Clark’s productivity can he provide? Will he be able to get some quick wins in third downs as a rookie?
It won’t be easy to replicate the Chiefs’ rushing passing performance last season, but they still need this group to perform at a high level to win the Super Bowl. Omenihu and Danna are veterans who can help the team in many ways, but they won’t carry the Chiefs’ passes out of Jones.
For the leaders to come close to where they were last year, Karlaftis and Anudike-Uzomah will need to be present in the pass in a consistently positive fashion. Despite the length of the development curve, they would define Kansas City’s pass rushing success, and I am intrigued to track how well they play.