It's time to get excited about the Chiefs D again!

[VexMilkWaterfall]

I know, I know; the new guy is enthusiastic.  What else is new, right?

Seriously, though. Bob Sutton's hands have been tied the last two years because of depleted talent in our front 7.  Ever since we lost Poe and DJ/Tamba started really showing their age, we lost our versatility.  Let's not forget we haven't had Berry back at 100% since then, either.  We couldn't stop the run and all we've been able to do in the passing game is play press coverage or deep zone and hope that we delay the QB's reads long enough for Jones or Houston to get a sack (or pressure the QB).  Even then, Houston was kept in coverage last year more than any other year he's been a pro.  That's how depleted our front 7 was.  Our best pass rusher was also (arguably) our best pass defending LB.  In short, without turnovers, we we've been totally screwed for a couple years.  This year's draft changes a lot of that.  How, you ask?  Why do I say this?  I'll do my best to explain...

What have we done to better enable us to stop the run now?

• Added:
  • Signed Hitchens (Mike ILB)
  • Signed Williams (NT)
  • Drafted Drafted Speaks (OLB/DE)
  • Drafted Nnadi (NT/NG)
  • Drafted O'Daniel (LB)
  • Drafted Watts (FS)

We now have versatility and at least 4 of these players should be able to step in on day one and provide an upgrade over last year.  Every role each player will play is extremely specific and each of them grant us the freedom to play virtually any scheme we want.  For the first time in 2-3 years, Sutton will be able to open up his entire playbook again.  The possibilities are endless:

         X     X     X     X     X
       Bailey     Williams     Jones
Houston     Ragland     Hitchens    Speaks

^^ That's going to be our base 3-4 front 7 unless Nnadi or Ford can win the starting gig.  I expect Nnadi to be the starting NT by week 6-8, but not by the start of the season.  Either way, we have a stout NT, two stout DEs anchoring the outside, a ferocious OLB in Houston, Speaks is a HUGE mismatch if he's blitzed inside and it makes it impossible for teams to double-team Jones every snap unless they keep a TE or RB back to help with protection.  Compared to last year, that's a major upgrade and that's not even taking into consideration how big of an upgrade Hitchens is over DJ last year.  Don't get me wrong, I loves me some DJ, but his quality of play dropped off a cliff last year.  That begs the question; what about our nickel packages?  Dime?  Let's take a look...

Rush Nickel

         X     X     X     X     X
   Houston     Bailey  Jones   Speaks
          Ragland      Hitchens

^^ That's a MUCH more athletic front 6 in rush nickel packages, which should not only translate to more success in pass rush success, but should also help defend the short passing game.

Dime

         X     X     X     X     X
 Houston      Bailey    Jones      Speaks
----------------------------------------
                 O'Daniel

^^ Now imagine Berry and Watts flying around, making plays at the end of the season while that pass rush is dialed up to full steam on third downs.  That's a hell of a lot of speed on the field.  For comparison, last year, it was Houston (about 60% of the time), Bailey, Jones and (sometimes) Nunez-Roches.

 

Now comes the fun stuff, though.  Remember when we had Glenn Dorsey and ran a tampa-2?  Remember our scheme back then?  We had Tamba playing the Elephant role. Imagine Houston playing that role with Jones playing Dorsey's role while Nnadi pushes the pocket with his (almost) 35" arms and Speaks stunting around to the B gap.  Imagine how stout our run defense will be with Houston sealing one edge and Speaks (even bigger and stronger than Houston) sealing the other with Nnadi disrupting plays on the inside.  That frees up Bailey and Jones to make plays...and that's not even including Hitchens and Ragland shooting gaps...OR Berry coming up in run support.

One last thing

Every single player we signed or drafted (in the first 4 rounds) this offseason is simply RELENTLESS.  They all have a motor that doesn't quit.  They're all super high energy and athletic as hell.  The thing I like even more than that, though, is that our first 4 draft picks go after THE BALL.  Any time the situation presents itself, they go for a strip or a pick.  They're not just satisfied with making a tackle or batting away a pass.  They want that damn ball!  Because of how passionately these offseason additions play, I'm not worried about the loss of Peters.  Will we have some issues against the better QBs in the league?  I think so.  But, with how explosive as our offense will likely be and the fact that we should be able to rush the passer and stop the run with regularity, I think it's enough to offset the potential need at CB.

Let me know what you think!  Agree?  Disagree?  Did this help you become more optimistic about this offseason?

[onejayhawk]

It would not surprise me to see Speaks bumping 

11 minutes ago, VexMilkWaterfall said:

I know, I know; the new guy is enthusiastic.  What else is new, right?

Rush Nickel

         X     X     X     X     X
   Houston     Bailey  Jones   Speaks
          Ragland      Hitchens

^^ That's a MUCH more athletic front 6 in rush nickel packages, which should not only translate to more success in pass rush success, but should also help defend the short passing game.

Dime

         X     X     X     X     X
 Houston      Bailey    Jones      Speaks
----------------------------------------
                 O'Daniel

^^ Now imagine Berry and Watts flying around, making plays at the end of the season while that pass rush is dialed up to full steam on third downs.  That's a hell of a lot of speed on the field.  For comparison, last year, it was Houston (about 60% of the time), Bailey, Jones and (sometimes) Nunez-Roches.

 

Now comes the fun stuff, though.  Remember when we had Glenn Dorsey and ran a tampa-2?  Remember our scheme back then?  We had Tamba playing the Elephant role. Imagine Houston playing that role with Jones playing Dorsey's role while Nnadi pushes the pocket with his (almost) 35" arms and Speaks stunting around to the B gap.  Imagine how stout our run defense will be with Houston sealing one edge and Speaks (even bigger and stronger than Houston) sealing the other with Nnadi disrupting plays on the inside.  That frees up Bailey and Jones to make plays...and that's not even including Hitchens and Ragland shooting gaps...OR Berry coming up in run support.

One last thing

Every single player we signed or drafted (in the first 4 rounds) this offseason is simply RELENTLESS.  They all have a motor that doesn't quit.  They're all super high energy and athletic as hell.  The thing I like even more than that, though, is that our first 4 draft picks go after THE BALL.  Any time the situation presents itself, they go for a strip or a pick.  They're not just satisfied with making a tackle or batting away a pass.  They want that damn ball!  Because of how passionately these offseason additions play, I'm not worried about the loss of Peters.  Will we have some issues against the better QBs in the league?  I think so.  But, with how explosive as our offense will likely be and the fact that we should be able to rush the passer and stop the run with regularity, I think it's enough to offset the potential need at CB.

Let me know what you think!  Agree?  Disagree?  Did this help you become more optimistic about this offseason?

On the nickel, I think that Speaks may bump Bailey, ie Houston and KPass or Ford provide the two point play with Jones and Speaks inside.  There were several comments about his inside/outside flexibility. This would use the inside. 

Good point about motors. that was always Hali's hallmark. Now that he is gone, we needed an upgrade. Veach from the start said he wanted a new attitude. These guys and Hitchens can certainly bring that. Did you notice that Dallas used their first round pick to replace Hitchens.

J

[VexMilkWaterfall]

I sure did.  Hitchens isn't a world-beater who can do everything, but of the things he can do, he does them extremely well.  With him and Ragland both on the roster, a guy like O'Daniel became a necessity.  It'll be a lot of fun to watch him & Berry work the middle and blowin' up screens together.

You may be right about Bailey/Speaks.  I guess we'll see, but either way, I love Speaks' versatility.  I heard Reid & Veach talk about how their main goal this draft was to go after "chess pieces" in this draft, so I started digging to figure out what they meant.  After I did, I couldn't resist making this post.  Anyone who rips on this draft simply doesn't understand it, in my opinion.  Once it all comes together on Sundays, everyone will get it.

[valkrei]

nice post btw new guy. Welcome to Chiefs Kingdom

[VexMilkWaterfall]

1 minute ago, valkrei said:

nice post btw new guy. Welcome to Chiefs Kingdom

Thanks, man!  Glad to be here.  I live in Springfield, so even though there are a few Chiefs fans around here, none of them follow the team as closely as I do.  I'm happy to have found a forum that can feed my addiction, haha.

[RedGold]

Excellent post, welcome to the forum! Always great to see more new faces around here.

I like what they’ve done.  I like what Veach is saying. The pessimistic side of me still wants to see what Sutton does with his personal, but Veach is saying everything I want to see changed about the D.

There is a spot for nothin Speaks and Tanoh to contribute, let’s get them where they’ll succeed.

[Edge]

Welcome Vex!

Great write-up. The first moments after the selections of the day 2 picks, i was a bit disappointed, since i felt like we need another corner early in this draft to strenghten our secondary. I also thought we reached for some players, but once i settled down, i saw in what direction we wanted to go. I'm still a bit worried about the secondary, but as u pointed out i see the adjustments we try to make on the front 7. It should strenghten our run defense, our pass rush and ultimately gives us more depth and variety upfront. The secondary should have an easier job than last season. We'll see if they can improve the outcome. Overall our defense got better.

[VexMilkWaterfall]

@samsel23, that "nothing speaks" moniker made me chuckle, haha.

@Edge, I had the same reaction at first. I thought we were trading up in the second for a CB, so the Speaks pick about floored me until I had the chance to look into things more.

Thanks for the warm welcome, guys!

[onejayhawk]

We always like guys that bring new **** stuff for us to discuss. 

J

[TedLavie]

I agree with you on paper. I'm just not excited about the players on this front 7. I would love to be wrong but I'm not sure Hitchens, Williams, Speaks and O'Daniel pan out for us. Plus we all should know by now that Bailey isn't very good. Let alone our corners who are huge question marks. 

I hope I'm wrong but I fear our offense will need to be exceptional for us to win games this year. 

[valkrei]

Hitches should be a great player for us. Rookies are rookies so there is always that but at least they are young guys with talent and high motors.  I just can't see the D taking a step back with the moves we made.

[onejayhawk]

We are redesigning the offense around a new QB. Something similar is going on with the defense. What will be the focus when it takes shape?

J

[valkrei]

1 hour ago, onejayhawk said:

We are redesigning the offense around a new QB. Something similar is going on with the defense. What will be the focus when it takes shape?

J

Rather the bend don't beak we will just break you.  Nice change.

[Chiefer]

Have we really done enough? Im still not overly confident, although i think the pass rush should be better next year.

Corner to me is still a big worry, but if we can get a better pass rush that should help.

[onejayhawk]

This is a multi-year project. I hope the outline of the final form is apparent by October. September may or may not be ugly, but some point of the season will be. It's the nature of the beast. 

J