Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo has the perfectly unsatisfying answer to trade acquisition Josh Uche's inactive streak
The Kansas City Chiefs looked to beef up their pass rush when they acquired defensive end Josh Uche in a trade with the New England Patriots back in October. Unfortunately, Uche hasn't recorded a single sack in five games with Kansas City, and has only two tackles. He has been a healthy scratch for each […]
The Kansas City Chiefs looked to beef up their pass rush when they acquired defensive end Josh Uche in a trade with the New England Patriots back in October.
Unfortunately, Uche hasn't recorded a single sack in five games with Kansas City, and has only two tackles. He has been a healthy scratch for each of the last two games, indicating that he doesn't really fit into the Chiefs' defensive plans moving forward.
It seemed like a good decision for K.C. to bring Uche aboard as he recorded 16.5 sacks for the Patriots over the last 2.5 seasons. Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo had this to say when asked why Uche hasn't been active each of the past two weeks:
"There's only so many hats on game day," Spagnuolo said. "But, I did talk to Josh the other day. I mean, we'd like to try to find a way to amp him up. [Defensive line coach] Joe Cullen is evaluating that every week, and there's a couple guys there that could [contribute]. Malik [Herring] has played good football for us, so somewhere down the road here, maybe you see one of those guys. Hopefully nobody gets hurt, because usually that changes everything with injuries. But, that's probably going to be a week-to-week thing there."
That's not exactly a ringing endorsement for Uche. Although he didn't completely shut the door on Uche getting back on the field, Spagnuolo doesn't give much reason to believe that he will. It's a disappointing development given that the Chiefs gave up a sixth-round pick for Uche, albeit it's not until 2026.
One reason it hasn't worked out for Uche in K.C. could be that he is smaller than what Spagnuolo likes in his defensive ends. Uche is listed at 240 pounds, and traditionally Spagnuolo's defensive ends have weighed between 260-265 pounds, valuing power and setting the edge over speed.
One would think that Spagnuolo was consulted and signed off on making the move to acquire Uche. Perhaps at the time Spagnuolo thought he could make Uche work within his scheme, but you never really know until you get the player on field. On a positive note, the Chiefs' pass rush has improved as of late, recording eight sacks over the past two games.
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