Chiefs' offseason acquisition overcame adversity for career-best season
This offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs decided not to pursue a high-end wide receiver in free agency. And, as far as we know, that is backfiring on them. Yes, there is still time left in the season, and the Chiefs could still win the Super Bowl miraculously, but this season has been pretty bad on […]
This offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs decided not to pursue a high-end wide receiver in free agency. And, as far as we know, that is backfiring on them. Yes, there is still time left in the season, and the Chiefs could still win the Super Bowl miraculously, but this season has been pretty bad on the offensive side of the ball.
Where they did spend a lot of their money was the defensive side of the ball on the defensive line, where they went out and got one of the more underrated defensive linemen in the league, Charles Omenihu. He was an absolute steal in free agency.
Here is a list of the edge rushers last season (2022) who had a higher pass-rush win rate than Omenihu: Myles Garrett, Nick Bosa, Micah Parsons, Za'Darius Smith, and Trey Hendrickson. Per Pro Football Focus, his pass rush win rate was 20.7%, which is higher than Chris Jones' 20.4%, which was the highest at his position in 2022 with the San Francisco 49ers.
Omenihu was also in the top 16 in total pressures of all players with 62. Just for reference, Frank Clark, the guy Omenihu was basically replacing, was 37th in pass rush win rate at 13%.
That is how much of a steal the Chiefs were getting. He was very good last season, but somehow, he had never had more than 4.5 sacks in a season. Against the Charles, he wrapped up a career year for the Chiefs. Here is what the Chiefs' PR team tweeted out about the new defensive tackle's career year on one of the best defenses in the league:
DE Charles Omenihu is credited with the 3-yard sack-and-strip of QB Easton Stick. Omenihu has a single-season career-high seven sacks in 2023 and owns 18.5 for his career. It's his 2nd FF of the season and 5th career.
Of course, Omenihu reposted that tweet and commented on how he also missed six games.
Omenihu played 11 games this season. Had he played in those six other games, I think it's fair to say he may have been able to get to 10 sacks on the year. The Chiefs' defense was elite, and Omenihu was a huge reason why.
The pairing of him and Chris Jones, when they rushed the passer from the interior, was elite. And Omenihu can play outside, which also features an elite duo of him and George Karlaftis. The Chiefs signed Omenihu for two years, $16 million. So, they will get him next season, too, and hopefully for more than 11 games. He has definitely reminded the 49ers what they are missing out on.
Charles Omenihu reminds 49ers what they’re missing in Chiefs debut
He made an instant impact.
