Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo talks not having a veteran edge rusher in 2023
The Kansas City Chiefs don't have the one thing they have had on the defensive line for the last five years or so, and it could end up hurting them. This offseason the Chiefs brought in Charles Omenihu to play a flex role, where he will see some snaps inside and out. Omenihu is a veteran, […]
The Kansas City Chiefs don't have the one thing they have had on the defensive line for the last five years or so, and it could end up hurting them.
This offseason the Chiefs brought in Charles Omenihu to play a flex role, where he will see some snaps inside and out. Omenihu is a veteran, as he is entering his fifth season, however, he isn't the same type of veteran the Chiefs have gone after on the edge the last few years.
When the Chiefs won the Super Bowl in 2019, they went and traded for defensive end Frank Clark, which ended up being one of the best decisions and more underrated decisions of this crazy run. Last offseason, just before training camp, they got Carlos Dunlap, who has played 13 seasons in the league.
They picked up a guy who was nearing his 100th career sack before last season. Those are the guys we have seen the Chiefs pick up before. Terrell Suggs is another example. This year they really don't have that on the roster.
Instead, this year that group is extremely young. They have a rookie and a sophomore headlining the group for the next few years, with Mike Dana and Omenihu entering their fourth and fifth seasons. This group is very different than what we are used to, and Steve Spagnuolo realizes that too.
"Yeah, right now listen, I still got to see. I mean, we know what George has been here right, Mike Danna, we know," Spags told the media. "We don't know Charles. I mean we know what he did, we don't know Felix. Right, way too early on that. Now Malik Herring and Josh Kaindoh I really really am hopeful for those two guys to surface, they've been here for a while they know what we're doing. But you know, it's up to them to take that next step.
"And both of those guys I think have done a really good job to this point. Those are the six I think we're talking about right? But you're right we thank God for Brett [Veach] in the last few years we've been able to, Carlos I think we got early, right, have some before training camp or something? And I'm sure we would try to do that. Again either way. Maybe, I guess the hope is that we don't have to. Right. That'd be a good problem to have."
This year could end up being tough in that aspect because having all young guys is something you don't see often. The Chiefs had the second-best pass rush last season finishing with 55 total sacks, 15 behind the Eagles' historic pass rush. If they don't get an established veteran on the edge there, I think we could see that total sacks number go down quite a bit.
A guy I would be watching for is Dunlap. I think the Chiefs would love to have him back, and I also think the Chiefs could afford him. He wasn't game-changing last season, but he was still pretty good. In the limited amount of time he got, he still finished with four sacks. It's definitely something to watch for moving forward – I just have a feeling this edge rusher group won't look like this by the time Week 1 rolls around.
