Chiefs QB Chris Oladokun simulating Ravens QB Lamar Jackson in practice ahead of AFC Championship Game
The Kansas City Chiefs have played Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson four times during the Patrick Mahomes era — and each time they've had a different player simulating Jackson's game for the scout team offense. They've used three different players since Steve Spagnuolo arrived as defensive coordinator in Kansas City, but they all share a common theme. […]
The Kansas City Chiefs have played Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson four times during the Patrick Mahomes era — and each time they've had a different player simulating Jackson's game for the scout team offense. They've used three different players since Steve Spagnuolo arrived as defensive coordinator in Kansas City, but they all share a common theme.
“You put somebody out there that’s real fast and shifty,” Chiefs HC Andy Reid said in September of 2019.
They never used WR Tyreek Hill to emulate Jackson because he was too involved in the offensive game plan, but he would have been the ideal.
In 2019, they used practice squad DB Alex Brown, who was a dual-threat quarterback in high school and ran a 4.42 40-yard dash. The following year, the team used practice squad QB Jordan Ta'amu. In their most recent matchup against the Ravens in 2021, the team used RB Jerick McKinnon, a college quarterback who ran the triple-option offense at Georgia Southern.
McKinnon is on injured reserve in Kansas City, so that had them looking to their practice squad once again for help. That'd be third-string QB Chris Oladokun, who resides on the Chiefs' practice squad.
“It’s really hard to do, we do have a guy, Chris Oladokun," Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo told reporters on Thursday. "He did it yesterday for us. I will say this, we’re fortunate that we have Chris. He did it last week for us, he was (Bills QB) Josh Allen and Blaine (Gabbert) did a little bit of it, too."
This isn't the first time that Oladokun has played this type of role for Kansas City. He's often been the scout team quarterback this season, especially when they have a quarterback who can pick up some yards on the ground.
That said, there is only so much you can do to prepare for a quarterback who is a rushing threat during practice. They don't tackle in practice, so they can't practice wrapping him up and getting him on the ground. What they can practice is the basic defensive principles that you need to keep in mind on designed running plays.
"But you can’t simulate it," Spagnuolo explained. "Even in practice because you’re not tackling anybody, so you’re not finishing on a guy but there are some things that we have talked about in how we should practice to prepare for them. I think Chris (Oladokun) gives us as good of a look as we’re going to get during the course of a practice week.”
Will Oladokun truly help the Chiefs contain a dynamic player like Jackson? They say practice makes perfect and that can be applied here in multiple ways. Most importantly, the team's 3-1 career record against Jackson's Ravens tells us that they've been doing something right in the preparations ahead of previous meetings.
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