Chiefs Changing Up The Nickel

There was a whole lot of interesting things going on at the Chiefs mini camp practices this weekend. I will be highlighting some of those things throughout the day.

The first ting I wanted to talk about was the new look the Chiefs are giving when they go to the Nickel D.

It is still June but lately, when the Chiefs go to the Nickel they are sliding Mike Vrabel to middle linebacker. Replacing Vrabel at OLB is Andy Studebaker.

This is interesting because it looks like the Chiefs want to keep Vrabel on the field but they likely don’t think he will be effective rushing the QB in obvious passing situations.

Enter Studebaker.

Studebaker was a DE in college and was something of a sack artist. Whether he can transfer those skills to the NFL level coming out of a D-3 school remains to be seen but it looks as though he may get the shot.

It appears the Chiefs believe Studebaker could be the future at OLB opposite Hali. Placing Studebaker into the Nickel package while moving Vrabel to MLB  gives the Chiefs a chance to get Studebaker more reps without losing the veteran advantage brought by Vrabel. It will also give Romeo Crennel a chance to test out Studebaker’s pass rushing and coverage skills.

This should be an interesting situation to keep our eyes on. Stay tuned.