Kansas City Chiefs: Dee Ford for real?
By Britt Zank
Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Dee Ford has become one of the MVPs of the defense. No, that wasn’t a typo, you read it right.
During his first two years in the league, Ford was a nobody. I’d like to find something nicer to say about that time, but it’s a fair adjective. During his rookie season of 2014, his stats were barely better than yours or mine. He recorded 1.5 sacks and only three total tackles. Ford was active for all 16 games that season, so there is no injury excuse. It was so bad the team didn’t feel they could trust their first-round pick to play.
Ford improved during his second year, but that wasn’t hard to do. He increased his stats to four sacks and 21 tackles during the regular season. Once again it was generous to say he was invisible during that season minus one game. Everyone recalls his great game against the Chargers. He recorded three sacks, seven tackles, and made a crucial pass defense as time expired.
The week following that game the big question was, had Ford turned a corner? Was Ford turning into the player they envisioned on draft day? The answers came quickly as he only recorded one sack and five tackles over the next three games.
He didn’t fare much better in the playoffs that season, with six tackles in two games. With Justin Houston out since Week 11, there was hope Ford would take advantage of his playing time. It did not happen.
His first two years in the league he depended solely on his speed rush. Ford had always had a good first step and been fast around the edge. In college this was good enough to work most of the time, and good enough to get drafted in the first round. In the NFL teams adjust to you quickly and have the athletes to neutralize talent. Without his speed rush, Ford had nothing else to fall back on and looked lost. A lot of people, myself included, thought he would stay lost for good.