NFL Draft 2015: Grading The Kansas City Chiefs

Nov 22, 2014; Athens, GA, USA; Charleston Southern Buccaneers quarterback Austin Brown (4) is sacked by Georgia Bulldogs linebacker Ramik Wilson (51) during the first quarter at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Round 4 – Pick 118 – Ramik Wilson – Linebacker – Georgia

“Okay”

That’s how I’d sum up my feelings about the Chiefs taking Ramik Wilson in the fourth round. I don’t dislike the pick. Wilson is a pretty decent inside linebacker prospect and the Chiefs have a HUGE need for another solid linebacker inside next to Derrick Johnson. So in that regard I’m happy with the pick.

However, I’m also not doing cartwheels over this one. In today’s pass-happy NFL, traditional inside linebackers are becoming more and more obsolete. Twenty years ago a linebacker like Michigan State’s Taiwan Jones probably would have been an early-round draft pick because of his physical presence and ability to stop the run, this year he went undrafted. That’s because in this passing era, linebackers have to be good in pass coverage or they become role players and often aren’t on the field when the game is on the line.

Admittedly, I haven’t watched a ton of Wilson on tape, but in the games I did watch I didn’t come away thinking that he was a guy I would want dropping into coverage very often. That means that he becomes more of a two-down base defense run-stopper. Could you have got that a round or two later in the draft? Maybe.

Still, the guy had the most combined tackles of any player in the SEC the past two seasons and any pick that gives hope that Josh Mauga won’t have to be a starter on the Chiefs defense is all right with me.

Pick Grade: B

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