Chiefs Draft Class of 2014 Must Produce

The 2016 season is in front of the Kansas City Chiefs and with free agency winding down and the draft 12 days away the vision of the coming year is coming into focus. However,  the Chiefs draft class of 2014 must produce for this year’s team to win big.

The Chiefs class of 2014:

1st Round: OLB Dee Ford

2nd Round: QB Alex Smith (trade)

3rd Round: CB Phillip Gaines

4th Round: RB/WR De’Anthony Thomas

5th Round: QB Aaron Murray

6a  Round: OG Zach Fulton

6b  Round: Laurent Duvernay-Tardif

OLB Dee Ford

When John Dorsey and Andy Reid took Dee Ford in the first round two years ago, many fans were disappointed. Afterall, the biggest team needs at that point were offensive line, corner and wide receiver to name a few. Two picks later San Diego Chargers took CB Jason Verrett. 9 picks and 13 picks later Minnesota and Oakland each took their QBs of the future: Teddy Bridgewater and Derek Carr. Only three picks after the Chiefs took Ford, the Panthers took WR Kelvin Benjamin.

While playing backseat driver to the GM and head coach regarding their draft picks might seem like wasted time, it wouldn’t be that way if Ford had begun to show the promise that a 23rd pick in the draft would be expected to show by now.

Dee Ford hasn’t been without positive moments. He nearly single-handedly delivered a victory in 2015 against the Chargers by making several great plays including three sacks and a game saving pass deflection in the end zone as time expired.

That alone should prove enough to show his worth but it served more as an anomaly and not the standard for his contributions to this point in his two year career.

However, that game also serves to show us how much potential he has and how much more we should be able to expect from him. Not that he’s going to produce three sacks per game but his lack of pressure on opposing quarterbacks has been his bugaboo: in all his other games outside of the San Diego game, covering two seasons, Ford has a sum total of 2.5 sacks.

When Tamba Hali begins to fade into the team’s history books… as well as this season as Justin Houston continues to completely heal from knee surgery which may have him out until mid-season or even later… Dee Ford will be increasingly needed to perform in the possessed manner that he showed us he could in the San Diego game.

So, what’s going on with Dee Ford?

Although I was disappointed when the Chiefs first drafted Ford, by watching some of his game tape and ESPN’s Sports Science video, I became quite enamored. Following is the Sports Science video.

ESPN Sports Science claims Ford’s first bag punch was with 500 lbs. of pressure. However, it looks like he barely taps the bag. Yes, Ford has shown off his speed from time to time, but his inexperience has caught him off-sides enough to render his speed useless at times and his apparent inability to “hit”… as in… an Eric Berry kind of hit… is a huge disappointment so far.

Dee Ford can get after the quarterback. I still believe that. However, he doesn’t  seem to have developed very many moves that will get him there consistently. Using a speed rush around the corner will not work every time in the NFL and one of the only times I recall him using an inside move, got him a clean sack. For Ford to become a force for the Chiefs, and create the kind of “fear” and “pre-game preparation” in opponents, Dee Ford must develop a tool-bag of moves he can dip into, especially when a game is on the line and a play has to be made.

Next: Can Alex Smith take another step?