Kansas City Chiefs: Dee Ford for real?
By Britt Zank
Fast forward to today and I’m getting an optometrist appointment to make sure my eyes are working. Through just seven games Ford has seven sacks. He had 3.5 last week against a bad Colts offensive line, but that’s what good players do to bad teams.
Ford’s been putting noticeable pressure on quarterbacks all season long. Yes, he still needs work in the run game as his tackle numbers show only 16 all year. For right now, though, that’s not his job. His job right now is to fill in for Houston and put pressure on the quarterback.
Watching film on Ford it’s easy to see the adjustments he has made this year. He has developed a bull rush and inside move to go along with his speed rush. They aren’t just token moves either, you can tell he’s worked hard on them. His hand placement, timing, and footwork shows he put in a lot of work in the offseason.
I’m not a big technical person, I’ll leave that for someone more experienced in that area. All I can say is watch him during the game and you’ll see confidence he hasn’t had since he got drafted.
The performance and confidence he has shown leads me to believe this is not a fluke. I have been critical of Ford since the day he got drafted. I’d told anyone who would listen during the off season that I thought he should get cut. I thought he was a bust on the same level as Ryan Sims. I’m not ready to put Ford in the Chiefs Hall of Fame, but I do feel comfortable in stating he’s a solid starter.
I’m eating my crow, and I admit I was wrong about Dee Ford!