Kansas City Chiefs Rookie Review 2016: KeiVarae Russell

Before the Chiefs draft an entire new draft class to analyze, let’s take a look back at 2016. Our next Rookie Review is cornerback KeiVarae Russell.

After the selection of Chris Jones at the top of the second round, the Chiefs were ready to use their own second round pick when John Dorsey once again received an offer to move down that he liked. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were anxious to fix their kicking game, so they traded up in a surprise move to grab Roberto Aguayo in the second (No. 59 overall). In return, they gave the Chiefs their next two picks in the third and fourth rounds. The Chiefs slid back 15 slots in the process to No. 74, but they added No. 106 in the process.

By the time that No. 74 pick came up, the Chiefs turned in a draft card with KeiVarae Russell’s name on it. The Notre Dame cornerback started for three full seasons and had earned national respect for his play in the secondary. The selection was the first of three defensive backs in the draft class, a sign that Dorsey was wanting to add plenty of speed, youth and competition to the defense and special teams units.

Measurements

5-11, 192 lbs.

Key college stats

Former All-American. 60 tackles, 2 interceptions, 3.5 tackles for loss during final season.

What they said at the time

"“He was a corner at Notre Dame, but a lot of teams have evaluated him as a safety. He played the entire 2015 season with a fracture, and missed the entire 2014 season with an academic issue that would have been a one-game suspension at most other schools.” -Mike Mayock"

One year later

Few general managers have enjoyed the sort of success that John Dorsey has in his first four full seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. From free agent signings like Sean Smith, Jeremy Maclin and Mitchell Schwartz to draft hits like Marcus Peters, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones to waiver claims like Ron Parker and Jaye Howard, Dorsey has proven himself excellent in every facet of his job as a GM.

More from Arrowhead Addict

All of this is important because a look at the case of cornerback KeiVarae Russell tells a different story, an odd selection and release akin to the worst mistakes made by an organization like the Cleveland Browns or San Francisco 49ers (or the Oakland Raiders from 5 years ago). It made no sense when it happened. One year later, it’s still the oddest move (or series of moves) in Dorsey’s file. Simply put, we have no idea what happened to make the Chiefs drop Russell as they did.

Coming into the draft, the Chiefs undoubtedly did their homework on Russell: a promising defensive back with real pro potential at either cornerback or safety with a troubled academic background. Notre Dame faced sanctions due to Russell being one of five students who were caught plagiarizing and cheating academically, and Russell was forced to sit out the entire 2014 college football season (as well as spend that entire academic year away from Notre Dame). Russell would say the right things at times, but other outbursts on social media revealed that he wasn’t entirely owning his situation.

Still the Chiefs selected him, which means all the research they do on a player with questionable character or potential concerns (a la Tyreek Hill) was also done on Russell. After the draft, Russell struggled during spring workouts and again in training camp to understand the playbook and the Chiefs’ terminology, the Chiefs held on to him. Yet one week into the regular season, the Chiefs cut him loose. He was subsequently claimed by the Cincinnati Bengals where he remains to this day.

When asked by reporters, Andy Reid said that it was about doing “what was best for the Chiefs right now.”. “It’s just one of those things that happens,” said Bob Sutton. Except that it doesn’t. The Chiefs had the room to carry Russell as an inactive all season long if they wanted, but instead they released the third round pick just one week into the regular season.

Despite Reid’s assurance that it was a “football decision,” even a year later, it feels off somehow that John Dorsey would spend a year (or more) evaluating a player only to drop him before he could even adjust, learn, grow and develop. Perhaps the feeling after just a few months was that Russell was never going to click. Perhaps the previous issues showed themselves in some other form and Dorsey decided to deal with the situation immediately without embarrassing Russell in the process. Still the smoke here remains interesting, even if we’ve never quite been able to pinpoint the fire.

Summary

Perhaps the biggest mystery (and biggest draft letdown) of John Dorsey’s career.

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