Kansas City Chiefs: Top ten players that could break out in 2017

4. Dee Ford, OLB

I expect I’ll get a few different critiques of this selection. Some will say that Dee Ford is a bust and he’s never going to break out. Others will say that he already broke out when he had ten sacks in the first nine games of the season last year. While Ford certainly did have his best season in 2016 he fell short of proving himself to be an elite NFL pass rusher and I still believe that is what his ceiling is.

Injuries and his inability to switch sides after Justin Houston came back derailed what looked like it might be his break out party in 2016. While you can hold that against him if you like, you simply can’t deny that over the first nine games of last season Ford was one of the best pass rushers in the entire NFL. With Tamba Hali continuing to get older Ford will have every opportunity to prove that he is the rightful starter across from Houston.

There are a lot of ifs here, but IF Ford can stay healthy, and IF he can produce opposite Houston like he did when he was filling in for him, then Ford may be one of the biggest break out defenders not only for the Chiefs but in the entire NFL. A 15 sack season is certainly not unrealistic for the player we saw early last season. That would be HUGE for the Chiefs.