The Kansas City Chiefs acquired Reggie Ragland from the Buffalo Bills earlier this week and the linebacker says he’s ready to put on a show for Chiefs Kingdom.
Fans of the Kansas City Chiefs were clearly excited with the addition of Reggie Ragland earlier this week. It turns out Ragland feels the same way.
After general manager Brett Veach dealt a future draft choice to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for Ragland, Chiefs Kingdom went crazy on social media showing their approval for the deal. Ragland was a favorite of many draftniks heading into the 2016 NFL Draft as a tackling machine coming out of Alabama. The heart of the Crimson Tide’s defense, Ragland was given a first-round grade by most NFL analysts and the Bills finally took Ragland at No. 41 overall in the second round, a nice fit in Rex Ryan’s defense.
Unfortunately for Ragland, Ryan was given the boot and the team’s new regime decided that Ragland wasn’t the best fit for their scheme. It also didn’t help to have Ragland tear his ACL before his rookie season could even begin. The linebacker himself admits he’s still rounding into form with each new game and the chance to earn reps on the field, but Buffalo found Ragland’s replacement in the meantime in the form of Preston Brown. That made the former second-round pick available for the taking, and the Chiefs took advantage.
“I was watching film in the linebacker room with a couple other linebackers on the team and ended up getting a phone call from one of the people up top in the personnel department,” said Ragland on Thursday. They told me to come up and talk to the head coach and GM, and they told me I was getting traded to the Chiefs.”
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Ragland said he was excited for the move, and he should be given that his opportunities with Buffalo were limited. Not only does he move from one of the worst teams in the AFC to one of the best, but he’s going to be given every chance to earn the starting inside linebacker role in the team’s base defense next to Derrick Johnson.
“I was excited because I was getting the opportunity to come to a great organization and a great team. I know we have a good shot of making the playoffs every time we hit the field, so I’m very excited to be here.”
Given that he just arrived in K.C., fans were unable to see Ragland play on Thursday night against the Tennessee Titans. He might also need a bit of time before he’ll earn regular season reps just because the Chiefs are in win-now mode. There’s little time for someone to grow up on the field on Sundays. However, given more reps in practice and time in the playbook, we’re likely to see what Ragland can do soon enough as Bob Sutton feels comfortable putting him in over other players like Ramik Wilson or Kevin Pierre-Louis.
For those who haven’t seen him, Ragland let fans know the Chiefs are getting a “very physical, smart player.”
“My main goal is to get the big guys up front lined up so we can have a good chance of stopping the play every down,” he said. But I’m smart, physical and come out ready to play every game.”
Here’s hoping Ragland proves the risk was worth taking for Brett Veach in the end.