Is there room for Ben Niemann on the Kansas City Chiefs roster?

Rookie UDFA Ben Niemann has been turning heads. It’s not often you find a potential star in an undrafted free agent, but we’ve seen it happen before.

It’s not often you find a potential star in an undrafted free agent, but we’ve seen it happen before—most notably in Emmitt Thomas for the Kansas City Chiefs. It looks like the Chiefs may have found another diamond in the rough.

Inside linebacker Ben Niemann was one of the most interesting undrafted free agents of 2018, and the Iowa product has continued to prove himself both in training camp and the Chiefs’ first two preseason games.

In the preseason loss against the Houston Texans, Niemann led the team with 5 tackles. That’s pretty impressive if you ask me, especially considering the defensive struggle that was apparent in week 1 of the preseason. His best performance didn’t come there, though.

In the second preseason game of the 2018-19 season, Niemann tallied 4 tackles in the win against the Falcons. What’s more interesting is that it wasn’t his most impressive feat of the crisp Friday night. Watch this.

Niemann picked Kurt Benkert off which led to a 28-14 lead over the Falcons mid-4th quarter. The ball really came straight to him, following a high pass by Benkert that was almost not catchable for the intended receiver. Niemann trotted his way to the end zone for a 26 yard pick-six. That still begs the question: does his offseason performance earn him a spot on the final 53?

The Chiefs’ inside linebackers are a young, hungry group. I don’t see an outcome where Terrance Smith, primarily a special teamer for the Chiefs, makes the team. My honest opinion is that Niemann has solidified his spot on a roster for this team, and can only continue to prove his worth on the field over the next two games. The main competition he has right now is Smith and Ukeme Eligwe, but after what we’ve seen, is there even much of a competition?

Niemann undoubtedly has huge shoes to fill wearing #56, which, as any Chiefs fan should know, had been the number of the team’s all-time leading tackler Derrick Johnson for the past 13 years. There’s a huge possibility that Niemann doesn’t tarnish the legacy of the number, but instead only adds to its greatness.

It’s hard not to believe in Niemann when Dave Toub himself says, “He’s someone I can trust. He’s beyond his years…nothing is going to hold him back.”

Lest you forget, Dave Toub is now the team’s assistant head coach, in addition to being the special teams coordinator.. Any sort of positive comment or constructive criticism from Toub would be considered huge, but to give the sort of praise he gave on the undrafted rookie is phenomenal. Chiefs fans should rejoice, because it looks like the Chiefs truly have found another diamond in the rough. It may even take the linebacker time to develop, but Toub is an experienced coach and I trust his take.

Here’s my take: the Chiefs will cut Terrance Smith on cutdown day, leading to Ben Niemann becoming the #3 ILB behind Reggie Ragland and Anthony Hitchens. After what we’ve seen and heard thus far, that isn’t a serious leap or bold prediction, but a real possibility. Hopefully Niemann can continue to shine over the course of the next two preseason games and etch his name into the final 53.