The Kansas City Chiefs will be forced to play a man down at inside linebacker and on special teams with the loss of Terrance Smith.
The Kansas City Chiefs have been informed that coverage linebacker and special teams ace Terrance Smith will miss the rest of the team’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Chiefs are hosting the Bengals on Sunday Night Football in a primetime showdown that has been all offense, especially for Kansas City, thus far. Smith is a key linebacker for the Chiefs on obvious passing downs but he’s even more valuable as a part of Dave Toub’s special teams units and has earned rave reviews for his intelligence from Andy Reid as well.
Smith now leaves the Chiefs with a pair of untested performers in the middle if Smith’s absence gives way to either Dorian O’Daniel or Ben Niemann. O’Daniel was the team’s third round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft at No. 100 overall, a prospect out of Clemson who was brought in as a safety/linebacker hybrid capable of specializing on the sorts of coverage that Smith has been playing. In fact, it’s actually a bit of a letdown that O’Daniel hasn’t stood out enough to supplant Smith before now.
As for Niemann, he was a preseason surprise and fan favorite as an undrafted free agent out of Iowa, beating out some surprising veterans to make the active roster. However, Niemann has yet to play in a regular season game for the Chiefs and being game ready is a different level than a team wanting to hide a key prospect from the practice squad.
Smith will likely get an MRI and further details will be coming on his long-term prognosis as the week goes on.