Linebackers – Anthony Hitchens, Dorian O’Daniel
Similarly to the cornerback position, the linebacker group has been discussed amongst Chiefs’ fans and pundits often this offseason. Last season, this group played hesitantly, which didn’t help the team’s obvious struggles against the run. They were also pretty terrible when asked to drop back and cover an opposing player.
Honestly, the only bright spots in this group were the pass rush, with both reasons for that now gone from the team (Ford and Houston), and the potential occasionally flashed by Dorian O’Daniel. This wasn’t enough to comfort fans after last year’s performance, and hasn’t been enough to inspire confidence heading into the 2019 season.
Add to this a scheme change, with multiple players seemingly ill-suited for their new position groups and an overall lack of depth at certain spots, and understandably fans are concerned. Reggie Ragland, in particular, was allegedly shipped out of Buffalo for the sole reason that he didn’t fit into a 4-3 scheme. The Chiefs are now shifting to that very scheme, where the team claims he will play the Mike linebacker spot.
With this scheme change came the need for a Sam linebacker, a linebacker with size that has the ability to drop back in coverage occasionally. To fill this hole, the Chiefs signed Damien Wilson who will presumably have a chance to start at this position. Unfortunately, Wilson was mostly a situational player for the Dallas Cowboys and did not grade out very highly. According to Pro Football Focus, he graded “Average” to “Below Average” in all major categories. It’s tough to think he’s the long term answer for the Chiefs.
Still, there are reasons to be optimistic about this position group. I think there are two players to watch who will benefit significantly from the scheme change. The first is Anthony Hitchens. Hitchens had, in a word, a dreadful 2018 campaign. According to Pro Football Focus, he graded “Below Average” to “Poor” in all categories. He was aggressive at times and made plays, but those times were few and far between.
The fortunate thing for Hitchens and Chiefs’ fans is that Hitchens was markedly better during his time in the 4-3 defense for the Dallas Cowboys. In 2017, excluding pass rush, Hitchens graded “Above Average” to “Good” in every other category. It’s likely this performance was what led the Chiefs to sign him to such a lucrative contract. If he can return to this level of play in 2019, this linebacker unit will be significantly improved.
The second player who will benefit from the scheme change is Dorian O’Daniel. O’Daniel is a bit of a tweener. What I mean by this is, at 6’1″ and 220 pounds, he’s not the prototypical size of a linebacker but he’s also heavier than the traditional strong safety. Even though all of his major experience is at linebacker, he struggled to see the field last year because while he has great athleticism, he has difficulty shedding blockers and was a liability.
A general rule of thumb is that 4-3 linebackers are smaller than 3-4 linebackers, and this plays right into O’Daniel’s hands. While he still is a bit small for the position, the presence of playmakers on the defensive line should presumably free him up to use his sideline to sideline speed to make plays. Whether O’Daniel will start or not is still up in the air, but if he does I think he has a chance to make an immediate impact.
My prediction is that this unit will actually be competitive immediately. I think that the work the front office has done on the defensive line will set this unit up for significant success in 2018. My best guess is that we will see Dorian O’Daniel at Will, Anthony Hitchens at Mike, and Damien Wilson at Sam.
One other note, similarly to cornerback, it’s possible the Chiefs bring in another player to add to this unit. If this happens, I think this unit could go from competitive to good very quickly.