Top 10 Kansas City Chiefs draft busts of all time
10. Dee Ford
The Chiefs selected defensive lineman Dee Ford out of Auburn with the 23rd pick overall in the 2014 NFL Draft. I’ll be frank, if you look at the picks after Dee Ford going all the way through the second round, there aren’t very many players that stick out as having become major contributors on the NFL level. With that said, I remember where I was when the Chiefs drafted Ford.
I think I remember it well because it was such a head scratcher. Ford was a defensive end out of Auburn, who presumably would be playing outside linebacker at his size. The question was, the Chiefs had both Tamba Hali and Justin Houston, so when would Ford ever see snaps. It’s not that Ford couldn’t develop, but you usually expect a first-round pick to be as close to an instant starter as you can find in the draft. Regardless, the Chiefs saw something in Ford and pulled the trigger.
To his credit, Ford was a fine college player while at Auburn. Specifically, in his final year at Auburn in 2013 he had 14.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks. He was First-Team All-SEC and even recorded two sacks against Florida State in the BCS National Championship game.
Adding to his stellar senior season, Ford posted impressive numbers at his Auburn Pro Day. Most notably, at 6’2″ and 252 pounds Ford posted a blazing forty-yard dash time of 4.52 seconds. On top of this, he cranked out 29 reps on the bench press. These numbers backed up the sentiment that Ford could be a physical presence and had incredible speed off the edge.
Following the draft, some Chiefs’ pundits compared his burst to the likes of Derrick Thomas. From an athletic perspective, he seemed to fit the mold of a traditional 3-4 outside linebacker. The Chiefs were likely looking to replace Tamba Hali down the road, and Dee Ford was their replacement.
Unfortunately, for the team and for Ford, he took a significant amount of time to develop. In his first year with the team, he posted seven tackles, one-and-a-half sacks, and one tackle for loss. These were not exactly the numbers fans were hoping for from their first-round pick.
It took awhile for things to get better. It wasn’t until Ford’s third year with the team that he started to showcase some dynamic ability. In his third year he had 38 total tackles, 10 sacks, and 12 tackles for loss. However, back injuries derailed his progress and he missed most of the following year before ultimately having extremely invasive back surgery.
Following this successful back surgery, he returned in 2018 to set career highs in tackles, sacks, and tackles for loss. Finally, in his fifth year with the team he began to showcase the potential the Chiefs saw when they drafted him. However, with 2019’s switch from a 3-4 defensive scheme to a 4-3 defensive scheme, there was no longer a need for Ford and he was traded to the San Francisco 49ers.
Based on these factors, here is a look at how Ford scored according to my criteria:
Ford checks in at number ten on this list of draft busts for a couple reasons. He’s not a traditional bust, in that he provided some valuable play in the final years of his contract. His biggest positive was his great year in 2018 that landed him his first Pro Bowl. But the expectations for a first-round pick are higher than being productive in the final year of their rookie deal.
I’ll point out that Ford received 10 points for a second contract. While he did not actually play on a second contract for the team, this accounts for the fact that Ford was signed to the franchise tag. This ended up allowing the Chiefs to obtain a second round pick for Ford in their trade with the 49ers.
CRITERIA SCORE: 62