Tanoh Kpassagnon earns high marks for performance and versatility

Tanoh Kpassagnon turned plenty of heads on Saturday night at Arrowhead, including those of his teammate Chris Jones.

For his first two years in the National Football League, Tanoh Kpassagnon only lived up to a small part of his scouting report: the “developmental player” section.

As a pass rushing prospect making the leap from FCS competition at Villanova, Kpassagnon was the second round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017. The immediate response was all about Kpassagnon’s potential because he wasn’t expected to make much of an immediate impact. The athleticism, size, and length were there, but experience and technique were real barriers to entry.

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Fast forward two seasons and it looks like Kpassagnon is coming out of his shell. He’s been turning heads in training camp with the way he’s blossomed under new head coach Steve Spagnuolo, and it was enough to earn him an unexpected start on Saturday night for the Chiefs base defense at end against the Cincinnati Bengals.

It took a few plays, but it wasn’t too long into the game that Kpassagnon was closing in on the passer on a regular basis. He tackled Jeff Driskel for an official sack, but there were a few other moments in which Kpassagnon got in the quarterback’s face (or in his head) enough to alter the play.

After the game, his defensive teammate Chris Jones took notice of his play and explained just why he was more valuable than most people likely realized.

“I gotta sit down and give that guy credit, because the guy actually played on kickoff, kickoff return, field goal block, went out there on defense and played d-end, in nicked played 3-technique, and he did that for three quarters. You know what? You gotta sit back and give him a round of applause for the amount of work he just put in. I respect him.”

Jones went on to say that he thinks Kpassagnon could even do more, including play a little tight end. Jones laughed at that last bit, but it’s clear that Kpassagnon’s unique blend that made him such a high draft pick could allow him to be a force in several facets of the game.

“When you have a player that can do so much for a team, his value goes up. When he can go on kickoff and kickoff return, this guy can play field goal and field goal block, he can play defense. he can be a tight end on offense. He can play anywhere. That’s why he’s so valuable, because he can do a lot of things.”

Kpassagnon won’t be called upon as a starter for this team just yet—at least not if the Chiefs are fully healthy. It’s important to remember that Alex Okafor is dealing with a hip injury and Frank Clark is nursing a sore wrist. Emmanuel Ogbah is also out with an oblique injury.

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That said, Kpassagnon is standing taller than he was even a month ago on a team that came into training camp with a deep defensive front. Here’s hoping he continues to grow and develop into the sort of impact pass rusher the Chiefs envisioned when they selected him at No. 59 overall.

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