Kansas City Chiefs promote Gehrig Dieter to take Emmanuel Ogbah’s roster spot

The Kansas City Chiefs have officially replaced pass rusher Emmanuel Ogbah on the roster with wide receiver Gehrig Dieter.

The Kansas City Chiefs have finally gotten around to ending Emmanuel Ogbah’s season by placing the defensive end on the team’s injured reserve after he suffered a torn pectoral muscle in Week 10 against the Tennessee Titans. In his place, the team has promoted wide receiver Gehrig Dieter from the team’s practice squad to take his place for Week 11 and potentially beyond.

The addition of Dieter is an interesting one given that the team is looking about as healthy as they have all season on offense. Tyreek Hill is looking like he never missed several weeks with a clavicle injury. Travis Kelce is pacing the team as the most reliable pass catcher. Sammy Watkins is healthy and options like Mecole Hardman aren’t getting enough targets as it is. The loss of Blake Bell to injury reduces one tight end so perhaps Dieter rounds things out there, as well as his ability to help on special teams units.

The Chiefs are a bit thinner than they’d like to be at defensive end at this point although it’s nothing to be overly concerned about. The loss of Ogbah paired with Alex Okafor’s inability to play due to injury on Monday night against the Los Angeles Chargers keeps the Chiefs rotation from being at full strength. The loss of Breeland Speaks on the year during the preseason means the Chiefs are now down three of their planned rotation head into the year.

Still, the Chiefs are versatile enough across the defensive front to be able to slide Chris Jones outside to stand opposite Frank Clark if need be. Tanoh Kpassagnon is also in place to provide meaningful reps. Beyond those three, however, it’s anyone’s guess what the Chiefs might do if injuries arise in the Monday Night Football matchup.

Dieter has been with the Chiefs since he joined them as an undrafted free agent in 2017. He played in four games last season but he has yet to make an appearance in a game in 2019.