Kansas City Chiefs meet with prospects at East-West Shrine Bowl
By Matt Conner
Austin Edwards, Edge, Ferris State
Other teams interested: Carolina Panthers, Washington Redskins
The Kansas City Chiefs reached into the third round last draft for the “Aaron Donald of the FCS” and came away with a risk worth taking in defensive lineman Khalen Saunders. The Western Illinois product proved ready for the NFL and looked the part of a future impact player in limited stints, especially with Chris Jones on the shelf at various points.
Fast forward one year and the Chiefs might be inclined to grab another impressive defensive lineman from the football factory known as Ferris State. Austin Edwards, a 6’5, 280 lb. lineman, has been hogging up all the hardware after another stellar season in which he’s proven his ability to dominate any and all competition at this level, leaving questions about just how good he can be.
Not only was he a Division II first-team All-American but he was also given the Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year Award. Even more impressive, he was the first defensive player to win the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Player of the Year Award since 2005, showing just how dominant he was in D2 to earn so much attention away from the offensive players who tend to dominate year-end awards.
In 2019, Edwards had 64 tackles, including 17.5 of them for a loss, to go with 10.5 sacks. He was the defensive cornerstone for a team that went 27-2 in the last two seasons.
The Chiefs are certainly loaded at defensive end in 2020, but things could fade quickly at that point as players continue to leave in free agency and it would likely be a full year for Edwards before the Chiefs would expect any return on their investment. If he can answer questions about level of competition, it might be worth another D2 investment to keep the line stacked with potential and future production.