Brendan Daly has a lot of good things to saw about Tershawn Wharton.
The Kansas City Chiefs are getting a lot of production from their rookie class in 2020, but an undrafted free agent might be the most heartening story of all. Tershawn Wharton has been an unearthed gem for the Chiefs along the defensive front ever since Week 1.
As a small-school prospect, Wharton was a good story just for making the Chiefs roster as a rookie free agent. When he was named to the active roster, Wharton fought even greater odds as a prospect from Missouri S&T trying to fulfill his dreams of playing in the National Football League. Yet even those who knew his talent best could not have predicted the sort of instant impact he’s provided for a team that’s already Super Bowl worthy.
Wharton has played 41 percent of the Chiefs total defensive snaps in 2020, but that total has grown in recent weeks given that he played 50 total snaps—or 60 percent—during the team’s most recent win over the Carolina Panthers. That was his third consecutive week at 50 percent or more.
Brendan Daly is Wharton’s positional coach and deserves a lot of credit for having the lineman ready to compete from day one. However, Daly says Wharton hardly handles himself like a player new to the NFL level. Instead, Daly has been impressed by Wharton’s demeanor and work ethic from the outset.
"“He has been impressive, his work ethic and the way he handles the day-to-day operation. You would not know that this guy is a rookie. You would not know that this guy came from a small school, to be quite honest with you, “said Daly.“He has a professional demeanor and a work ethic and a maturity that’s beyond his years. I’ve been pleased with the way he operates both off the field and on the field—from a practice standpoint, a game standpoint, the effort he puts in has been impressive to me.”"
Of course, it’s not just about the intangible for Wharton, who marries that tremendous work ethic and focus with stellar talent. Daly said it took a team-wide effort to find that buried talent, and that credit begins with the scouts and front office personnel. From there, he was provided tape from the East-West Shrine Game to watch Wharton’s hustle and Daly knew the team was onto something from there.
“He went to that game and did some really good things, both in practice and during the game,” said Daly. “He was dynamic in the one-on-one pass rush settings. He was physical in the run drills that they did. You turn on the game tape and his effort in pursuit was fantastic. That kind of sparked interest, if you will.
“He doesn’t meet all the prototype measurables and some of those different things. Coming from a small school, the level of competition when you go to the college game tape, you’ve gotta make some determination as to how that’s going to project to the NFL level when he’s playing against better quality competition. But he’s certainly done a nice job for us, and we’re excited to have him, we’re thankful to have him, and we hope he continues to progress, which he’s showed he’s got the ability to do that.”
Wharton has 20 tackles, 4 pressures, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble so far on the season for the Chiefs.