Chiefs 2021 NFL Draft prospects: Defensive End fits

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WINSTON SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 13: Carlos Basham Jr. #9 of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons sacks Sam Howell #7 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during their game at BB&T Field on September 13, 2019 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Day 1 prospect: Carlos Basham Jr., EDGE, Wake Forest

Coming into the 2020 season, Carlos Basham Jr. was receiving plenty of hype after his breakout season in 2019. He ranked 2nd on Bruce Feldman’s college football freak’s list with his 4.21-second short shuttle, a 36 plus vertical jump, and squatting over 700 pounds. As a redshirt junior in 2019, he was First-Team All ACC with 11 sacks and 18 tackles for a loss.

That play has continued as Basham has piled up 28 tackles, 4.5 for a loss, and five sacks through six games in 2020. The Wake Forest product displays a variety of pass rush moves, but his best is his inside rip counter. He understands how to set offensive tackles up to win and has experience with several alignments. At times, Wake Forest will even move him inside, trusting him from the 3-technique to get pressure up the middle.

Steve Spagnuolo likes his defensive ends to be big, long, powerful, and good against the run. Standing at 6’5″ and 285 pounds, Basham has the size, power and excels in run defense. Highly intelligent when it comes to run schemes, he consistently knows how to attack to disrupt the offense. Setting an outside edge to force running backs inside and holding his gap is consistent when watching the Wake Forest product.

Basham has flashed good bend coming around the edge but don’t mistake him for the next Von Miller. He’s not your quick twitch, freakish bend kind of rusher. Some development on putting together a pass rush plan pre-snap consistently are still needed. Timing on his pass rush counters is another area for improvement as most of his sacks come from his relentless motor.

Teams have consistently run away from Frank Clark, having plenty of success in 2020. Finding someone who can hold down that side of the line in the run game and wreak some havoc from the other side would be massive for the Chiefs.

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