KC Chiefs: Reviewing the 2020 rookie class

Turk Wharton – Defensive Tackle

Perhaps the most surprising rookie contribution this season came from undrafted rookie free agent Tershawn ‘Turk’ Wharton out of (even more surprising) Missouri S&T. Wharton signed with Kansas City after going undrafted, but he made the team’s active roster coming out of the preseason and never looked back.

Wharton was active for, and played more than 20% of defensive snaps, in all 19 contests this season for the Chiefs. While he only started in the Week 17 contest when Kansas City rested nearly all of its starters, he was a key contributor all year in the defensive rotation. In fact, third round pick Khalen Saunders, active for 12 games and the entire playoff run as a rookie, was inactive for all but three games in 2020 due to Wharton’s presence after suffering a Week 1 injury.

Statistics for a run stuffing defensive tackle are never going to look all that impressive—and Wharton is no exception here. He finished the season with just 2 sacks, 4 tackles for loss and 5 quarterback hits. What’s more telling is the amount of snaps the rookie played: more than 50% of all defensive snaps in 11 of 19 games, including all three postseason contests.

Wharton is unlikely to take over the starting role occupied by Derrick Nnadi in 2021, but should the Chiefs be unable to sign Nnadi to an extension (this is the last year of his rookie contract), Wharton could be working towards becoming a starter in 2022.