It’s rare that you see a player vs. player matchup in the NFL that features two players who were traded for each other. While that’s not exactly the case this Sunday, it will be the closest thing to it when K.C. Chiefs offensive tackle Orlando Brown, Jr. lines up across Ravens defensive end Odafe Oweh.
Rewind the tape. Entering the 2021 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs roster had a handful of needs. Offensive tackle, cornerback, and edge rusher were the most glaring, but just days before the draft, the Chiefs made a (somewhat) surprising transaction when they traded away their first-round pick for a proven, veteran offensive tackle.
Let’s look at the main components of the trade, and talk about what to expect as the players will most certainly butt heads on Sunday night.
Orlando Brown
In the deal, the Chiefs acquired Brown, the former Ravens right tackle. After making his desires clear that he wanted to be a left tackle, Brown was ultimately dealt because the Ravens had a pretty good left tackle in place with Ronnie Stanley (who will ironically be sitting out this Sunday night with an injury).
One of the largest players in the league at a towering 6’8″ and 363 pounds, Brown immediately slotted in as the team’s starting left tackle and blindside protector for quarterback Patrick Mahomes. While Brown’s first game in Chiefs red was less than stellar – according to Pro Football Focus, he graded out at 55.9 – he spent the game blocking one of the league’s elite talents in Myles Garrett and only allowed one sack. It was not an embarrassing game by any stretch of the imagination for Brown, and as the season progresses, we expect to see Brown in the conversation as a Pro Bowl tackle in this, his contract year.=
Odafe Oweh
The Ravens gathered the 31st overall pick, among other picks, in the deal. That gave the Ravens two first-round picks, and the team spent those picks on wide receiver Roshod Bateman and Oweh, a defensive end.
To add to the irony, Oweh was a talking point for much of Chiefs Kingdom during draft season. Many thought he was a potential fit for the Chiefs at pick 31, but what we didn’t know was that Chris Jones was going to transform from All Pro defensive tackle into two-sack-debut defensive end in 2021.
Oweh was a bright spot for the Ravens during the team’s disappointing overtime loss on Monday Night Football in Week 1. The rookie notched four pressures (good enough to lead all NFL rookies) and sacked Derek Carr once in the game. Even more impressive, Oweh did all that while being used in rotation with several other edge rushers. His promising debut will almost certainly lead to him getting a larger chunk of snaps moving forward.