KC Chiefs rookie report: Leo Chenal shines in victory over Seahawks
Leo Chenal, Linebacker (Round 3, Pick 103)
Perhaps the most underrated player on the Kansas City Chiefs lately has been rookie linebacker Leo Chenal. He’s been good on special teams and incredible at defending the run. Against Seattle, it was his best performance of the season in my opinion. He was great at stopping the run and held his own in coverage.
Since Week 9, Leo Chenal has had a Top 4 PFF Defensive Grade among all linebackers, plus the highest-graded defensive player from his draft class (with at least 80 defensive snaps) ($). He’s been the classic example of rookies and young players needing time to grow and develop. It was a rough first half of the year, but he’s been an objectively great player over the past seven weeks. Against teams that like to run the ball, Chenal will be an important player.
Isiah Pacheco, Running Back (Round 7, Pick 251)
Outside of a 32-yard reception, which included 35 yards after the catch, it was a relatively quiet game for Isiah Pacheco. He totaled 58 rushing yards on 14 attempts, plus the 32-yard reception for the day. His long catch was huge as he recorded 28.6% of his season’s receiving yardage on that one play and developing his play in the passing game will be huge for the Chiefs going forward.
Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon are the guys for Kansas City moving forward; although Clyde Edwards-Helaire could return soon, he may be stuck as the third running back on the depth chart. Pacheco is the early down back and McKinnon is the passing downs back. CEH is clearly the odd man out and the rookie’s play this season is largely the reason why.
George Karlaftis, Defensive End (Round 1, Pick 30)
Christmas Eve was one of the most productive games of the season rushing the passer for George Karlaftis as he batted a pass, recorded a sack in the victory, plus an additional quarterback hurry. Despite the nice day pass rushing, he had a very rough day defending the run. In 15 run defense snaps, he had a defensive stop, but two missed tackles.
Overall, it was a Jekyll and Hyde game for George Karlaftis. As a whole, I would personally classify it as a somewhat negative game for the rookie as he was extremely bad defending the run, but solid in the passing game. I think most Chiefs fans will take a bad day against the run in exchange for a great day rushing the passer. He’s been coming around strong as of late as he’s recorded four sacks, 18 pressures, and four batted passes in 161 pass rush snaps over the past seven games. He’s a liability against the run but is getting better as an edge rusher, and that is a deal that the Chiefs will take every day of the week, especially on Sunday.