The Kansas City Chiefs once had one of the more prolific pass rushes in the entire NFL and that helped them win back-to-back Super Bowls in 2022 and 2023. Since then, however, the pass rush has been a completely different story for the once fearsome Chiefs.
The Chiefs tried to add help to the pass rushing room in 2024, acquiring Josh Uche in a trade with the New England Patriots. Uche, a former second-round pick, was a year and a half removed from an 11.5-sack campaign that he put up in 2022 so the gamble seemed worth it for Kansas City.
What followed was a confusing situation where Uche was a healthy scratch more often than not. When his Chiefs tenure was over, he had appeared in just six games and had 10 tackles. Not exactly the production K.C. was envisioning when they traded for him, but Uche also wasn't given many chances to show what he was capable of.
Why didn't the Chiefs give Josh Uche more of a chance to prove himself?
Uche signed with the Eagles last offseason and played in 12 games for them. He joined the Miami Dolphins this offseason and Dante Walker of Phin Phanatic thinks he could be a sneaky addition to the Fins' lineup. He spoke about how Uche compared to former Dolphins pass-rushers Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips.
"The 27-year-old joins a barren EDGE rusher room without a single established player. Despite a career that includes an 11.5-sack season in 2023, Uche was available to the Dolphins after a few down years," Walker wrote. "Right behind [Phillips] at 27th in the league with a 16.3% pressure rate was Uche. At a nearly $28.6 million difference in yearly compensation, some might say the Dolphins got an absolute steal in the latter. Consider me among them. Yes, Phillips nearly tripled Uche's 130 rushes with his 388. It doesn't change the fact that Uche was disruptive when he got chances on the field."
Uche's time in Kansas City was certainly confusing. They had a guy who is clearly an under-the-radar option when it comes to getting after the quarterback yet he never saw the field. Perhaps Andy Reid and Steve Spagnuolo saw everything they needed to from him during practice and didn't feel the need to put him on the field on game days. Considering their lack of production elsewhere though, why not give him a try and see what he could do?
Now Uche is with his hometown Dolphins and hoping to recapture that 2022 magic he had in New England. If he finds it, Chiefs fans are going to continue shaking their heads and wondering what could have been.
Add us as a preferred source on Google