Felix Anudike-Uzomah needs the reps.
On Friday, the Kansas City Chiefs got their third official training camp practice underway, and Anudike-Uzomah was locked in with the starters up front at defensive end. The Chiefs are searching for permanent answers opposite George Karlaftis in the trenches, so FAU's presence with the first-team unit was a point of conversation at St. Joseph.
So far, Chiefs fans are used to seeing the likes of second-round rookie R Mason Thomas (out of Oklahoma) or second-year end Ashton Gillotte out on the outside. That Anudike-Uzomah was even in the equation for those kinds of reps became a talking point because he's been so far out of the loop after missing last season due to injury.
It's easy for Chiefs fans to write off Anudike-Uzomah at this stage given the fact that he's not taken a single snap since the '24 campaign. The Chiefs were chasing a three-peat the last time that anyone saw FAU, and even then, it's not as if he was an important piece up front. By the end of his second season in the NFL, the former first-round pick in 2023 was holding on to rotational reps in an already-lacking pass rush. Basically, the bust label was applying itself.
The Chiefs are giving FAU starter's reps early in training camp. He needs them to get back up to speed if he's going to provide anything in 2026.
Last season, Anudike-Uzomah missed the full year with a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve before the season even began. That pivotal third year was lost and FAU now finds himself coming into a contract season for a team rebounding from a miserable 6-11 campaign. No one employed at Arrowhead is really leaning on him to provide impactful snaps on the outside but that also doesn't mean he's completely out of place.
The truth is that the Chiefs changed some things on the edges, but there's still very much room for Anudike-Uzomah to do his thing. Thomas was drafted as a nice addition, but most of the reinvention along the line has come inside, where Peter Woods was also drafted, and Khyiris Tonga was signed. Meanwhile, Mike Danna was released, and Charles Omenihu left in free agency, leaving plenty of leftover snaps from last season to be picked up somewhere. The Chiefs also recently lost Ethan Downs for the season to a torn ACL.
Like it or not, Anudike-Uzomah still faces a considerable learning curve. After three NFL seasons, he's only played 550 total professional snaps—a half-season load for a starter. He's logged plenty of preseason games and minicamp reps, but nothing can replace the in-game demands that come with being available and that lost third season was crucial.
But the Chiefs are holding onto him coming into his final year under contract. The costs have already been paid. The money is guaranteed. It makes sense for the Chiefs to squeeze for any juice they can at a position where someone needs to step up and claim a bigger role. Even if Anudike-Uzomah goes back to the 20 to 30 percent of snaps that he played in his first two seasons, that's worth giving him some preseason starting reps in order to get him up to speed.
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