The opening night of the 2023 NFL Draft had to be a dream come true for Felix Anudike-Uzomah. Not only was he drafted in the first round, but he was picked by his hometown team, the Kansas City Chiefs. Anudike-Uzomah was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and attended Lee's Summit High School and then Kansas State University. The Chiefs needed defensive end help, so it felt like a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, after three seasons, it has been more of a nightmare than a dream come true.
As Anudike-Uzomah prepares for the fourth and final year of his rookie contract (because it is clear the Chiefs will not pick up his fifth-year option), not only is his roster spot not secure, but he's become a complete afterthought for most fans. FAU is now one of only three edge players currently under contract for 2026 after the release of Mike Danna. Despite that, nobody is even discussing him as a likely role player next year. The Chiefs have George Karlaftis and second-year man Ashton Gillotte as options for serious playing time, and after that the depth chart is black hole. Adding a starting-caliber edge player with some pass-rush upside is definitely viewed as one of KC's top priorities this offseason.
After three quiet seasons and a year-ending IR stint, Felix Anudike-Uzomah enters a pivotal contract year.
At this point, it feels like the best-case scenario is that Anudike-Uzomah has a good offseason and makes the Chiefs feel like he's worth a roster spot—and that is if he's fully healthy after going on season-ending injured reserve last August with a hamstring injury. Then again, when a team puts you on IR with a hamstring in the preseason, it kind of sends the message that they weren't that interested in bringing you back later in the season.
That's not to say that Anudike-Uzomah's hamstring injury might not have been severe enough to warrant missing the entire season, but you can bet that if someone like Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones, or even George Karlaftis had a similar injury in August, the Chiefs would have done whatever they could to leave the door open for a possible return. The fact that they put him on IR and closed the door on his season immediately is not an encouraging sign for the importance they place on his being on the active roster.
That is in large part because Anudike-Uzomah's first two seasons in the NFL were incredibly uneventful. Through two full seasons, he totaled just 24 solo tackles, 3 sacks, and 14 QB hits while playing about 25% of defensive snaps. For comparison, during those same two seasons (2023 and 2024), now former Chief Mike Danna had 52 solo tackles, 10 sacks, and 21 QB hits while playing about 65% of the snaps, and Danna is viewed as much more of a run-stopper than a pass rusher.
The fact that Anudike-Uzomah couldn't even match the pass-rush production of KC's run-stop specialist edge player, while also not being viewed as a great run defender, definitely creates a bit of a "so what exactly would you say that you do here?" type of situation for FAU. Perhaps he would have had his best season in KC last year if he didn't get hurt, but the Chiefs' quick use of IR didn't exactly make it look like he was a key part of their plan at the position.
So as the Chiefs enter their offseason and look to add another starting-caliber defensive end to the roster, it will be interesting to see if Felix Anudike-Uzomah is even given a real shot to earn a spot in the rotation or if the Chiefs have already given up hope and he will just be a camp body looking to show enough in preseason games for another team to take a flier on a former first-round draft pick. Hopefully, FAU is fully healthy and can make one last run at making the dream that seemed so incredible on draft night finally come true.