Chiefs defensive tackle hopes newfound consistency yields different results

For once, Neil Farrell Jr. has some consistency going for him. Now the question is whether or not it will matter.

Farrell, a defensive tackle with the Kansas City Chiefs, has largely leaned on excuses to overlook his. lack of a breakout performance so far in the National Football League. That's not to say that he personally has offered them up; rather, it's just been understood that Farrell's first two years in the league were interrupted by learning new teams, new systems, new verbiage, new expectations.

Now, however, Farrell is back with the Chiefs for a second season. The coaching staff around him has remained the same. Arrowhead is familiar. His teammates were even brought back almost in full with the re-signings of everyone from Chris Jones to Mike Pennel to Derrick Nnadi to Turk Wharton. As we said, Farrell's got some consistency working for him.

For the first time in his NFL career, Farrell's got some consistency coming into a pro season.

But will it matter for Farrell and the Chiefs heading into his third professional season? The Chiefs certainly hope so. The talent pool at defensive tackle isn't overly deep and given that he has two seasons left at a very cheap pay rate, Farrell's ability to earn more playing time would be a very good thing for all parties involved.

Unfortunately, Farrell has yet to make a significant impact in the NFL since being drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Raiders. Farrell entered the draft class out of LSU with a reputation as a powerful, run-stuffing defensive tackle ff, a player with the potential to anchor the middle of a defensive line. However, his transition to the professional level has been slower than expected.

Farrell's rookie season in Vegas was marked by limited playing time and inconsistency. He appeared in just nine games and recorded only 12 tackles and no sacks. The lack of playing time was partly due to the depth of the Raiders' defensive front and Farrell’s struggles in adapting to the speed and complexity of the NFL game. Farrell’s performance in 2022 didn’t match the flashes of potential he showed in college, where he put up 23 career tackles for loss.

The Chiefs landed Farrell in a preseason trade with their rivals in 2023, which tipped the Raiders' hand that perhaps Farrell could have been cut and was certainly on the outs. It also gave the Chiefs a chance to look at a young player with three more seasons of cost-controlled talent. Even then, however, Farrell was largely given a free pass knowing he had to meet everyone on a new team in short order while learning Steve Spagnuolo's demands on the fly.

Even Farrell's first season with the Raiders could be termed "limited" with only 9 games played and scant playing time, then it's hard to tell what to call his three-game tenure with the Chiefs last year in which he had a single tackle to his credit for the entire season. He played in 41 total snaps on the year in K.C.—not the sort of diminishing numbers you want going from years one to two in the NFL.

So what should Chiefs fans expect to see from Farrell this season? It's ominous but maybe Farrell knows a thing or two about the road in front of him.

It's not as if the Chiefs need Farrell to be Chris Jones 2.0. If he can step up as a consistent run defender on obvious rushing downs, that would even be enough—a player whose youth would usher in a preferred scenario over re-signing aging vets every spring.