Last season, the Chiefs won their first Super Bowl in 50 years, and had the NFL’s third-best offense per Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted metrics. Not surprisingly, Kansas City ranked second in passing behind only the Cowboys, but they trailed a bit in rushing efficiency, ranking 16th.
Head coach Andy Reid and general manager Brett Veach conspired to improve that ranking this offseason with a couple of moves: They took LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire with the last pick in the first round. That worked out pretty well in the season opener, a 34-20 win over the Texans, as Edwards-Helaire took advantage of Houston’s decision to play two-high safeties to keep Patrick Mahomes in check. The rookie gained 138 yards and scored a 27-yard touchdown on 25 carries, making himself the star of the game and giving opposing defensive coordinators one more thing to worry about when facing Reid’s already formidable offense.
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The other move that could prove to pay great dividends is the July signing of guard Kelechi Osemele, a move made necessary when Laurent Duvernay-Tardif opted out for the 2020 season. Osemele was released by the Jets last October following a dispute with the team regarding a shoulder injury, but he was healthy in the 2020 free agency frame, and the Chiefs were able to pick him up on a one-year, $2 million contract.
For all the things Veach has done to keep his roster core together this offseason, the Osemele signing might be the thing that puts him over the top for Executive of the Year when the season is done. Against the Texans, per Pro Football Focus, the veteran had the third-most positively graded run blocks he’s ever had in a single game in his NFL career.
Whether you agree with PFF’s grades or not, the tape shows the truth. Osemele was a battering ram, giving the Chiefs the ability to throw haymakers at the Texans when the Texans were expecting an aerial attack, and providing a new level of physicality. Defensive tackle Carlos Watkins would most assuredly agree.
What made the Osemele signing interesting, though, is that the Chiefs were a predominantly zone running team last season — per Sports Info Solutions, they incorporated zone blocking schemes on 66% of their run plays in 2019, as opposed to 27% gap runs. With Osemele on the field in 2019, the Jets increased their percentage of gap runs from 33% to 37%, and reduced their zone run rate from 62% to 55%. This makes sense in that, while Osemele can certainly make himself useful in zone stuff (you don’t really have just gap or zone blockers in the NFL), he’s a dominant, physical blocker in a defined space.
So, when the Chiefs gave Osemele a deal, my first thought was, “Well, how the heck is THAT going to work? Is this a case where a team signs a good player without a functional way in which to maximize his abilities?”
I should have known. And the rest of the NFL is about to discover that the Chiefs now have even more ways in which to turn your defense out.