Pro Football Focus is not very high on the Kansas City Chiefs defensive line heading into the 2022 NFL season.
PFF recently ranked every defensive line unit in the NFL, while also assigning them to six different tiers. Not only did the Chiefs’ defensive line group place No. 25 among all 32 NFL teams, but they also landed in the fifth tier which is titled, “Relying on younger players to make a leap.”
Here is what PFF’s Ben Linsey had to say about what ails the Kansas City defensive line in 2022:
“Chris Jones has been a force for the Chiefs since he was drafted in 2016. He ranks second at the position in PFF’s WAR metric over the last six seasons, trailing only Aaron Donald among players who have played the vast majority of their snaps on the interior.
However, Jones hasn’t gotten much help from his teammates on the edge in recent years. Kansas City’s edge defenders collectively rank 28th in PFF grade since 2020. That puts a lot of pressure on rookie George Karlaftis to hit the ground running, particularly after letting Melvin Ingram III leave for Miami in free agency.”
Without Chris Jones in the mix, the defensive line group for the Chiefs could easily rank worse here. That’s a scary thought given the fact that injury can strike at any moment in this league. As for the help at the edge rusher position, the analytics pass the eye test. Sans Melvin Ingram, this team will be relying heavily on young players, but also on a resurgence from Frank Clark. Banking on that seems like a big risk for Kansas City.
Fans have been clamoring for improvements along the defensive line all offseason long. While the first-round investment in George Karlaftis is a good start, there is little doubt that this is a spot where the Chiefs need to get better, especially on the top-end of their roster.
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