Tag: Kelechi Osemele

Chiefs’ Kelechi Osemele wants to cap off his NFL career with another Super Bowl win

Osemele, a Super Bowl XLVII champion, also wants to run it back.

The Kansas Cty Chiefs’ new offensive lineman, Kelechi Osemele, had a perfect start to his NFL career.

As a rookie with the Baltimore Ravens in 2013, Osemele worked his way into the starting lineup, went to the playoffs and won a Super Bowl title. Since then, Osemele has only made the playoffs twice. He went once more with the Ravens in 2014 and then in his first season with the Oakland Raiders in 2016 as a wild-card team. After being released from the New York Jets three games into the 2019 season, Osemele will look to cap off his NFL career helping Kansas City win back-to-back Super Bowl titles.

“I was pretty excited,” Osemele said of learning he would sign with the Chiefs. “I was fired up, I mean the first thing I thought of was playing with Mahomes, and I actually accidentally leaked his phone number because I did an Instagram whatever, I did a video, I had his number out there, so I had to take it down real quick. But I was so excited I didn’t even think about it. Yeah, I was pretty hype and my agent called me and instantly the first thing I thought about was this was a really good team. We got a chance to win the championship, I haven’t won one in eight seasons since my rookie year, so I thought immediately, ‘Should be a beautiful way to kind of cap off a long NFL career.’ So those are all the thoughts going through my head.”

The new offensive lineman is not only a previous Super Bowl champion but also a two-time pro-bowler with Oakland. He was also ranked on NFL Network’s top 100 players list in 2017, coming in at No. 95 among his peers.

Osemele is expected to compete right away for one of the starting guard positions for Kansas City with vacancies on both the left and right sides. If Osemele is able to come in and make an impact right away, this could go down as another great under-the-radar signing by Brett Veach.

It never hurts to have a veteran offensive lineman with Super Bowl aspirations. Osemele should fit in just fine as the Chiefs work to run it back in 2020.

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Chiefs new OG Kelechi Osemele shares first impressions of Patrick Mahomes

Osemele hasn’t been practicing with the Chiefs long and he’s already come away impressed with Mahomes.

Kelechi Osemele has officially been a member of the Kansas City Chiefs for less than a week.

Osemele is still getting his footing in a new system, adjusting to life in the Chiefs’ offense. One adjustment that he’ll have to make is learning to play with star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. When Osemele was asked to give his initial impression of Mahomes during Tuesday’s training camp press conferences, it left him smiling from ear-to-ear.

“It has been crazy, man,” Osemele said. “It has been crazy seeing him at practice, just like casually throwing the ball 70 yards, just like flicking it. That’s been crazy to see and his speed as well, on option plays and stuff like that. Also his intelligence, all the different cadences that he rattles through and checking audibles. For a guy that young to have command like that, his confidence is pretty impressive for how young he is. That’s been pretty cool to see firsthand, up close.”

It has been awe-inspiring for Osemele to see Mahomes’ cannon-arm, speed and command of the offense in person. To this point, a lot of it was only things that he’d seen or heard about Mahomes as an opponent. Now, as a teammate, he’s getting a different vantage point.

“I’ve had a little bit of experience with guys that are mobile,” Osemele said. “When I was in Baltimore, my backup quarterback, I had a pretty athletic guy back there. I had a little bit of experience with Sam (Darnold). He’s faster than people think and he’ll scramble around a little bit as well. Obviously, Derek (Carr) is a guy who is pretty athletic and likes to move around and get outside of the pocket and make plays. I’ve had a few quarterbacks that scramble around and do that.”

Osemele feels comfortable working with a quarterback that plays the sort of backyard football that Mahomes does. In fact, he’s excited to have a quarterback that plays that way because it allows the type of aggressive play that he’s grown accustomed to.

“It makes it fun because you get to react,” Osemele continued. “You’re blocking your guy and you kind of see his eyes light up and he drops back so you get to be the aggressor, which I kind of like to do in pass pro. It actually makes it a little bit more fun and exciting. You’re not just sitting back and setting, anything can happen at any moment. To me that makes the game more fun, more exciting. It’s going to be fun to be back there with a playmaker like that, knowing that the play can get extended and he can get outside of the pocket. I can pick up an extra blocker or cut somebody, hit somebody trying to jump, put his hands in the air or something like that. I’m excited about it.”

From the sound of it, Osemele is a perfect match for the type of playmaker Kansas City has at the quarterback position.

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Andy Reid has coached new Chiefs OG Kelechi Osemele once before

Chiefs offensive line coach Andy Heck has coached Osemele too.

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and offensive line coach Andy Heck both have some familiarity with the new OG Kelechi Osemele.

Back in 2017, the Chiefs’ coaching staff were selected to coach the AFC Team at the Pro Bowl. It was the fifth time that Reid had coached the Pro Bowl during his career. He’d have a number of his players join him too, including Alex Smith, Tyreek Hill, and Travis Kelce.

That same season, Osemele, was selected to his first career Pro Bowl. He played for the Oakland Raiders, so he was among the players that the Kansas City coaching staff had an opportunity to work with. The AFC team won the game 20-17, with Osemele protecting Smith during his touchdown pass.

On Tuesday, Reid spoke with the media about Osemele and what he brings to the table for the Chiefs’ offensive line.

“I sure like him,” Reid said. “We had him in the Pro Bowl one year — I liked him there as a guy. I’m glad he’s with us. It builds depth for us and competition. As you know that generates good offensive line play or any position play when you have that kind of competition.”

As for the position that Osemele might play in Kansas City, Reid wouldn’t speculate. He knows that Heck plans to cross-train him at a number of different positions.

“So, [Chiefs offensive line coach] Andy Heck works all those guys in,” Reid said. “He keeps a rotation going and they’re all kind of interchangeable there, the way that Andy does it.”

Fans might scoff at the importance of the Pro Bowl, but the Chiefs’ coaching staff clearly took the opportunity to get to know some players around the league. Years down the line that knowledge gained has the potential to pay off as they reinforce the depth along the offensive line.

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Jets’ starting offensive line will have 100% turnover in 2020

With Brian Winters bound for Buffalo, the New York Jets starting offensive line will be completely turned over from the season before.

By releasing Brian Winters on Sunday, the Jets committed to their starting lineup having a 100 percent turnover in 2020.

In 2019, New York’s Week 1 starting offensive line consisted of Kelvin Beachum and Kelechi Osemele on the left side, Ryan Kalil in the middle, and Winters and Brandon Shell filling out the right side.

Behind an offensive line that had little chemistry, the Jets offense sputtered. In Adam Gase’s first season as head coach, New York’s offensive unit ranked 31st in points per game, 32nd in yards per game and 32nd in yards per play.

The Jets averaged just 0.7 rushing yards before contact per attempt, which was dead last in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. Also, New York allowed pressure in 2.5 seconds or less on 27.5 percent of its dropbacks, which was the second-highest in the league.

This was a large part of why Sam Darnold had little to no time to make plays happen. Jets quarterbacks were sacked 52 times in 2019, which was the fourth-highest mark in the league.

Joe Douglas made it his pet project this offseason to rebuild the Jets offensive line. He spent all offseason plugging holes in the trenches to ensure that Darnold and the offense can experience heightened success in 2020 and beyond.

The Jets showed no interest in bringing back members of last year’s starting lineup. Beachum and Shell signed one-year pacts with the Cardinals and Seahawks, respectively. Osemele, who played just three games with Gang Green before he was released due to an injury dispute, signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs. Kalil is likely to choose retirement again after the Jets talked him out of it last year and got poor results.

Douglas’ first order of business was signing swing tackle George Fant to a three-year, $30 million contract. Right now, Fant is penciled in as the opening day starter at right tackle. Staying on the right side, Greg Van Roten signed a three-year, $10.5 million deal and will slide in at right guard in Winters’ absence.

Shaping things up in the middle, Douglas signed Connor McGovern to a three-year, $27 million deal. He will be New York’s starter at center. Alex Lewis, who did an admirable job filling in for Osemele, is now assured a starting spot at left guard with Winters gone. As for left tackle, it’s now stationed by Mekhi Becton, New York’s first-round pick out of Lousiville.

While the Jets offensive line will yet again need to work on its chemistry, a roster turnover was necessary considering how the offense plateaued behind such a lackluster unit in 2019.

Mitchell Schwartz confident in Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive line depth

Schwartz thinks that the Kansas City Chiefs can withstand some losses along the offensive line.

The biggest question for the Kansas City Chiefs entering training camp is who will earn the vacant jobs at left and right guard. The team will be without former starters Stefen Wisniewski and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. Wisniewski left in free agency to join the Pittsburgh Steelers and Duvernay-Tardif has opted out for the 2020 season.

As things start to gear up for training camp, right tackle Mitchell Schwartz is feeling very confident in the group of players that Brett Veach has brought in. Whether it’s the rookies or the free agents, Schwartz knows that they’ll all be ready for whatever is thrown their way.

“In terms of new guys, we have guys who have been here and a couple of new guys,” Schwartz said. “That’s something that Coach [Andy] Heck has been extremely good with in terms of moving people around and making sure that throughout training camp and the practice time, he’s cross-training as many people as possible so that when you inevitably do have guys get hurt or something happens, you’re not playing next to someone that you’ve never played with before. Even if it’s drill-to-drill, it doesn’t really matter where you line up, you just kind of get a feel for who is next to you. We’ve got a lot of good players. I think our offensive line is going to be awesome this year. It’s nice to get back into the normal swing of things.” 

While Schwartz says the offensive line won’t really get a feel for things until they get into pads, he’s not worried. They’ll be getting just as many padded practices as they normally would. That means there will be no disadvantages as he gets used to someone new working at right guard. Schwartz does seem to have a preference toward lining up next to one of the veteran players on the team.

“Honestly, with the older guys, I think that the longer they’ve played, the easier it is to mesh them together,” Schwartz said. “Obviously, K.O. [Kelechi Osemele] has had an awesome career and [Mike] Remmers has too. Those are guys who understand how to play with people and next to people. That’s something that I’m not too worried about. [Martinas] Rankin played great last year. I was really excited to see him keep progressing. It was a bummer, my injury kind of made him get hurt as well because he had to move to right tackle. I hope to see him healthy. I don’t know what exactly his status is going to be, but I know that he played really well last year. I’m excited to keep seeing that growth. We’ve seen offensive lineman get injured every year. It could be one, it could be five. They’ve always had really good depth here, and that’s what’s allowed us to keep having success.” 

Left tackle Eric Fisher seemed to have a preference toward playing next to a veteran player too, so that’s certainly something to watch as training camp progresses. But as Schwartz explained, the depth on the offensive line is what will make this group successful. Offensive line coach Andy Heck will likely have guys playing at a number of different spots during camp, not only to find out their best position but so they’re prepared in the event of an injury.

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What Chiefs are getting in new OG Kelechi Osemele in 4 plays

Four plays that describe the type of player the Kansas City Chiefs are getting with Kelechi Osemele.

The Kansas City Chiefs added a new guard into the fold, agreeing to terms with free-agent OG Kelechi Osemele on Saturday evening. To the naked eye, the proximity to Laurent Duvernay-Tardif’s opt-out decision suggests that Osemele might be an option at right guard. However, the eight-year veteran has practically played left guard for the entirety of his career. No matter where he plays, the Chiefs are getting a veteran offensive lineman — who when healthy — is quite effective.

Here’s a look at four plays that show what exactly the Chiefs are getting in their newest player:

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

A player who is always looking for work

It didn’t take long for me to find a standout play from Osemele from the 2019 season. I started with his first preseason game for the New York Jets and three plays into it he’d already impressed me. Osemele is an enforcer in pass protection. He doesn’t just sit back and wait for the play to come to him. Instead, he’s always looking for ways that he can impact the play, even if that means going beyond his initial assignment within the framework of the play.

Here Osemele peels off of his assignment and delivers a finishing blow to New York Giants defensive end Lorenzo Carter, who is engaged with the left tackle. This isn’t a one-time occurrence for Osemele either, look back at 2016 when the Chiefs played in Oakland. You’ll find a near-identical play against Chiefs ROLB Tamba Hali where Osemele disengages his blocker and flattens Hali. This is exactly the type of effort that you want to see from a guy tasked with protecting Patrick Mahomes when he drops back to throw.

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Ex-Jets OL Kelechi Osemele signs with Chiefs

Jamal Adams wasn’t the only NFL player once unhappy with the Jets to find a new home on Saturday.

Jamal Adams wasn’t the only NFL player once unhappy with the Jets to find a new home on Saturday.

OL Kelechi Osemele, who played for New York in 2019, signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The contract is worth up to $2 million.

Traded to the Jets from the Raiders last offseason, Osemele played just three games for Gang Green before succumbing to a shoulder injury. That injury created a major dispute between player and team, though. Osemele, after getting multiple opinions to back him up, said he had a torn labrum. The Jets, however, fined him for missing practices. Osemele eventually got surgery without the team’s blessing, which then led to his release.

A two-time Pro Bowler, Osemele now has a chance with the reigning Super Bowl champs. The Chiefs were in need of a guard after Laurent Duvernay-Tardif opted out of the 2020 season.

Report: Chiefs agree to terms with free-agent OG Kelechi Osemele

The Kansas City Chiefs have found their replacement for RG Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.

The Kansas City Chiefs are set to sign a new offensive guard.

According to Yahoo Sports’ Terez Paylor, the Chiefs have agreed to a one-year deal with free-agent guard Kelechi Osemele.

Developing…

Report: Jets replace head athletic trainer

On Tuesday, the Jets replaced longtime head athletic trainer John Mellody, who had been with the team since 1996.

The Jets have replaced John Mellody as the team’s head athletic trainer, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini.

In the meantime, the Jets have promoted Mellody’s longtime assistant Dave Zuffelato to the head trainer position, per Cimini. Mellody, a fixture in the Jets organization under eight different head coaches, will stay on as a consultant. Mellody originally joined the Jets organization in 1996 as an assistant. After a decade with the team, he was promoted as the head athletic trainer in 2006.

According to Bleacher Report’s Connor Rogers, there had been some tension building up between Mellody and Adam Gase. In 2019, the Jets led the NFL with a whopping 21 players placed on injured reserve. Quincy Enunwa suffered his second neck injury in three seasons and C.J. Mosley was rushed back from a groin injury, which cost him 14 games. The organization also had two injury grievances filed against it by Kelechi Osemele and Luke Falk.

New York will now turn to Zuffelato, who has been with the team since 2006, to help change its misfortunes with injuries.

Nick Foles’ contract isn’t as bad as we thought

The Nick Foles transaction was made official Tuesday, and now details of his restructured deal have been released, and it’s not that bad.

When Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace traded for Nick Foles last month, some Bears fans were infuriated because of his contract, noting that it was one of the worst contracts in the NFL.

After the Bears traded for Foles, it was reported that the team would restructure his contract. Which would explain the compensation of a fourth-round pick given to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for Foles.

The Foles trade was made official Tuesday, and his contract details have been revealed. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Foles will earn $8 million per year over the next three years.

Foles will still make $24 million in guarantees, but it will all be spread out over the next three years. As reported by Rapoport, Foles can earn up to $6 million in incentives per year.

That $9 million in salary cap space is outstanding after the Bears only had about $1.5 million before Foles’ restructured deal. With that $9 million in cap space, Pace can make a couple of moves heading into the NFL Draft. I’d like to see Pace go out and sign safety Tony Jefferson and offensive guard Kelechi Osemele.

The Bears could free up more than $9 million in cap space if they were to restructure a couple of deals and by extending receiver Allen Robinson, which will hopefully happen soon.

With the Foles contract situated, the team looks to be in good shape heading into the 2020 season, and for Foles, there is plenty of motivation for him.

If the Bears end up getting solid quarterback play out of Foles, assuming he wins the starting job, then his cap hit would certainly be worth it.

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