The Chiefs traded a 2022 sixth-round pick to the Steelers for edge-rusher Melvin Ingram on Tuesday, and while it’s not a high-radar signing (most guys on one-year deals getting shipped for late-round picks generally aren’t), this move could help a Chiefs defense that has been hemorrhaging all over the place. Ingram, the Chargers’ first-round pick out of South Carolina in 2012, has been an effective player when healthy over the last few seasons, and he was so for Pittsburgh’s defense when he was on the field — from Week 1 through Week 6, he totaled 18 pressures, one sack, and six stops on 246 snaps. He’s also been a plus run defender, which the Chiefs could desperately use. The Steelers, who have T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward, and the ascending Alex Highsmith on their current defensive line, have no such pressing needs.
But that’s not the main reason the Ingram move can help the Chiefs — the main reason is that it allowed Steve Spagnuolo to move Chris Jones back inside where he belongs. The decision was made before the season to have Jones play more end, and while it was an interesting idea in theory, it has not worked in practice. At his best, Jones is a top-five interior disruptor, and he has not been that this season from any gap. Pro Football Focus has Jones this season with one snap in the A-gap, 47 in the B-gap, 65 over the tackles, and 169 at the edge position. And in 283 snaps this season, Jones has just three sacks, 21 hurries, and five stops. Not earth-shatteringly bad numbers, but when you consider that in 2020, playing mostly inside, Jones had 7.5 sacks, 70 total pressures, and 24 stops, the decline is pretty severe.
So, moving Jones back inside is one reason the Ingram deal could be a force multiplier. Another reason is that the Chiefs aren’t getting much pressure outside at all. Outside of Jones’ 21 pressures, Frank Clark has 17, Michael Danna has 14, and Alex Okafor has 11. That’s it, and when your secondary is as vulnerable as Kansas City’s is this season, the absence of consistent pressure on the quarterback is going to kill your pass defense.
Moreover, losing Jones as an interior run-stopper has blown Kansas City’s run defense apart. This season, per Sports Info Solutions, only the Texans (12) and the Jets (11) have allowed more rushing touchdowns than the Chiefs have from the 0-gap (head over center) to the 4-gap (head over the tackle). Kansas City has given up 902 rushing yards and 382 yards after contact on 189 carries, and that 4.8 yards per carry average is tied with the Cardinals and Texans for the league’s second-worst. Only the Chargers, with 5.4 rushing yards per carry allowed to the interior, have been worse this season. The belief was that the acquisition of former Seahawks defensive tackle Jarran Reed would give Jones more flexibility, but Reed has not stopped the run effectively this season. Nor has Derek Nnadi, Khalen Saunders, or Tershawn Wharton.
Sometimes, one personnel move can make a team much better than the sum of its parts with the ripple effect it gives to other players. The Melvin Ingram trade could be just that for a defense in desperate need of stability at any position at all.