You Already Know the Chiefs' Defensive Ends, but Is There Room For Growth? — KC Chiefs 2024 Positional Preview

The Kansas City Chiefs are running it back at defensive end, but could any of KC's familiar EDGE players take another leap in 2024?

Nov 20, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) is sacked by Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Charles Omenihu (90) and defensive end George Karlaftis (56) during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas City Chiefs have a crew of familiar faces along their defensive line while preparing to make a run at the NFL's first-ever three-peat. Does a group of returning pass-rushers still give KC's DEs a chance to impress in 2024?

Joshua Brisco: It's amazing that, much like the defensive tackle group, the Chiefs are bringing back their entire 2023 defensive end rotation with no new faces. That's not an exaggeration — the Chiefs' Ourlads depth chart has seven defensive ends listed, all returning from the '23 squad. (The DT group added a pair of college UDFAs — the ends are currently identical to last season.) Stability is typically a good thing, but this much roster carry-over is an outlier in the modern NFL. Without many real unknowns in the EDGE group, questions for 2024 become about who can take another step and who can contribute early on.
Re-signing Mike Danna on a reasonable multi-year deal made total sense, and he's set to start opposite George Karlaftis while Charles Omenihu returns from a torn ACL. When Omenihu is back on the field, I like the Karlaftis-Omenihu-Danna trio as a solid rotation, at least knowing they're bookending Chris Jones in the middle. Ultimately, the Chiefs' best pass-rush front includes all three, alongside Jones, with either Danna or Omenihu rushing from the interior. Before we get down the depth chart, is KC's clear-cut top-three good enough, especially if they're without Omenihu early in the year?

Jordan Foote: If there's another level for Karlaftis to reach, the Chiefs can (and probably will) get by while they wait for Omenihu. Some believe Karlaftis is KC's most promising building block, which is a lofty bar to set. With that said, notching double-digit sacks in your sophomore campaign is no easy feat. Although a large chunk of Karlaftis's sacks will always be "effort" plays, he refined his technique in 2023 and might truly be a 10-12 sack player annually during his prime. Did I mention that he's still just 23 years old? A duo of him and the newly re-signed Danna is formidable yet barebones; Omenihu's recovery remains the key. Assuming the Chiefs get what folks have grown to expect from Karlaftis and Danna, a healthy Omenihu makes the pass rush very legitimate alongside Jones.
The non-Omenihu question mark resides with depth. Is Malik Herring the best backup the Chiefs have right now? Felix Anudike-Uzomah did everything but justify his draft slot in year No. 1, then the team re-signed someone he could've been in line to replace. If the former first-round pick had the status removed, many would lump him in with BJ Thompson.

Brisco: That's tough but fair. The Chiefs will give Anudike-Uzomah every chance to prove them right in 2024, but he may have to do it early. Barring a miraculous recovery from Omenihu, the Chiefs will have snaps for someone to fill in the first quarter of the year. Anudike-Uzomah must at least show some value as a pass-rush specialist, even if he can't produce consistently as an early-down EDGE defender. Passing-down pressure is valuable in the NFL, but the former first-rounder has shown issues with his burst off the line of scrimmage to this point in his career. This is a huge training camp for Anudike-Uzomah, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the field later into preseason games than most second-year former first-rounders. Last year, he got the benefit of essentially redshirting. In 2024, he needs to show growth.
To answer your original question: In the playoffs last year, according to Pro Football Reference, Herring played 50 defensive playoff snaps. Anduke-Uzomah played seven, all coming in the Super Bowl after the team lost Omenihu in the AFC Championship Game. At the end of the year, Herring was clearly above Anudike-Uzomah on the depth chart when it counted.

Foote: You hit the nail on the head about this being a critical training camp and preseason stretch for Anudike-Uzomah. There simply aren't many Chiefs who have more to gain than him over the next month-plus, and it seems like Omenihu will take a while into the regular season before being ready to play. For reference, the Kansas State product logged a combined 98 snaps in Weeks 1-5 of last season. He was in double digits for each game and even had 25 reps twice.
Elsewhere, I suppose the only other notable player is Truman Jones? The aforementioned Thompson is a developmental play who should be further along this summer, but he's also in a unique situation after a medical scare earlier in the offseason program. Jones, a former Ivy League standout at Harvard and a sound run defender, was a Shrine Bowl favorite and is at least organizational depth.

Brisco: Thompson is truly lucky to be alive and we have no idea what his medical prognosis is, so it's extremely difficult (and perhaps unnecessary) to project what his 2024 could look like. He was also on a redshirt-esque plan in his rookie season, with the Chiefs hoping to develop him into a more refined product. As a fifth-round pick, even before the emergency, Thompson was likely to have the length of his rookie contract to evolve as a player without being forced into heavy work. If Thompson understandably isn't ready to go by training camp, Jones is the (...only?) candidate to push for the last defensive end spot. With Anudike-Uzomah projecting as a late-down pass-rusher right now, at least one of Herring and Jones — more reliable run defenders — should get a spot.

Kansas City Chiefs 2024 positional previews

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