Then maybe today is the day to get your effin eyes checked because his get off here is faster than George and as fast as the rest of the guys on the line......

It’d be nice to see him keep flashing a bit to build on for next year.

Maybe have a big postseason game or moment, and use that for momentum.

Dee Ford turned it on late at the end of year 2 then registered double digit sacks in year 3.

Hopefully, we don’t lineup offsides though.

He's only 22

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Good news is he had 2 tackles, bad news is thats 2 more than Chris Jones had

kinda wished we drafted Joey Porter instead, ngl

FAU = post-debate Biden. You just forget he even exists.

Trey Hendrickson had..

Two sacks his rookie year

Zero sacks his second year

Four and a half sacks his third year

Then took off.

Melvin Ingram had six sacks combined in his first three seasons. Then took off.

Haasan Reddick had seven and a half sacks total in his first three years. Then he took off.

I always bring this up because many pass rushers have taken years to perfect their craft.

Felix didn't play in the second half of last season so right now he's probably got one season's worth of games played under his belt. We just have to hope a light switches on for him in the years to come just like it did for the guys I listed above.

Older than Malik Nabers.

Just want to point out that Reddick was basically a full time starter, at inside linebacker.

And if Malik Nabers were drafted at the end of the 1st round and played DE, that would mean something

Best game of his career?

More FAU over Danna

home town kid coming out of his shell and putting his stamp on a playoff game

i like where this lifetime story is headed

I think so. Even broke out his sack celebration from his K-State days. Maybe he’ll start putting it together.

Yeah.

The DL rotations were bizarre as hell today but they need to be shifting snaps away from Danna to FAU.

In the defensive backfield too.

100%. Loved seeing him throw Tunsil on that inside move. Definitely getting stronger and still super young.

He's made several tackle for loss plays in the playoffs. Now he's got another couple good ones on his resume.

Oh no he's not a 10 sack guy yet at a position where it takes sometimes several years to develop into a good player.

I still don't think you can call him a bust. He has a chance to be a productive player still.

"He's a bust." Bullshit!!

Dee Ford became a double digit sack guy in year 3. Always had his limitations but could be a really productive contributor.

Would be thrilled to see a similar trajectory from FAU at this point.

He looked pretty good!

Hell yeah, young buck!

I think this guy is a late bloomer!

some guys just need a couple of years to learn and develop

But, also, he’s only 22 years old.

Still only 22. Only for a few more days, but still.

older players will be getting drafted in a few months!

Bo Nix is old enough to be his dad

Bring back Charles O, draft a DT in round 1, and all is right with the DL IMO

**** you hog farmer! Jk but seriously way too many people wrote this kid off early.

As I've stated many times several productive edge guys took a few years to get going. Trey Hendrickson and Melvin Ingram being two of them. I think FAU has the potential to really step up in the years to come now.

Let's not say Voldemort's name out loud

Yeah - I'm gonna hope injuries played a part in that.

There was WAY too much Conner and Johnson in that defensive backfield.

Just seemed like the same tinkering bullshit we've done all season. This game didn't feel like a playoff game in any way.

This game felt like a major step backwards in every way.

What does the kicker who shall not be named have to do with this?

Yeah. The defensive backfield play, the lack of targets to Hollywood AND DHop, the inability to get the ball out quickly and on time. Felt like the Week 3 Chiefs just played rather than the Week 17 Chiefs.

If Johnson and Conner are in the backfield, that means they're not ****ing up coverage downfield.

Spags is a chess grandmaster

'Defensive backfield' /= 'backfield'

Derp. Didn't read properly.

Still, noticed that Spags sent Nazi and Conner on blitzes multiple times today. Would prefer they blitz than the alternative.

Love it for the kid. Grew up a Chiefs fan, sat in the stands during some historic games, and now he has a sack in a playoff game on his resume. Great story.

Yep! Been waiting for him to throw this down since we drafted him. It’s a badass celebration and it’s the first time he’s done it as a pro.

Plus Mahomes shouted him out in the post game interview.

Maybe he’s about to start letting his nuts hang. If so… the league is ****ed with George, Chris and Felix.

I was ready to write this kid off but he's been fairly solid in his role the past few weeks. Might be some hope yet that he'll be something good.

Yeah, sometimes it takes a while. I'm struggling to remember his name, but I remember a pass rusher that the cheating Donks gave up on a few years ago and let him walk. He signed with the Bucs and led the league in sacks the next year. Lol. Loved seeing that happen to the Donks.

Sounds like Shaquil Barrett

It’s the Tamba effect.

Great game today. Hopefully this payoff experience and success is something he use as a confidence builder and springboard for next season.

Yea, rust is a thing... Once we got up 8 after a couple of good drives, Andy went conservative again, which is Ok, save some for next week. I thought the defense got their legs the last quarter and a half and looked good. I think we will be ready next week.

It was nice to see us use worthy effectively.

So Felix played around 30% of the snaps last year. He had about 40 more snaps overall than Omenihu.

2.5 sacks
10 pressures (Karlaftis had 30 on same site)
7 QB hits
6 TFL
3 hurries
4 QB knockdowns

That’s pretty damn good for getting only 30% of the snaps. I don’t get it. Danna played 581 snaps to Felix’s 344.

It seemed like Felix was a liability in run defense his first year then got better this year? This is such a bizarre pick to me bc it makes me wonder if Spags wasn’t the biggest fan of his and Veach took him anyway based upon potential? We saw this with Josh Uche and Cam Thomas.

I really think this kid needs more time on the field. To me he’s shown he can be a 5 or so sack solid role player at worst. He got better this year but barely played.

Interesting data. Do you know what his rate numbers are (e.g. pressure rate, sack rate, etc?).

Would be curious to see the comparison to Omenihu, Danna, & George if they all had the same snap counts.

Can we see stats per snap? Not trying to make you do a bunch of algebra, but genuinely curious how the rates all compare.

If he keeps improving, he’ll be a fine player.

Maybe not what you want from a first rounder, but Rice filled that void nicely.

He’s kind of the anti-CEH. Everyone loved CEH after his first few games, but then started to fall off (the injuries didn’t help). Now, everyone hates him.

I feel that FAU can steadily improve and be a player that people come to like over time.

Khalen Saunders was nothing until his last season with us.

We got FAU when he was 21. Some guys need time.

He can be a fine player. I’ll take it

I have confidence that we'll get effective play out of him next year. Probably not first round expectation but solid contribution.

Kinda wonder if the holdup with Omenihu is they’ve told him Felix is going to start this year or at least have a much bigger role.

There’s only so many snaps to go around and if you’re trying to get paid like Omenihu is, a 1-yr deal where you won’t start isn’t a great fit.

Just a theory for now. I’d understand and be happy if they think Felix is ready. Draft a DE to replace Charles if so.

Thats before or after Omenihu came back?

I'm holding out hope for Felix but Omenihu is a real NFL player and Felix is just a whatever that we cope with because of his age I guess. Maybe his first step gets faster as he gets older type of cope? IDK

When he came to Kansas State, he was a scrawny kid at 220.

Some guys just take some time. As long as they are progressing in the right direction, it will work out one way or another. I knew he would be a liability on the run game early on, so hopefully he spent time in the S&C to get up to a good weight without sacrificing his 10 second burst.

I do hope we don't draft any more projects that need 3 or 4 years to git gud in the 1st and 2nd rounds.

He's not a good fit in this system. When he was drafted he was touted as the pass rusher with the widest variety of moves. In Spags defense so often he just asks edge rushers to contain the running QB. Not to mention he's simply not an explosive player or versatile like Mike Danna.

Conclusion: I think he'd do better in system that better suits utilizes his skill set but he's shown little to justify his first round selection. It's sad.

Translation: Another wasted 1st rd pick. Trade value cant be great.

That sack where he cornered perfectly and took down the QB in a one on one with the left tackle gave me hope

He'll be fine, I'm still cautiously optimistic, but I also really don't think Spags cares for, or has any interest in, utilising his actual skillset. As opposed to just turning him into another "versatile" jack-of-all-trades type.

We've missed on a couple of guys, it's true. And Clyde might've been a hit, but that injury sure seemed to sap whatever juice he had.

but in general, you have to accept that sure-fire, no doubt, day one starter, plus players are gone by pick #31 or #32.

It's just the way it is. What you're left with is guys with potential, or guys that have flaws you're hoping you can coach out.

I don't agree that he's not a good fit.

He was simply way further away than I realized (and probably many others) and rather than play the slice, the Chiefs just kinda buried him.

I would've thought they'd have used him as a package player to try to get some value out of him while trying to mold him into someone that was stronger at contact and could be both a quicker edge rusher AND someone who was powerful at the point of attack.

They just didn't. It's similar to some of what they've done with the young WRs. Rather than pigeonhole them in roles early on, they kinda push them down the depth chart and try to continue with the 'know everyone's job' thing until they're nearly fully formed.

Theonly thing that changes that plan appears to be need. If they just run out of bodies, they'll put the rookies out there before they're done cookin'.

I think we'll see FAU's role here continue to expand next year and it may be a Saunders sort of situation where we really don't get the best version of him until he's a FA. It'll suck, but it's better than a bust.

He's not a bust. He's not a poor fit. He just wasn't turnkey.

I remember Terez talking about training camp when Dorsey was here and they picked KeiVarae Russell. They loved him and thought he’d be an immediate role player, then he wasn’t that guy at camp. He was overly cocky to the point of pissing off the veterans repeatedly and he sucked. He just couldn’t play like they thought, so they cut him before camp was over.

It happens. I think the same thing happened with Kamal Hadden just last year. Got beat out by Christian Roland-Wallace.

I think this is a trend with Spags. He’s not gonna put you on the field if you can’t stop the run. We saw that with Uche. He just doesn’t like the smaller rushers. I think Felix’s lack of development there was why they brought back Danna. Felix was pretty bad on run defense as a rookie but I think he’s gotten quite a bit better. I thought he looked much better there this year.

Still think he has potential to be a 5-7 sack guy I this defense, but I hope it won’t limit them from taking a DE like Nic Scourton in the first rd.

These are just snapshots, yes, but he's had two or three notable tackles for loss (on run plays or QB-designed run plays) in the playoffs the past two years.

Seems to me like if that's what we're waiting on him to show, he's certainly capable of doing what they need him to do. At the very least, he's shown flashes of doing that job.

The guy flashed given the opportunity. I think its time to give him more run.

What's this obsession with super young players if it takes them forever to peak? It's not like he's some athletic freak either, so his ceiling is still fairly low. Also, Khalen Saunders was taken at the end of the 3rd rd where you'd expect for a player to maybe take a few years to develop, not really a great comparison to a 1st rd pick.

Of course sure-fire, no doubt, day one starters are hard to come by at that point in the draft. Xavier Worthy wasn't that but he showed a clear progression throughout the season and showed the promise that he is ready for an even larger role in year 2 and beyond.

FAU simply didn't - that's fine, busts happen. We don't have to offer excuses though. It wasn't a great pick, particularly in light of the players taken immediately after him.

Obsession? WTF? LMAO

It's just reality, dude. Some players don't get it instantly. Obviously the Chiefs would have preferred that Felix was a better player earlier in his career.

But when you get a guy like that, some peoples' mindset around here is to just cut him instantly if he can't live up to his 1st round billing in the first two seasons.

McDuffie, Bolton and Karlaftis were 21 when we drafted them. Worthy was 20 the day we drafted him.

Worked well previously. No GM bats a thousand

But it doesn't work every single time so OKchiefs is going to bitch about the very sound logic of betting on young prospects with high upside.

That dude is ****ing insufferable. He's tried to tone it down a bit as to not seem completely unreasonable and ungrateful, but it just doesn't work.

You'd cream your jeans if we still had Eric Fisher, a guy who perhaps looked even worse and more lost than FAU in his first two seasons.

Bet you were ready to call him a bust after year 2.

Is obsession the right word? Maybe not. We know Veach puts a high value on younger players, my question is why? Because they have a higher ceiling potentially, similar to taking a high school bat over a college bat? The problem is the MLB player's service time doesn't start ticking until they reach the majors, whereas the NFL player has a 4-5 year window of affordable pay. So if you have someone like FAU who takes 3-4 years to maybe hopefully develop you're maybe getting some value at the end of the contract. That's fine with a mid rd pick, but with a 1st rd pick? Again, busts happen all the time, particularly at the end of the 1st rd so not going to hate too much on the pick aside from not agreeing with their philosophy with this pick.

We don't actually have first round picks. We pick 30 or later, and are well into the second round talent pool.

So why emphasize younger players?

A few reasons.

1) they're still physically maturing. They're theoretically not maxed out yet. You may well get dramatic improvement.

2) they'll still be on the young side when it's time for the second deal. This is good news if you're keeping them - and good news if you want to trade them as they're a better get for the other team.

3) maybe you want to go that second deal, but not the third. Guess what? Yep, they're still under 30 and possibly attractive trade bait. Or maybe you want to STILL keep them! You know, because they still have some good football left.

I do think we sometimes overestimate the physical development left for some of these guys.

Not all of them (FAU, for example, out of K-State), but when we draft a guy like Worthy out of UT and say "Man, if we can get him in an NFL strength program..." I think we're ignoring just how INSANE the strength programs for these major schools are.

Shit, the weight programs in major high schools now are ridiculous.

As for the 2nd deal, I just don't think age matters a ton. If you're looking at a guy you're thinking about signing who's 24 vs 26, very few of those guys are playing past 3-4 years on that deal anyway. You're still getting most of them through their prime.

Meanwhile if you can get a player who's far more ready to play because he's 23 when you drafted him instead of 21 and you MAXIMIZE that rookie deal, there's a pretty significant benefit to that.

I think it's worth considering, yes. But I think there are times we put far too much into it. We overthink it. There are benefits/drawbacks either way. As such, I could see using it to break a tie (except for maybe on the OL where that 3rd contract is in play given how long those guys can play) but I wouldn't really give it a ton more weight than that. I certainly wouldn't have it in my 'decision lens'.

It's just another factor to me and not a particularly significant one at that.

All things being equal, sure. But they're not.

Skewing towards younger players is betting on upside.

If you're talking 26 vs. 24, I agree.

21 vs. 23? Eh - there are a lot more indicators of 'upside' than age in that equation.

When we're talking about guys getting drafted, we're talking about the top 1% of athletes to walk the earth. There's some self-selection going on there; not a lot of guys who are making themselves draft quality players without having finished up puberty yet.

I mean it happens, but its rare.

These guys are a hell of a lot closer to 'finished' physically at 21 than we let on, IMO. Most of them were shaving at 12 - they're different breeds of cat.

There aren't any 245 pound DE's kicking ass in the NFL 3-4 rushbackers maybe. In college, they can get by being a faster, better athlete than the guy across from them who will usually not be heading to the NFL. But that's not going to fly on Sundays with the best of the best.

No, I reject the notion that these guys are finished products at 21 or 22. There's just far too much evidence to the contrary.

I don't think it's the age, though.

It's the quality of competition or just raw ability.

I don't think starting from 21 means your ceiling is any higher than starting from 23 at this level. And ultimately I think if it takes you longer to get there, you've given back whatever you may have gained by burning off utility in your rookie deal.

The idea that 21 is clearly BETTER than 23 is where I leave the argument. It isn't -- it's just different. And if 23 means you get production through 4 years of a 5 year rookie deal where 21 means you get it for 2 or 3 of those years...well I think you've lost value in the exchange.

Hard Karlaftis not had odd schooling that had him coming out younger, I just don't think his development curve would've changed a ton. And if it did and we got the 23 year old version on him in year 1 of his rookie deal vs. the 21 year old version, doesn't that have plenty of value of its own?

I just disagree. Human beings are still in fact growing at 21. They're not physically maxed yet, the most part. As for everything else, I already outlined why I see value in taking the younger guys. Just disagree is all.