Getty Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson.
The National Football Foundation has announced the 2023 ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame, which has 80 players and nine coaches from the FBS. Among those players are six former members of the Kansas City Chiefs.
The former Chiefs that are on the 2023 ballot and were also on the 2022 ballot are tight end Tony Gonzalez, who is already in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, defensive back Eric Berry, wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, and general manager John Dorsey, who is on the ballot for his time as a linebacker at UConn.
The ex-Chiefs that are on the ballot for the first time in 2023 are quarterback Alex Smith and linebacker Derrick Johnson.
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Johnson’s accolades in college include “Two-time First Team All-American (consensus-2003, unanimous-2004) and recipient of the 2004 Butkus Award and Nagurski Trophy…2004 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and three-time First Team All-Big 12 performer…Led Horns to three 11-win seasons and ranks third all-time at UT with 458 career tackles,” per the NFF website.
Smith’s resume in college consists of “2004 First Team All-American who finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting…2004 SI National Player of the Year, leading Utah to its first-ever 12-0 season, a BCS bowl victory (2005 Fiesta) and a No. 4 final national ranking…2004 MWC Offensive Player of the Year boasted two league titles and multiple school records,” per the NFF.
Voting for the 2023 class will run through June 30. The results will then be sent to the NFF Honors Court, which will determine the members of the 2023 class.
Chiefs Makes Analytics-Driven Front Office Hire
In other Chiefs-related news, the defending AFC West champions are hiring Marc Richards as a Football Research Analyst, according to Seth Walder of ESPN on June 3.
The Chiefs are hiring Marc Richards as a Football Research Analyst, per sources.
Richards was on the winning Big Data Bowl team in 2021.
Richards was part of the winning Big Data Bowl team in 2021, which also included Wei Peng, Sam Walczak, and Jack Werner. The Big Data Bowl is a competition held by the NFL that “calls on professional and aspiring amateur data scientists to devise innovative approaches to a specific challenge,” per the league.
In 2021, the Big Data Bowl’s topic was analyzing pass coverage in the NFL. Richards’ team won the competition by devising “play outcome models for each frame of the data, as well as classified man versus zone coverage schemes to measure the before and after pass ability of each defender.” Their winning submission can be viewed right here.
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach and head coach Andy Reid have proven through the years together that they are willing to incorporate analytics when it comes to player development and salary cap management. With Vice Presidents of Football Operations Chris Shea and Brandt Tilis being part of the catalyst for analytics use as well in Kansas City’s front office, the Chiefs now further support their analytics-driven approach to football by adding Richards.
Richards’ Pass Coverage Data Could Help Chiefs
A strong connection can be made between Richards’ winning submission in the 2021 Big Data Bowl and Kansas City’s current roster construction.
After losing cornerback Charvarius Ward to free agency this offseason, the Chiefs’ cornerback room is entering the 2022 season overall young and inexperienced. The oldest and most experienced player among the cornerbacks is newly-added veteran Lonnie Johnson Jr., who is 26 years old and has played four seasons in the NFL. Outside of him, Deandre Baker (3), Rashad Fenton (3), L’Jarius Sneed (2), and Luq Barcoo (2) are the other cornerbacks that have played at least two seasons in the NFL.
Then you add in rookie first-round pick Trent McDuffie being projected as a Week 1 starter for Kansas City, and it would make sense for the team to try to expedite the development of the budding cornerback room.
One way to do that is to further expand the analytics-based coaching methods they have in place. Hiring Richards could give the Chiefs the analytics they need in the cornerback room to do just that.