Chiefs Writer Says 6-Year Starter ‘Needs to Go’ After Another ‘Rough’ Outing

The Kansas City Chiefs have seen their roster change a lot in recent years but one player they’ve been remarkably loyal toward has been defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi. Arrowhead Addict writer Jacob Milham believes that should be corrected in Week 15 and beyond.

During a post with FanSided on December 12, Milham pushed KC to move on from Nnadi once and for all — or at least replace him as the starter on early downs.

“Derrick Nnadi was an easy defensive player to pick on over the past three seasons,” he explained. “The former third-round pick has been in Kansas City for six years now and has not done much outside of pile-up snaps and starts.”

“He had a few decent games this season,” Milham acknowledged, “but PFF has him graded as the worst-qualified defensive tackle in the league. His performance Sunday only reinforced that further.”

The KC writer went on to voice that the Buffalo Bills offensive line “handled Nnadi and every other Chiefs defensive tackle not named Chris Jones with relative ease” in Week 14. That led to a productive outing for Bills running back James Cook (5.8 yards per carry).

Milham also detailed a couple of key errors and miscues by Nnadi, like his missed tackle on the Josh Allen touchdown run, or the fact that Kansas City was forced to burn a timeout because he was late subbing out fellow DT Tershawn Wharton.

“Chiefs fans have been saying it for years. Nnadi needs to go,” Milham concluded. “These are his prime playing years, and he is still being blocked deep downfield, missing tackles, and not being impactful. Sunday was a rough game for Nnadi, a common occurrence this season.”

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Chiefs Failed to Adequately Address Defensive Tackle Need in 2023

Defensive tackle was a major need heading into the 2023 offseason and the Chiefs did very little to address it in free agency and the draft.

The only real early down addition was rookie run-stuffer Keondre Coburn, but KC hinted the sixth-round prospect still needed a significant amount of development when they decided to cut him in mid-October. Fortunately, they were able to re-sign the draft pick later on, but he never seriously pushed Nnadi for snaps like fans had hoped he would.

From there, the Chiefs surrounded Jones and Nnadi with smaller defensive tackles and tweeners like Wharton, Matt Dickerson, Neil Farrell and defensive ends Charles Omenihu and Mike Danna at times. If not for Jones, who knows how poor this position group would look.

Last year, KC general manager Brett Veach came to this realization, signing veteran D-tackle Brandon Williams ahead of the Super Bowl run. And yet, Nnadi returned in 2023 while Williams did not.

It’s unlikely that defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo allows Veach to part ways with the six-year starter and staff favorite this late in the campaign, but Kansas City should not ignore this position again next spring — especially if Jones departs in free agency. As for Week 15, the Chiefs defense must make do with Nnadi and company against the New England Patriots.

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Could Mike Pennel Help Chiefs on Run Defense?

We know Coburn’s not ready — barring a major breakthrough at practice — but there is one other option on the KC practice squad that could help KC stop the run.

The Chiefs reunited with long-time NFL veteran Mike Pennel on a practice squad deal earlier this season, but he’s yet to play in a game. Perhaps, Kansas City should rectify that in the coming weeks.

At age 32, it’s unclear if Pennel would be a serious upgrade on Nnadi, but he could at least dress for games ahead of someone like Dickerson or Farrell.

According to Pro Football Focus, Dickerson has an average depth of tackle of 4.0 yards per stop on run defense. Wharton is not much better at 3.9 yards per carry and although Farrell (two appearances) and Nnadi have performed well in this area (2.0 and 1.7 yards allowed per tackle, respectively), they’ve each struggled with missed tackles.

Farrell has a staggering 50% missed tackle rate in limited action, while Nnadi’s missed tackle rate is 11.5%. That’s just not good enough all around.

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