It's well known that the Kansas City Chiefs' defensive end picture is less than ideal. After being one of the least productive units in the NFL a season ago, Kansas City elected to keep Frank Clark around, lost Melvin Ingram to free agency and added only first-round pick George Karlaftis to the fold. More help — in the form of depth — is needed.
Could Malik Herring factor into the picture at all?
An ACL injury during the pre-draft process saw Herring end up on the Non-Football Injury (NFI) list and essentially redshirt his rookie campaign, so there isn't much to go off of for him at the professional level. Various reports on him from Chiefs rookie minicamp were positive, which is a plus, but hardly a reason for anyone to get excited. His first actual season with the team is this one, yet he still isn't a known commodity.
Intrigue could be part of the reason why he makes the final 53-man roster, though.
Standing 6-foot-3 and measured to weigh in at 280 pounds, Herring is right where a Steve Spagnuolo defensive end should be. His arm length is a half-inch shorter than is ideal, but his overall athletic profile is still suitable. His limited production at the University of Georgia was strictly from a sack standpoint, as Herring played in a rotation-heavy system and still flashed plenty of skill and logged pressures in abundance. Here's what The NFL Draft Bible on Sports Illustrated had to say about him last March:
While Herring had little production on the stat sheet throughout his collegiate career, he has the pass-rush skills want to be seen in a defensive end prospect. Loaded with immense potential to be a star, he can bull-rush or beat offensive linemen around the edge with his initial quickness off the ball. His first-step explosion is eye opening and he combines that with natural anticipation skills to beat his opponent. His ability to put pressure on the quarterback is rare as he logged a solid 41 quarterback pressures as a pass rusher in 2019, including another 15 in a slightly abbreviated 2020 season.
Because the Chiefs have yet to invest heavily at defensive end, the opportunity for Herring to make the team is there. Behind Clark, Karlaftis and Mike Danna, only 2021 fourth-round pick Joshua Kaindoh projects to rank ahead of Herring on the depth chart. If the club doesn't go after an Ingram replacement and is comfortable carrying five pass-rushers, it makes a great deal of sense for Herring to be that last guy. A rotational split would be tricky (he wouldn't be guaranteed any snaps) but making the cutoff is the primary objective.
Conner Christopherson of Arrowhead Report joined me on Thursday's Roughing the Kicker podcast and we briefly discussed the duo of Kaindoh and Herring. Perhaps there's something the Chiefs know that only the Chiefs know in regards to their young defensive ends. If that's the case — and possibly even if it isn't — the chance for Herring to make the team very well could present itself this year. If it does, he has flashed the skill set to be a factor. Regardless of the outcome of his offseason, though, the 24-year-old should be getting a bit more love.
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