Chiefs Hosting 2-Time All-Pro DE For Visit This Week
Reports are in that the Chiefs are hosting a former All-Pro defensive end for a visit this week. As Training Camp has officially kicked off, it marks the third edge rusher tied to Kansas City.
Training Camp is officially underway for the Chiefs this week. After such a long season, news from camp is definitely refreshing for fans. Alongside the normal Camp hype (including this fantastic catch by Juju Smith-Schuster from Wednesday), a theme has shown itself.
The team has hosted three edge rushers just this week alone. First, the team brought in Azur Kamara and signed him to a contract this week. Details of the contract aren’t available yet, but he will join the defense as a depth piece for the defensive line. Despite the signing, the team seemingly wasn’t done yet at the edge position.
On Tuesday, news broke that the Chiefs would be hosting the USFL Defensive Player of the Year, Chris Odom, on a visit Wednesday. Shortly after, further news broke that Kansas City is reportedly hosting free agent Defensive End, Carlos Dunlap, for a visit late Wednesday.
Free-agent defensive lineman Carlos Dunlap is visiting the Chiefs tonight, per source. — Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 27, 2022
Dunlap is just the latest in a line of Defensive Ends to visit the team as camp has kicked off. Clearly, the Chiefs aren’t happy with the state of their edge rushers. Would Dunlap be a good fit for the Chiefs?
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If Signed, Dunlap Adds Much Needed Veteran Presence For Chiefs
Carlos Dunlap was drafted as a second-round pick by the Bengals in the 2010 NFL Draft. He played ten seasons for Cincinnatti, appearing in 12 games as a 21-year-old rookie in 2010. He had 9.5 sacks that season and has been a consistent edge rusher ever since. In his first three seasons in the league, Dunlap was mostly a situational pass rusher. However, he was still very effective. Despite starting just three games (he appeared in 38), he tallied 20 sacks in that span.
Dunlap became a full-time starter in the 2013 season. He would appear in all 16 games for every season from 2013 to 2018. At the peak of his career, he was a two-time Pro Bowler and was selected as a second-team All-Pro twice as well. He recorded 13.5 sacks — good for fourth in the NFL — in 2015.
After ten outstanding seasons with the Bengals, Dunlap was traded from Cincy to Seattle in the 2020 season. In just six starts with the Seahawks, he recorded five sacks. Those five sacks ranked fourth on the team that season despite starting less than half of the team’s games. Last season for Seattle, he recorded 35 pressures. Those pressures, as a percentage of his total snaps, would’ve ranked the highest on the Chiefs’ roster.
Carlos Dunlap's 35 total pressures to 309 pass rushing snap ratio (11.1%) is better than any other DLine starter/major role player the Chiefs had last year. Yes, more than Frank Clark (10.1%) and Melvin Ingram (9.7%). The Chiefs need a solid DE and Dunlap is one. — Conner Christopherson (@Conner_DKC) July 27, 2022
If the Chiefs do indeed ink a contract for the free agent pass rusher, he would instantly become a well-needed veteran presence alongside Frank Clark and Mike Danna. The team’s current edge rush talent (between Danna, Clark, George Karlaftis, Joshua Kaindoh, Malik Herring, and Azur Kamara) lays claim to just 80 career starts in the NFL. Of those 80 starts, 73 have been made by Clark and 7 by Danna. Dunlap would be just the third edge rusher on the team with an NFL Start under his belt.
If signed, Dunlap would certainly take on a role similar to what we saw from Melvin Ingram last season. He may not be a “starter” with Clark and Karlaftis already in tow, but he would certainly be a full-time player with an impact.
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