The Kansas City Chiefs need help with their pass rush, and they've added R Mason Thomas to get to the quarterback.
Most of the focus in the NFL draft is on the first round, especially for the Kansas City Chiefs given that they had a pair of picks. But the draft is also full of Day 2 and Day 3 picks who make significant contributions, and one of the Chiefs’ defensive selections was identified as a sleeper by Field Yates of ESPN in his rundown of players who will make an immediate impact.
Edge rusher R Mason Thomas was the player Yates chose, and he’s not the only one who sees Thomas making a big impact. Thomas’s claim to fame coming into the draft was his reputation as a freakish athlete, and that enticed the Chiefs to take him in the second round.
Tight end Travis Kelce has also talked up Thomas in the “New Heights” podcast he’s been doing with his brother Jason, and Kelce says he’s looking forward to seeing Thomas get after the quarterback. The Chiefs tight end has also been reviewing tape with Jason in the podcast, which is a relatively new late-career development for Kelce.
Yates had Thomas as a top-25 player on his draft board, and he added that taking Thomas in the second round represented great value. Thomas doesn’t have great size at 6’2”, 249 pounds, but he makes up for it with what Yates called “juice,” saying that the Oklahoma product is “a blur coming off the edge.” Yates added that Thomas has strong first-step quickness, along with “active, combative hands.”
The Chiefs do need him to contribute right away to take some of the pressure off tackle Chris Jones, but it’s also important to recognize the limitations her. Experts who dropped Thomas out of the first round mentioned the size limitation, not to mention his tendency to get caught out of position when quarterbacks are able to anticipate his rush and sidestep him.
His athletic talent is special, though, if the Chiefs can integrate him effectively into their defense. Thomas will likely start his pro career as a specialist who comes in on third downs and obvious passing situations with one purpose in mind—to get to the quarterback.
In some ways, Thomas’s success will depend on the interlocking pieces the Chiefs have added around him. They also selected nose tackle Peter Woods of Clemson with their second first round pick, and if Woods can toughen up the interior the pass rush has a better chance of getting home. There’s a lot to do for defenisive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo in training camp, and getting Thomas up to speed will be near the top of his to-do list.