For the second consecutive season, the Kansas City Chiefs added an edge rusher in the first round of the draft. This time around they selected Kansas State’s Felix Anudike-Uzomah, who played high school football just 15 miles from Arrowhead Stadium.
The situation heading into the 2023 NFL season for Anudike-Uzomah is wholly different than for George Karlaftis a season ago. With Frank Clark’s departure and Carlos Dunlap remaining a free agent, the Chiefs are missing a considerable amount of their edge rush production from 2022. Nine sacks in total and nearly 80 pressures between the two.
What does this mean for Anudike-Uzomah’s opportunity and rookie season sack production? For starters, expectations could be higher for the K-State Wildcat, given that the team has quite a bit of production to replace.
Last season, Karlaftis posted six sacks in the regular season, with 5.5 of those sacks coming in the final seven weeks. He added another sack in the playoffs, but it clearly took him some time to adjust to the NFL game.
It’s entirely possible that Anudike-Uzomah could exceed Karlaftis’ rookie numbers. He’s coming off of an 8.5-sack season with K-State in 2022 after posting an 11-sack season the year prior. How it all translates to the NFL remains to be seen, but what exactly is his ceiling in terms of sack numbers as a rookie?
Anudike-Uzomah would need an 11-sack season in 2023 to set the Chiefs’ franchise record by a rookie. The record is currently held by franchise legend Derrick Thomas, who recorded 10 sacks as a rookie in the 1989 NFL season. Anudike-Uzomah would need 15 sacks as a rookie to set the NFL’s record, which was set by former Titans and Eagles edge Jevon Kearse (14.5) in 1999.
What do you think, Chiefs Kingdom? How many sacks with Anudike-Uzomah have as a rookie? Be sure to vote in our poll at the top of the page and let us know your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter.
