The Kansas City Chiefs have faced their new defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah exactly once during his career. His productivity in that game wasn’t all that grand, so in order to get a better feel for his fit with the Chiefs we brought in an expert.
Our friend Jeff Risdon at the Browns Wire chatted with us about Kansas City’s newest defender. The 25-year-old is coming off a somewhat disappointing season opposite star pass rusher Myles Garrett.
The Chiefs are getting a good locker room presence and a high effort player in Ogbah. However, projecting Ogbah’s fit with the Chiefs is quite difficult, because on the surface he isn’t best at what the Chiefs perceived needs are right now — a pass rusher.
“Ogbah is a tough player to project because he does several things well, but the one thing most teams will want him to do the most–rushing the passer–is the weakest part of his game,” Risdon explained.
Ogbah seems to be going backwards as a pass rusher. In his first 26 career starts he was quite productive, but this past season each significant metric for pass rush was down. He has some great tools for the Chiefs to work with though.
“Ogbah is physically imposing on the edge at 6-4 and a listed 275 pounds that is probably shorting him a few bills,” Risdon said. “He’s got long, powerful arms and good core strength. It serves him very well at setting the edge versus the run, and he can absorb a chuck from the TE and disrupt timing there.”
The run defense was a problem for the Chiefs, so having someone who excels there is certainly an added bonus. As far as carving out a specific role for Ogbah with the Chiefs, reading the tea leaves of his history with the Browns helps us put things in perspective.
“He played almost exclusively on the left side, typically with a hand in the dirt in Gregg Williams’ 4-3 front,” Risdon said. “The Browns did kick him inside more in 2018 as the rush tackle in their NASCAR package, and many who follow the team thought that was the role he would do in new DC Steve Wilks’ front.”
One of the staples of Steve Spagnuolo’s defense is his NASCAR packages. Ogbah will likely kick inside alongside Chris Jones during these packages. That could be his fit in Kansas City, along with competing for the top spot at left defensive end. If you’re expecting a replacement for Dee Ford though, well you might be sorely disappointed.
“As a pass rusher, he’s got a limited repertoire,” Risdon explained. “Other than an inside arm rip, there isn’t much creativity or variety in his moves. He can bull weaker tackles. Quickness is not his calling card, which will make him an interesting fit for the Chiefs and Dee Ford. I can’t imagine an EDGE more divergently built or skilled from Ford than Ogbah.”
He’s more of a power rusher than a speed rusher like Ford. The bull rush often shows up on tape and it is certainly a strength of Ogbah’s game, but developing more pass rush moves could be crucial moving forwards. Yes the Chiefs will likely use stunts and twists to scheme rushers free, but you can’t exactly scheme every snap free.
“He finishes well and uses his powerful hands to shed solo blocks nicely,” Risdon said. “Working opposite Myles Garrett, he got a lot of man-on-man assignments and chances to shine, but he generated very little pressure on his own. All three of his sacks (in 2018) were of the clean-up variety; his “sack” of Deshaun Watson was literally Watson falling down on his own and Ogbah falling into him.”
There’s nothing wrong with clean-up sacks, typically high-effort helps you get those types of plays. The Chiefs could use someone who can produce on their own though, so this is a little worrisome to hear. Hopefully the fresh start with a revered defensive line coach like Brendan Daly can help the jump-start Ogbah’s ability as a pass rusher.
