The Kansas City Chiefs’ acquisition of Drue Tranquill in free agency was among the team’s most impactful moves to this point in the offseason. Both players and coaches seem excited to work with Tranquill in comments at a press conference on Monday.
Linebacker Nick Bolton made mention of Tranquill’s various skillsets when talking to reporters, pointing to his experience as a plus for his unit.
“When you turn on the tape, man, you can see how intelligent Drue Tranquill is, how much he will help us in terms of adding more ability to pass coverage, blitzing, runs – he does it all, man,” Bolton said. “And so again, a veteran guy – a veteran for us, we got a lot of young guys in the room. So having that guy that has the experience to kind of bounce off ideas with, he’s seen a lot of football.”
Head coach Andy Reid shared a similar sentiment, pointing to Tranquill’s versatility as a major benefit for the Chiefs’ defense which will need all the help it can get in stopping opponents in 2023.
“We’ve had to face him a couple of times every year,” Reid explained. “What we felt was this guy is a heck of a football player. He’ll add great flexibility to (Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) Spags’ group which you know how Spags does it with different personnel groups and there’s plenty of room for all of them (linebackers). And listen, he’s a good football player. He’s a smart kid, he’s got great size, he’s got good strength, he can cover. In other words, run and cover. So, we just had an opportunity to get him and I sure like the way he plays.”
While no single signing is likely to make or break a team over the course of a full season, the addition of a player like Tranquill to the Chiefs’ already-talented linebacking corps could prove to be a major factor in their ability to defend their Super Bowl title next season. Time will tell how he fits in Steve Spagnuolo’s defense, but judging from what Bolton and Reid had to say on Monday, it seems that he is posed to play a major role in their success in 2023.
