The Kansas City Chiefs don’t tend to put a whole lot of stock into draft status — if you can play, you can play.
It’s why so many undrafted free agents have made this team during seven seasons. Guys like Daniel Sorensen, Darrel Williams, Tershawn Wharton, and Tommy Townsend all began their careers as undrafted free agents and all had an opportunity to impress the coaching staff in Kansas City.
The latest undrafted free agent making an impression is defensive back Devon Key. The former Western Kentucky Hilltopper has picked up the defensive scheme quickly. As a result, the coaching staff has thrown him to the wolves, allowing him repetitions with the first-team defense in their dime sub-package.
When asked about Key, Steve Spagnuolo gave props to general manager Brett Veach, who has a recent knack for finding undrafted talent who are ready to contribute.
“I’ll tell you what, Devon Key, I think Brett Veach and his guys did an excellent job identifying him—he’s an undrafted free agent,” Spags told reporters on Wednesday. “I think he’s an instinctive guy. He’s in tune to everything. We’ve got him playing a couple spots just to find out what he’s all about, and I’m really impressed right now. ”
Andy Reid echoed similar sentiments about the rookie, while also giving Veach credit for finding the talented young player.
“[Key is] real smart,” Reid said. “He’s done a nice job on the back end there kind of controlling things and making sure everybody is doing the right things. Then, he has enough skill there where he can go make some plays. Again, a good young player. A nice job by (Brett) Veach, make sure he gets the credit on that because he’s done a nice job.”
So what’s next for the undrafted rookie? Key has already done a lot to prove himself in practice, but the coaching staff wants to see it all come together in the preseason. If he can continue to impress against opponents who are also competing for a job, he’ll certainly have done enough to cement his position in Kansas City.
“We’ll see what he does in a game,” Spags said. “We preface all of these comments by the fact that we can’t do anything live really and it’s not a game, but right now I think he’s doing a nice job.”
