The Kansas City Chiefs added former Dallas Cowboys first-round draft pick, Taco Charlton, in free agency after he was released by the Miami Dolphins. Charlton didn’t work out with either of his two previous teams for whatever reason and he hasn’t lived up to the standard attached to a first-round draft pick. The Chiefs, however, are hoping that Charlton’s third stop in the NFL will be the charm.
When defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo spoke to the media on Tuesday, he anticipated that the change of scenery will be good for Charlton’s development. Spagnuolo even likens Charlton’s situation to that of former Chiefs DE Emmanuel Ogbah.
“We were really fortunate last year when we got Emmanuel Ogbah,” Spagnuolo said. “He surfaced in the system, played good football and now he’s at Miami. Emmanuel and I have talked about this a lot, a change of scenery for him was really good. So I think the hope, certainly, is that maybe Taco [Chartlon] can do the same thing.”
Ogbah, of course, was traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Chiefs ahead of the 2019 season. Before tearing his pec in Week 10, he was the team sack leader with 5.5 sacks, drawing the start in just four games on the season. It was a complete change of trajectory for Ogbah, after a disappointing early career in Cleveland
Charlton is afforded different advantages and disadvantages that Ogbah did and didn’t have when he came to Kansas City. Charlton has a former teammate in Frank Clark to rely on as a support system. But the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t afforded Charlton the same opportunity as Ogbah had to get integrated with his new teammates and coaching staff.
“Now we don’t know [if Taco Charlton can do the same thing],” Spagnuolo continued. “Unfortunately, Coach [Brendan] Daly and I don’t have the chance to get to know him quite as well through a computer, but I’ve heard really good things about him and we’re hopeful. He gets thrown in the mix with everybody else and hopefully, we can find a guy on the edge to help us going forward. We’ll find that out. We’ve got a long way to go I guess before we can determine that.”
Charlton will be squarely in the mix to be that player on the edge that the Chiefs are seemingly looking for to complement Frank Clark, Alex Okafor, and Tanoh Kpassagnon. The verdict is still out on whether he’ll be able to turn his career around in Kansas City, but the coaching staff is clearly going to give him an opportunity to prove himself with the Chiefs.
