The Chiefs have made another addition to their defensive end/defensive line depth chart. The team announced their acquisition of defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah in a trade with the Cleveland Browns. In return, the Browns will receive safety Eric Murray.
Low Risk, High Reward
This is a trade that benefits both players involved, as they were likely cut candidates anyways. Ogbah did not report for Cleveland’s first day of voluntary offseason workouts on Monday, and he seemingly announced the trade himself by his excitement before the news even broke.
KC Chiefs!!!!
— Emmanuel Ogbah (@EmanOgbah) April 1, 2019
This trade also benefits both teams, as they simply fill a need with low-risk additions. The Chiefs are slowly but surely building a defensive front that fits a new defensive scheme that just needs to be good enough. For the Browns, Murray rejoins general manager John Dorsey once again, with a chance to compete. Dorsey drafted him in the 4th Round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of Minnesota.
Speaking of draft picks, only 9 of the 38 players he drafted through 5 seasons in KC remain on the current Kansas City Chiefs roster. Those players are quarterback Patrick Mahomes, wide receiver Tyreek Hill, tight end Travis Kelce, wide receiver Demarcus Robinson, offensive tackle Eric Fisher, guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, defensive lineman Chris Jones, defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon and safety Leon McQuay.
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Ogbah’s Career Resume
The Browns selected Ogbah out of Oklahoma State with the 32nd pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. He quickly burst onto the scene in his rookie season. Ogbah started all 16 games for the Browns that year and finished 6th on the team with 53 tackles. He was also Cleveland’s leader in sacks that season with 5.5.
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Ogbah was still going strong in 2017, by starting the first 10 games of the season and accumulating 29 tackles and 4 sacks. Unfortunately, it was revealed that he suffered a fractured foot which ended his second season.
That foot injury looked to affect his style a tad in 2018. Still, Ogbah finished with 40 tackles and 3 sacks in 14 games. He also has a great knack for batting down passes at the line of scrimmage. Since entering the league in 2016, Ogbah has the third most batted passes at the line of scrimmage. In his first three career seasons, Ogbah has generated 122 tackles, 12.5 sacks, 17 pass deflections and 2 forced fumbles.
My Take
General Manager Brett Veach continues to hit home runs on changing this defense. They may only seem like weak singles right now, but once the draft happens, the defense likely will be in better shape than when we last saw the Chiefs play a game. The addition of Ogbah brings in a player that is similar to Alex Okafor. He is not a powerful pass rusher, but his strength and arm length do provide some nice results for him though. Ogbah’s versatility to play different positions along the offensive line fits Steve Spagnuolo‘s defense greatly to providing different defensive fronts and stunts.
Money wise, the Chiefs will actually gain a little over $660,000 in salary cap space. This is due to Murray accounting for $2 million against the cap for Cleveland, and Ogbah accounting for $1.3 million against the cap for KC. This is a win to bring in a player with Ogbah’s skillset with such low risk. They are also able to move on from Murray, who likely would not have made the team, for at least something in return rather than just releasing him. I still believe that the Chiefs could select an edge rusher in the 2019 NFL draft. It does help Veach too I think. Now he does not have to reach for an impact edge defender if he does not want to do so.
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– Braden Holecek is a Kansas City Chiefs writer for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9 Follow @FPC_Chiefs and Facebook.
– Kyle Senra is the editor for the Kansas City Chiefs on Full Press Coverage. Like and follow on Follow @nyama_ks Follow @FPC_NFL and Facebook.
