2022 Chiefs Draft Prospect: Myjai Sanders

NAME: Myjai Sanders

POSITION: Defensive End

SCHOOL: Cincinnati

HEIGHT: 6’5’’

WEIGHT: 255 pounds

CAREER BACKGROUND

Myjai Sanders grew up in Jacksonville, Florida where he attended William M. Raines High School. Later on, he transferred to Camden County High School in Kingsland, Georgia before his junior season. Sanders produced 39 tackles, seven hurries, three sacks and one interception returned for a touchdown in his senior campaign. This allowed him to earn Brunswick News’ Coastal Georgia All-Area and All-Region 1-7A First Team honors for the year. Sanders received a reported 20 offers to play college football. Ultimately, he chose Cincinnati over other schools like Kentucky, South Florida and UCF.

Glow Up

Sanders saw playing time as a reserve/rotational defensive end during his freshman season of 2018. He recorded seven tackles in 10 games played. Thereafter, his emergence grew quickly. Sanders was a 14 game starter as a sophomore in 2019. His production increased to 40 tackles, eight hurries (second best on team), seven tackles for loss and four sacks. Sanders’ numbers improved again in 2020. His 10.5 tackles for loss were a team best. His sack figure also bumped up (seven). To cap it off, the defensive end earned first team All-AAC honors and was a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award.

Playoff Caliber

In his senior season of 2021, Myjai and the Cincinnati program reached unprecedented heights. For himself, Sanders produced 34 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, five pass breakups and 2.5 sacks. He earned first team All-AAC honors for a second consecutive season. Cincinnati won their conference title game at home against Houston to move their record to 13-0. The Bearcats also secured two early season road victories in back to back weeks over Indiana and Notre Dame. This helped their case in what would lead to Cincinnati becoming the first Group of Five school to make the current iteration of the College Football Playoff. Cincinnati lost to Alabama in the semifinals 27-6, ending their season.

Sanders has accepted an invite to play in the 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl. The Senior Bowl game will take place on Saturday, February 5, at 2:30 p.m. eastern time at South Alabama University’s Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. NFL Network will air the broadcast.

SCOUTING REPORT

Instead of listing positives and negatives for traits, this year we will be listing the best trait of each prospect and work our way down to the biggest area of improvement/absent trait(s), from top to bottom.

First Step Explosiveness

When watching Sanders on tape, it did not take long to notice his first step explosiveness. He reaches maximum speed so quickly during the rep. On top of that, Sanders forces opposing blockers to react rather quickly. False steps or confusion can occur by those offensive linemen. Outside of the speed, Sanders explodes into the offensive backfield with long, wide strides. The Cincinnati product may not always be there to make the initial stop. But, this explosiveness can allow him to chase down opponents with a hot motor during backside pursuit efforts.

Length

There were many times where Sanders was able to still get a hand on the opposing quarterback or ball carrier, despite being blocked. He has noticeably been working to create ample separation between him and the opposing blocker. By doing this, Sanders works to get his hands active and engages with a quick, swift push upfront. This may not always take place. Sanders is improving on disengaging and keeping his chest clean, nonetheless. Most importantly, his massive length forces quarterbacks to worry about him disrupting throwing lanes and release points.

Versatility

Cincinnati admitted that Sanders may have played out of position during his tenure with the Bearcats. Yet, he still provided enough production from a variety of alignments or areas of the field. Sanders has at least given himself a boost with his success from multiple defensive looks. First off, he can comfortably rush the passer from either a two point stance or a three point stance. Sanders has won just as often from a wide 9 alignment and 4i technique. Meanwhile, he appears to be confident when being asked to run stunts and twists. Sanders can attack the interior of the opposing offensive line just as well as he does offensive tackles, as a result.

Football IQ

The eye and feet discipline that Sanders plays with is extremely evident. Overall, he reads play flow really well. This allows him to dictate whether there needs to be more urgency during the rep, or more patience. Sanders is simply never out of position and is ready to make any kind of stop. Despite lacking long speed and elite flexibility, he changes directions sufficiently enough to where he can keep his head above water, so to speak. Sanders is also keen at picking up tricks or shortcuts the opposing offense may be using to confuse the defense.

Hand Counters

There is basically more substance than there is swagger concerning Sanders’ hand counter moves as a pass rusher. On one hand, he does not present a wide array of multiple pass rush counter moves. The few moves that he is at ease with are extremely detailed, however. Those have also gotten better over time. For example, Sanders likes to use a slingshot move, where he works to pull and then push the opposing offensive lineman with his arms. He has begun to institute different timings and nuances with that slingshot move.

And while Sanders does have the length, better hand timing and placement will be needed at the next level. Extending his arms to the fullest extent could give him more leverage. Elsewhere, Sanders will need to work on getting opponents’ hands off of his chest earlier in the rep. Can he also work on keeping his hands within his frame? Not getting too wide or high with his hand placement will be essential moving forward.

Lateral Mobility

Altogether, Sanders is not going to have immediate success when working sideline to sideline. Bettering his angles and body positioning in different areas of the field will take time to develop at the NFL level. There are a few items that help him here, though. Sanders does a good job of working downhill and squeezing into tight areas. He has a sneaky sense to him when collapsing compactly to the ground and in close quarters. Additionally, Sanders’ change of direction skills and length will help him generate stops that opponents are not expecting him to get to, due to possibly looking out of position.

Flexibility

Whether it is with rushing the passer, chasing in the open field, or run defending near the line of scrimmage, there is very little ankle flexion in this defender’s game. Sanders often works from a higher stature. Thus, improving the pad level to which he plays at will be crucial for him entering the NFL. Sanders does not provide much bend when working around the corner of the offensive line. Possibly, that is inflated due to the aforementioned playing out of position stance that he is surrounded with coming out of Cincinnati. This forces him to take a longer, wider track when rushing the passer, however.

Run Defending

There is a consistent and clear issue in this area with Sanders. Simply, he has failed to finish when the opportunities are there. His tackling form and strike zone is wild and all over the place. Can he set a firm edge at the line of scrimmage? Certainly. But, Sanders has yet to find a more sturdy anchor upfront. He does work hard when scraping across the opposing blocker’s face, or during backside pursuit. Finally, those chances can be scarce, unless he can disengage from blocks at a higher rate.

CHIEFS FIT

The best way that a defense can immediately affect the opposing quarterback comes via the pass rush. For the most part, this Kansas City Chiefs team has been rather ineffective in that department in recent years. And as general manager Brett Veach said in his end of season press conference, “on the defensive line, we have some decisions to make.” Releasing Frank Clark would free up $12.7 million in available 2022 salary cap space. There just so happens to be a potential out in his contract this offseason. Beyond that, Melvin Ingram is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent.

Sanders presents a tremendous combination of explosiveness, length and instincts. Let’s be honest, that quickness and motor was absent from Kansas City at the defensive end position before the trade acquisition of Ingram in the middle of the 2021 regular season. Sanders is not anywhere close to being a finished product entering the NFL level. Yet, he can still wear many different hats within a defense already, while also providing numerous ways in which he can disrupt an opposing offense.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs draft prospect profiles throughout this winter and spring. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.