The Chiefs Still Have Needs to Fill Despite Jarran Reed Signing
While the Kansas City Chiefs added another piece to their defensive line puzzle by signing former Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Jarran Reed to a one-year deal on Sunday, there are still holes that need to be filled to see the bigger picture.
Reed, a fifth-year, 28-year-old NFL veteran, reunites with former Seahawks teammate Frank Clark in Kansas City following a 6.5-sack season last year.
While the move is interesting, it doesn't make much sense positionally. In Seattle, Reed spent the majority of the time playing over the guard's outside shoulder as a three-technique. The Chiefs have a solid interior defensive line rotation and already have a pretty reliable three-technique in Chris Jones, one of the league's most dominant interior pass-rushers.
After the signing was reported, ESPN's Louis Riddick tweeted that it is likely the Chiefs could shift Jones outside the tackle, especially on early downs, to pair him with Reed.
While that configuration is certainly exciting, that's not a long-term fix for the Chiefs. The fact is that Kansas City still needs an edge-rusher opposite Frank Clark. This signing doesn't totally fix that.
Yes, the Chiefs re-signed Taco Charlton and have Mike Danna and Tim Ward, but that doesn't solve the talent discrepancy between the two EDGE positions. Charlton, Danna and Ward are all great depth pieces, but there is still a large step-down from them to Clark. The Chiefs haven't had an abundance of talent on the opposite side of Clark, and it's time for Kansas City to change that.
When the offseason started, Detriot Lions EDGE Romeo Okwara was set to hit the market and hopes were high that he would land in Kansas City and finally provide an additional EDGE threat. Expectations then took a steep decline after he elected to stay in Detroit. Now, it seems many are content to settle with Charlton and Danna.
It's not outlandish to want the Chiefs to upgrade the position. While it might not be fiscally responsible to take on another Clark-type addition at the position, investing talent in that area will be important for years to come.
All in all, while the Reed signing brings an abundance of fun configurations to the defensive line, his signing doesn't bring a whole lot of positional fixes. While Reed could still perform well in Spagnuolo's system, all of the answers he brings to the Chiefs are for the short-term. Even after adding Reed, Kansas City still finds itself with the same needs they had before the signing.
