He was incredible. He's also a great example for why you take BPA, even when 1) it's not a position of "need" and 2) it's not a high leverage/impact position. He and Bolton were both great all night.

For a long time, my favorite Chief who wore #54 was Tim Cofield. Then it was Brian Waters. Then it went back to Cofield because Waters went to the Patriots in 2011.

As of this morning, can you guess who my favorite all-time #54 for the Chiefs is?

If you guessed Leo Chenal…you’d be correct!

Especially, when you have Mahomes at QB.

Just get as many good players as possible and give Mahomes every chance to go win the game.

Reaching to draft a need will result in a lot of wasted capital. There are worse things than having too many good players at a single position.

I said it all off-season. Mahomes+best 52.

I thought Chenal was great last night, stated to notice him a lot in the second half. Really like him.

All week we heard that Kittle was better than Kelce bc of his blocking. "Complete player" they said.

Not against Leo. You don't move that guy. He controls everything LMAO

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Leo Chenal taking George Kittle to task to set the edge on Deebo&#39;s handoff. The defense keyed on these motions and was extremely sound in these moments. Great coaching and execution <a href="https://t.co/4fnZWGQml1">pic.twitter.com/4fnZWGQml1</a></p>&mdash; Daniel Harms🏈 (@InHarmsWay19) <a href="https://twitter.com/InHarmsWay19/status/1757123758601478221?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Highest graded player in SB58, and it's hard to disagree

A linebacker who can play DE at an elite level in spots

Veach is a damn genius

Yeah, Leo just told the Chiefs that its OK to let Gay walk in free agency.

Allows the Chiefs to get younger at the position, as they would need to draft a LB in the middle rounds of the draft. Sign Tranquil for a couple years and you are in decent shape. Helps you keep Bolton.

That's tough. McDuffie played the game of his life. He was so good. So was Leo though

I loved the pick then and I like it even more now. He's a stud and I can't wait to see him in an expanded role next year.

I've been completely relaxed about Gay going and it's because of how good he's looked. He's never going to be great in coverage, but that can be Tranquil's role.

As an aside Pennel yesterday really rolled back the years. We desperately missed that ballast at DT and Nnadi going down was such a clear blessing in disguise.

Also re the PFF grade. Guess who was one of the best graded last SB...your boy Chenal. Big occasion player

Pennels wrists look like legs, just a monstrously large man

So Chenal is credited with the block on the XP?

I wasn't sure exactly who blocked it at the time. Chiefs might not have won without that. Plus he had the forced fumble on CMC and was setting the edge and making key tackles.

Dude is a Superbowl hero

If it’s PFF, they probably dinged McDuffie pretty dramatically for that flag (they routinely did this with Sneed in the regular season).

He was taking on the 49ers CENTER yesterday and pushing him back into McCaffrey.

Just insane to have that amount of strength as a rotational guy this year and being so talented that it was completely justified.

I thought Neil Farrell did well also when in the game. I think he is someone we can build with too

Chenal is a predator — he roams and attacks with hate in his heart.

It's a genetic disorder I believe

Normally the way but they gave him a 78.5...just shows how lights out the rest of his game was.

Man, his play in the playoffs, but really the second half of the season, makes me excited to see what further growth he will have next year.

Chenal is an elite level athlete just no one seems to notice cause he's white.

Eh - I'm not sure that's the case.

I think it's just the relative stiffness in his hips. He's fast forward and strong as hell. But he's not super fluid and that kinda caps some of his athleticism in space. "Game agility" so to speak.

He played really well.

Weirdly he only played like 16 snaps.

But it did seem like he played well when he was out there. As a rotational piece, I think he'd be fine.

Personally I hope that game tells them Nnadi can be let go, roll with Farrell and Pennel and hopefully CJ back.

BWWWWAAAAA

Go read scouting reports, still to this day..

Tells for white players are always "smart, heady, lunchpail type, plays hard" even if the dude has off the charts measurables.

Black players will almost always stress they are great athletes but have questionable motors, it never fails.

In a perfect world, your argument here is Gay vs. Chenal, but Gay DOES have better 'game athleticism' than Chenal because he moves better laterally.

And look at Logan Wilson - very much a white LBer. Lesser 40, lesser vert and broad. He is, by virtually any measure, less of a raw athlete than Chenal.

But even as a white LBer he gets plenty of credit for his athleticism because he's just a pretty damn fluid mover. Meanwhile Nick Bolton (noted black guy) is faster than Wilson in a straight line but isn't as agile and nobody argues Bolton is as athletic as Wilson is.

I don't think it's a white guy/black guy thing - I just think it's a styles thing. Agility for LBs is often measured in how well they change directions - right, wrong or otherwise.

I loved the play where Felix busted through to stonewall the running back, and then Farrell came in and cleaned him up as he was trying to escape. It was a great look by our backup players.

One question I had - there was a play where one of our D-lineman blocked a pass pretty solidly. The other team's QB was throwing downfield to the right, and a linemen swatted it. They didn't show a clear angle to see the guy's jersey number, and I think the announcers credited it to Chris Jones. But I thought I saw just a glimpse of the jersey and that it was Neil Farrell. Anyone remember that play?

I could well be wrong, but my best guess is that it was Farrell, and he'd been on the field during that drive.

Okay, Farrell got credited with the deflection according to ESPN, at 2:28 remaining in the third. I was thinking that was him. He made good use of his snaps.

He also kinda runs...heavy. He's a bit flat footed it seems so he doesn't seem quite as springy. But Jesus Christ he is powerful, and fast. I really think it's Chenal and Bolton next year with Tranquil as the coverage guy.

I love Gay but unless the cost is VERY friendly I think he's the odd man out. I really hope they up Chenal's usage next year. He's not exactly a nuanced rusher, but I think there's more there to tap.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Chiefs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Chiefs</a> LB Leo Chenal climbing a double decker bus😲<br> <a href="https://t.co/E7Cxizso1X">pic.twitter.com/E7Cxizso1X</a></p>&mdash; MLFootball (@_MLFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/_MLFootball/status/1626219880650530817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

People noticed this.

In hindsight we're all just lucky he didn't end up pulling the bus over.

That's a powerful man...

People don't discount linebackers' athleticism because they're white.



He's not a corner.

LEO! Congratulations on showing out on the biggest stage. Well done! :clap:

Yes!

Yikes. That's rough tape for Kittle. He just got beat.

Interestingly, that ALL NFL Podcast with Spags that DaFace posted, Spags talks about Chenal a good bit.

Hilariously he said they did a zoom call with him and he was all up in the Zoom camera totally into the interview ROFL.

But he also said he's pound for pound the strongest player on the defense and they were using him over the guard at the 3 technique to get the alignment they wanted. WTF? I've been a bit of a homer for him for awhile now, but watch out dudes. My homerism is about to become unabashed.

I remember reviewing him after we drafted him and noticed that he was CONSTANTLY coming up the middle. Wisconsin was using him as a 3-tech a ton and that's how he got most of his sacks.

Dude is just so friggen powerful. You've got a Power 5 program using him as a DT and now one of the most creative DCs in NFL history using him as a chess piece to just physically defeat a bunch of plays.

Dude's a unique cat. A lot of teams would've tried to pigeonhole him into the Ragland run-stuffing MLB role and Spags never did. He just used him wherever he could put his strengths to use.

Damn we have a good coaching staff.

That dude would literally run through a wall if Spags asked him to , and win the rep.

They do, though.

Who needs the combine !!! Just get a double decker bus and IF the linebackers cannot scale up the side of the bus they will not be drafted!:D

Chenal and Pennel are my unsung SB heroes for sure. :clap:

His "football instincts" are off the chart and what makes him sooooooo good along with his strength as many of you have stated.:eek:

No wonder you live in Indep. :)

Dude is just an idiot. I always remember when he said Hali would suck at DE...

Chenal is going to replace gay and Jones. Total Brett varch move.

The Bills have a thread dedicated to Brett Veach.

God that's amazing. I love it!

I hope to find that the bills wanted him and Leo as well.

This probably belongs in the "Spags is a God" thread, but I'm putting it here because around 30:30 they talk about Chenal, reiterate he's the strongest pound-for-pound guy, that Spags wants to use him more, and to DJ's point that they are getting creative about how they use him, including as a 3-tech.

There's lots of other interesting stuff about how the McDuffie blitz was a last second changed call etc etc, but i'm on a Chenal man-crush so putting it here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owd8dtn-HVU&t=2781s

What are they saying? I'm not visiting that cesspool of human excrement

My bad literally a whole thread on this!

They’re scared basically. They know Veach has put clown shoes on the rest of the League.

https://www.twobillsdrive.com/commun...m-brett-veach/

This is hilarious, they are literally gargling his balls over there. LMAO

We need to send a few Veach haters over there to confuse them

Send OKchiefs.

He said Brandon Beane was better than Veach just a year ago LMAO.

As well they should.

Yeah - I've made arguments for Ballard and DeCosta on occasion (which are both thoroughly dead at this point) but how could you ever argue for Beane?

Two of the most critical events in the franchise's history came at the EXPENSE of Beane. The obvious Mahomes deal and then snaking McDuffie out from under them in a deal that DEFINITELY altered the outcome of the 2nd round.

Veach continues to beat Beane in H2H matchups - what possible argument can exist there?

Beane is better at NOTHING than Burney Vorx.

Nothing makes you appreciate Veach more than watching clips of Mahomes’s first year as a starter.

Look at that defense vs what he built. Dude turned the worst defense in the league into the best. Incredible.

Veach is great but this is the first year him and Andy have truly without question been bailed out by Mahomes.

No idea what those guys were thinking relying on Toney and Skyy. To Veach's credit though, Rice is awesome and made the difference.

I don't see any of these other QB's being able to do what Mahomes did. Hardman and Watson were our leading WR's in the SB LMAO

It's a little dubious to say they were 'bailed out' by Mahomes.

Look at their draft strategy over the last 2-3 seasons. They clearly planned on building up the defense and relying on Mahomes to be a force multiplier for the offense.

If Mahomes can make Hardman and Watson the top WRs in a Super Bowl (while the defense balls out), isn't that in many ways a vindication of the strategy rather than 'being bailed out'?

Nonsense.

We had the best defense in the league, that Veach built, and won the SB in large part because of that. How the **** did Veach get "bailed out"?

That's my point. Mahomes is incredible and fixes a whole lot of shit.

WR's already cost us the 1 and 2 seed. Do you think this team wins the SB this year if Joe Burrow, Alex Smith or Josh Allen was the QB? I don't in any way see them doing that. No ****ing way.

It's okay to point out that our top guys made a huge mistake with Toney/Skyy and Mahomes made that shit work.

But to say 'bailed out' suggests they got lucky. They didn't.

It was part of a concerted effort to lean into Mahomes ability to make lemonade on the side of the ball he has some control over.

Those sorts of players just don't exist very often on defense so you have to take a very holistic and expensive approach (in terms of draft and/or cap capital). So they aggressively attacked an overarching defensive rebuild while relying on Mahomes to make the offense work just well enough.

It worked to their script, IMO. Were Toney and Moore mistakes - yup. But every team makes mistakes and honestly I think a lot of those mistakes are built into the plan. They give themselves a 'fudge factor' even if they don't know exactly where some of those mistakes will come from.

Maybe it would be Jones and/or Smith. Maybe Kelce's decline would be swift and sudden. I believe they absolutely built a margin for error into their thought process and the failures of Toney/Moore were part of that.

Now to that extent, with both of them, AND with MVS? No, I don't think they counted on that. And had MVS not eventually un****ed himself, it would've been the teams undoing. But as the post-season proved, they built a team that could win without any contributions from Moore and Toney. And it did. So that tells you almost exactly where there margin for error was.

This has kinda been my position. Having Mahomes is going to make a lot of things bad look OK and a lot of OK look great. But at some point I've got to agree with DJ. If the strategy is fix D and let Mahomes sort the O, it only sounds risky or lucky in a world where Mahomes isn't, well, Mahomes. Apparently he IS going to fix it, with Reid and Kelce. Kudos Veach for believing in the plan, because I sure as s*** didn't at times!

Plus, the defense is pretty damn good. McDuffie, Sneed, Williams, Watson, Chenal, Bolton, Tranquil...it aint perfect coughNnadicough but there's a LOT there he's really done well to acquire.

The next step in greatness for Veach will be winning a SB without Kelce and Jones. He does that and he's maybe the best ever.

That hes the best GM in the league, yada yada, all good things.

I've seen so many breakdowns I can't remember but one of the chiefs defensive breakdowns mentioned chenal on damn near every play. It was surprisingly good

Brady was often running around out there with just about nothing at WR, besides an occasional dude or so at TE or WR. The QB can make everyone better, including the rookies like Rice. Draft, develop, rinse, repeat.

This will seem especially astute once we see the Justin Jefferson numbers.

How about some love for Leo today. Bolton made the stop on 4th down, but it was Chenal that tied up the LT and clogged the flow. It opened the gap that Bolton went through to get the stop.

Leo has been playing his role fantastic

I liked that they drew up a play for him on offense to block but it didn't work out

He's basically a tweener DE, dude punches above his weight

I know that people like to disregard RAS, and I fully agree that it does not guarantee a good football player to have a high score, but I DO think it tells you about someone's raw athletic ability. That, combined with football intelligence and a desire to be great are pretty good indicators.

Chenal, at 9.99 is a physical freak. And every week, he shows football intelligence and a desire to be great.

I love the kid.

The whole locker room knows how strong the guy is and you can catch them mentioning it on a regular basis. Just imagine knowing the guy is going to eat any momentum the TE and LT throw at him every time leaving you an open gap to the RB.

Bolton: "It’s like a rule around the locker room man — if a tight end is blocking 54, he’s going to set the edge for you. So, I saw Leo [Chenal] set the edge and I just kind of went off his butt and made the play.”

Strongest guy on the team.

his legend grows

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Leo Chenal getting some love on Inside the NFL <a href="https://twitter.com/lchenal54?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lchenal54</a> <a href="https://t.co/gmTK1dx9BH">pic.twitter.com/gmTK1dx9BH</a></p>&mdash; ��️ Red Tribe Cinema (@ClayWendler) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayWendler/status/1839845125268107350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sounds like Chris reads Chiefs Planet.

That is a good point. Chenal would’ve been one of those guys on the old Patriots teams that we hated but wish we had. Every team could use a guy like this.