Leo Chenal the Ghost
 

He never really stood out (to me) this season other than a few spot plays but after watching this I'm really impressed with his athleticism. He seems to have a REAL ability to shed blockers and get to the ball. He's just hidden in Bolton and Gays performance. He just may be a hidden GEM.

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It’s definitely the best group of linebackers we’ve had on a long time, probably since the 90s.

I’d hide one in Jem.

https://youtu.be/m6G_o1MYECg

Nice. He just has a natural instinct for the run, even against screens in the flat. And of course, I just love how violent he is, especially at the point of attack.

As an aside, it's cool to see how well CJ is playing the run in this video; a big improvement from say two or three years ago. And Frank looks good in these clips. There's a couple snaps here where if Chenal doesn't make the tackle for some reason, Frank is right there, but Chenal does make those tackles, so Frank is just there to help clean them up.

Cool vid. Excited about Leo's future in the red and gold, and not nearly as concerned about losing Gay if and when that happens.

Chiefs ignored the position for way too long until recently. We really had some garbage year after year. DJ being the exception of course.

He and Gay play different positions don't they?

Oh yeah. Technically, I think Spags or Daly (some coach on the staf) said that eventually they saw him playing from Bolton's spot, when Nick needed to be spelled, but also in certain situations. But yeah, they aren't playing for the same position. I was just kind of echoing the sentiment in the video that if Gay had to go for some reason, we still have Chenal, who also a pretty athletic LB.

I'm really impressed with his ability to get off blocks and have vision for the carrier

I agree. i like that he has more than one way to shed blockers; looks like he has at least three or four options in his bag. And he plays downhill very well.

Personally, I was also impressed at how well he played a couple of those screens.

Very impressive rookie class

Isn’t Hitchens still unemployed?

Exactly. I think this is easily the best draft class in the NFL considering draft position.

I was wondering how he was doing overall, he doesn’t get much press about him.

Good little video Hog.

Bert Veach drafts some quality linebackers!

He made $9M/year from the Chiefs. He ain’t gonna play for vet minimum.

See Berry, Eric.

Top 5 in rookie snaps on a loaded team speaks to that.

That was a sweet video , watching the games I didn’t realize how good he’s playing. I’ve always got eyes on Bolton and Gay but missed how good Chenal is playing.

Veach ****ing killed this draft.

It’s great to feel so good about that position for once.

Even when we had DJ, we normally had a bag of shit next to him.

And yet they might simultaneously be the biggest problem with the defense. They can’t defend against the pass.

I really don't want to watch Ekeler catch 15 dump offs and squirt to first downs again
.

I've been watching his improvement over the season. He's going to be just fine and a solid contributor. Each draft pick isn't going to be an All-Pro in their rookie season.

What an incredible draft.

Yes. The last few opponents exploited that somewhat. Gay is fast and should be better in coverage. Bolton and Chenal are too slow. If I'm playing against the Chiefs, I'm trying to isolate them in coverage as much as possible.

LBs still have a place in the NFL, but the bruising run stopping LBs aren't as important anymore. Hell, the Chiefs won the Super Bowl with Hitchens, Wilson, and Niemann. Hard to find another SB winner with a worse group of LBs. The importance of the position in modern football has changed for sure.

I wouldn't say they have had success until recently but they have drafted 9 LBs since Reid has been here and have signed Hitchens, and several other veterans.

This is seemingly the case.

Look at the best LB'ers and the ones getting paid. They all have something in common.

Okay, so is it official that his name is pronounced like Chanel even though it's spelled Chenal? His Wiki has that pronunciation, but it's hard for me to accept.