Chiefs sign Alex Okafor [restructured]

[ShowtimeSBMVP]

The #Chiefs are expected to sign former #Saints DE Alex Okafor, source said. He gets a 3-year deal worth up to $24M.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2019

[TEX]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

I'm not talking about elsewhere. I'm only talking about with the Chiefs.

If you think Clark hasn't been good against the run, you're not watching the games. Statistically, he's the best defensive lineman we have against the run, giving up less than 3 yards/carry through the first 5 weeks (haven't checked to see what his numbers were for Sunday yet). Up to the Colts game, Clark gave up an average of 2.5 yds/carry against runs to his side when he was on the field. Dee Ford was a liability against the run his entire career with the Chiefs.

Clark consistently has been able to set the edge; Dee was never good at that.

Dee Ford's recognition skills were never great; the play where he literally ran away from Frank Gore is a textbook example. Clark's recognition skills are the best on the Chiefs DL.

Clark's also been been better in coverage, though that may not be saying a lot, since the bar for Dee was nonexistent.

The only thing Dee was better at than Clark was getting sacks. And sacks are nice, I grant you. But I don't remember all those sacks making the defense any better, or winning us the AFCCG.

And as I recall, a big part of the reason Clark was brought to the Chiefs was to help in run defense. And he's been doing his part in that respect.

Meanwhile, I can probably count on one hand the number of good plays Dee made against the run in the last two years.

Just the facts . . .

Clark is non existent everywhere in KC. He does nothing well. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. If you want to pretend otherwise, that's your choice. Frank Clark was supposed to be a difference maker. He is anything but. He is nowhere near the player he was in Seattle. If this is the Frank Clark KC gets, that trade will go down as one of the worst in Chiefs history.

Just the facts...

[TEX]

Originally Posted by Wallcrawler

Dee Ford cost this team a trip to the SB, due to absolute un ****ing fathomable stupidity.

The inability to even line up correctly, the most basic ****ing football concept, he could not grasp in the biggest game of his life.

**** Dee Ford, don't miss him, don't give a flying **** what he does in his career.

I don't care how many ****ing sacks he gets. He will FOREVER be known as the guy who cost the Kansas City Chiefs a trip to the superbowl because he was too stupid to line up on his side of the ****ing field.

Anyone wishing we still had that ****ing idiot here, go ****ing follow the 49ers.

I don't think anyone is wishing that.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by TEX

Clark is non existent everywhere in KC. He does nothing well. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. If you want to pretend otherwise, that's your choice. Frank Clark was supposed to be a difference maker. He is anything but. He is nowhere near the player he was in Seattle. If this is the Frank Clark KC gets, that trade will go down as one of the worst in Chiefs history.

Just the facts...

There are no facts in your statement, only supposition/speculation . . .

Again, you're obviously not watching Clark play. Statistically, he's been playing the run better than any other DL we have. By a large margin. That's not opinion; that's a fact.

Is he playing as well as he played last year? No. And it's significant. His UCL injury or the possible lower body injury he got during preseason may have something to do with it. But I don't care to speculate at this point. However, he is not playing as well as he played last year with Seattle.

And if Clark doesn't get any better after being cleared as 100% healthy, I'd have to reconsider his value to the team.

My only point is that Clark, even in whatever physical condition he's in now, is better than Ford was at his best. And all the numbers, except sack count, agree with my argument, not yours.

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

There are no facts in your statement, only supposition/speculation . . .

Again, you're obviously not watching Clark play. Statistically, he's been playing the run better than any other DL we have. By a large margin. That's not opinion; that's a fact.

Is he playing as well as he played last year? No. And it's significant. His UCL injury or the possible lower body injury he got during preseason may have something to do with it. But I don't care to speculate at this point. However, he is not playing as well as he played last year with Seattle.

And if Clark doesn't get any better after being cleared as 100% healthy, I'd have to reconsider his value to the team.

My only point is that Clark, even in whatever physical condition he's in now, is better than Ford was at his best. And all the numbers, except sack count, agree with my argument, not yours.

You have to be the biggest homer on this board. I don't think you have had a post that was critical of this organization. No one cares how "good" Clark has been at run defense, since he's not making tackles or making impact plays. You don't pay 4-3 defensive ends $100 mil to set the edge. You pay them to make impact plays (sacks, pressures, TFL, FF). You don't pay them to have 12 tackles, 1 sack, 1 FF nearly half way through the season.

I find it really hard to believe that he is the reason for the increased run D on his side. I focus on him a lot and he does jack and shit. He gets completely owned by the tackle. He'd also have more than 2 tackles a game if he was so good at stopping the run. All of the best run defenders have a high number of tackles. His stats are reminiscent of a back up that gets very little time in the game.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

You have to be the biggest homer on this board. I don't think you have had a post that was critical of this organization. No one cares how "good" Clark has been at run defense, since he's not making tackles or making impact plays. You don't pay 4-3 defensive ends $100 mil to set the edge. You pay them to make impact plays (sacks, pressures, TFL, FF). You don't pay them to have 12 tackles, 1 sack, 1 FF nearly half way through the season.

I find it really hard to believe that he is the reason for the increased run D on his side. I focus on him a lot and he does jack and shit. He gets completely owned by the tackle. He'd also have more than 2 tackles a game if he was so good at stopping the run. All of the best run defenders have a high number of tackles. His stats are reminiscent of a back up that gets very little time in the game.

Whether I'm a 'homer' or not is irrelevant to this discussion.

Actually, I have been critical of the team before on this forum.

But my comments aren't about how much Clark (or any player) is getting paid. My comments in this thread are only concerned with Clark's performance on the field vs. Dee Ford's performance on the field.

And I did say in my earlier post that Clark isn't performing as well as he did last year by a significant statistical margin. Maybe you missed that part.

But it doesn't change the fact that Dee Ford's capabilities on the field were confined to solely rushing the passer. In every other capacity as a DE he was a liability.

And whether you want to believe it or not, a large part of a DE's responsibility is defending the run. I know it's not flashy to set an edge, or play an assignment properly, but it's a big part of the game and no DE can play in the NFL very long without those capabilities.

It's also a fact that through 6 games Clark has been overall a better DE than Ford.

And I'm sorry but if you focused on Clark for an entire game, as you say you have, you'd have to see all of that.

And what you believe isn't at issue. The only things at issue in this conversation are the facts.

For instance, in the Colts or the Ravens game (blurred now which game) they ran right at Clark 5 times. The aggregate rush yards totaled approximately 13 yards. One rush went for 11 (maybe 13?), a rush for 1, a rush for 3, and one that went for -2.5. I don't remember what the other rush went for. The 13 yard rush was Clark's fault. He got the push he needed and then he got impatient and tried to duck around the OT to his left to make the tackle. He missed and the RB went around to the Clark's right for a big gain. If he'd just stayed neutral, he probably makes that tackle for no more than about a 5 yard gain.

Clark didn't actually make that tackle for -2.5 yards, but he set the edge and then helped force the RB to run out of bounds for a loss. I don't remember the exact yardage of the fifth rush (those weren't in order anyway), but the total was about 13 yards. The average was a bit over 2.5yds/carry. IIRC, it was 2.7, which is about half of what the rest of the line was giving up per rush.

Now, do I think that Clark is being overpaid for that kind of performance? Of course. But as I said before, this conversation wasn't ever about what he was getting paid.

This argument was specifically about whether Clark is a better DE on the field than Ford. Which can be illustrated with facts and data and the eye test.

If reviewing the tape makes me a homer, so be it.

[New World Order]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

It's also a fact that through 6 games Clark has been overall a better DE than Ford.

And I'm sorry but if you focused on Clark for an entire game, as you say you have, you'd have to see all of that.

And what you believe isn't at issue. The only things at issue in this conversation are the facts.

For instance, in the Colts or the Ravens game (blurred now which game) they ran right at Clark 5 times. The aggregate rush yards totaled approximately 13 yards. One rush went for 11 (maybe 13?), a rush for 1, a rush for 3, and one that went for -2.5. I don't remember what the other rush went for. The 13 yard rush was Clark's fault. He got the push he needed and then he got impatient and tried to duck around the OT to his left to make the tackle. He missed and the RB went around to the Clark's right for a big gain. If he'd just stayed neutral, he probably makes that tackle for no more than about a 5 yard gain.

Clark didn't actually make that tackle for -2.5 yards, but he set the edge and then helped force the RB to run out of bounds for a loss. I don't remember the exact yardage of the fifth rush (those weren't in order anyway), but the total was about 13 yards. The average was a bit over 2.5yds/carry. IIRC, it was 2.7, which is about half of what the rest of the line was giving up per rush.

Now, do I think that Clark is being overpaid for that kind of performance? Of course. But as I said before, this conversation wasn't ever about what he was getting paid.

This argument was specifically about whether Clark is a better DE on the field than Ford. Which can be illustrated with facts and data and the eye test.

If reviewing the tape makes me a homer, so be it.

Clark bar

Nnadi gets doubled up to Hitchens. #JacobsEyeInTheSky pic.twitter.com/FLPzTeM8X3

— Nick Jacobs (@Jacobs71) October 8, 2019

[IowaHawkeyeChief]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

You have to be the biggest homer on this board. I don't think you have had a post that was critical of this organization. No one cares how "good" Clark has been at run defense, since he's not making tackles or making impact plays. You don't pay 4-3 defensive ends $100 mil to set the edge. You pay them to make impact plays (sacks, pressures, TFL, FF). You don't pay them to have 12 tackles, 1 sack, 1 FF nearly half way through the season.

I find it really hard to believe that he is the reason for the increased run D on his side. I focus on him a lot and he does jack and shit. He gets completely owned by the tackle. He'd also have more than 2 tackles a game if he was so good at stopping the run. All of the best run defenders have a high number of tackles. His stats are reminiscent of a back up that gets very little time in the game.

You can hate on Clark all you want, as he looks slow to the QB, most likely due to injury, but he is setting an edge on the Run consistently that Ford rarely set. This doesn't lead to tackles, and he isn't playing LB missing tackles or not scraping or filling as they should.

[YontsRBake]

Originally Posted by Buckweath

That's false.

Butker has been a homerun for Veach.

Watkins whilst very frustrating right now was a decent signing.

Ward quietly looks like a good one.

Mathieu has been good IMO.

Nnadi.

Butker is good, I’ll give you that.

Dorsey:
Mahomes
Kelce
Hill
Chris Jones
Ford
Peters
Hunt
Mitchell Schwartz
Fisher
LDT
Maclin
Morse

Veach most notable:
Watkins
Butker
Frank Clark
Honey Badger
Hitchens
Damien Williams
Speaks
Cam Erving
Kpass
Nnadi
Ragland
Mecole
Thornhill


Am I really supposed to believe the latter is doing a good job and was worth firing the former for?

I’m optimistic about this team just due to how good the offensive core is that Dorsey built and that I think Spags will eventually get it together, but at a certain point you gotta realize Veach isn’t helping.

[TEX]

Originally Posted by YontsRBake

Butker is good, I’ll give you that.

Dorsey:
Mahomes
Kelce
Hill
Chris Jones
Ford
Peters
Hunt
Mitchell Schwartz
Fisher
LDT
Maclin
Morse

Veach most notable:
Watkins
Butker
Frank Clark
Honey Badger
Hitchens
Damien Williams
Speaks
Cam Erving
Kpass
Nnadi
Ragland
Mecole
Thornhill


Am I really supposed to believe the latter is doing a good job and was worth firing the former for?

I’m optimistic about this team just due to how good the offensive core is that Dorsey built and that I think Spags will eventually get it together, but at a certain point you gotta realize Veach isn’t helping.

Yep. In fact, one could argue that the roster is decaying under Veach.

[Molitoth]

Originally Posted by New World Order

Clark bar

Nnadi gets doubled up to Hitchens. #JacobsEyeInTheSky pic.twitter.com/FLPzTeM8X3

— Nick Jacobs (@Jacobs71) October 8, 2019

Honestly that was just some really patient and shifty running in the style of Barry Sanders or Leveon Bell.

Great job to him, I can't really hate on the Defense for that.

[New World Order]

Originally Posted by Molitoth

Honestly that was just some really patient and shifty running in the style of Barry Sanders or Leveon Bell.

Great job to him, I can't really hate on the Defense for that.

Clark gets manhandled out of position by about 5 yards.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by New World Order

Clark gets manhandled out of position by about 5 yards.

Yeah, I think I remember that play. Wasn't that after he went out for awhile with that injury and then came back in?

[In58men]

#Chiefs DE Alex Okafor signed a restructured contract recently that clears over $2 million off KC’s cap this year and makes Okafor a free agent next March, per source. He’s now due a max of $4.96M in 2020, including $860K in per-game roster bonuses and $2M in incentives

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by In58men

#Chiefs DE Alex Okafor signed a restructured contract recently that clears over $2 million off KC’s cap this year and makes Okafor a free agent next March, per source. He’s now due a max of $4.96M in 2020, including $860K in per-game roster bonuses and $2M in incentives

He was going to get cut anyway so makes a lot of sense.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by In58men

#Chiefs DE Alex Okafor signed a restructured contract recently that clears over $2 million off KC’s cap this year and makes Okafor a free agent next March, per source. He’s now due a max of $4.96M in 2020, including $860K in per-game roster bonuses and $2M in incentives

So we’re up to $15 million in cap space. Wonder what they have planned.