The Kansas City Chiefs finished in the bottom half of the NFL in sacks last season with just 39. In comparison, the division rival Denver Broncos produced 63 sacks. There’s room for growth on Kansas City’s roster at defensive end. The Chiefs need to continue investing in the role through the NFL draft until they hit on a true star pass rusher.
General manager Brett Veach targets a specific body type at defensive end. Players like George Karlaftis and Ashton Gillotte fit this mold but lack the speed and burst to generate quick pressures. Analysts often talk about wide receiver rooms needing complementary skill sets, but the same is true for pass rushing units.
Tennessee Volunteers defensive end Joshua Josephs offers several traits not currently present on Kansas City’s roster. He’s unofficially listed at 6’3″, 240 lbs., which differentiates him from Kansas City’s existing players. Josephs is an explosive rusher with the arm length (34.75 inches) to lock out offensive linemen and drive them into the pocket by converting speed to power.
Josephs’ pass rush plan includes cross-chops, rips, spins, swims and two-handed swipes. He fires off the line with the speed to generate quick pressures from wide alignments. Josephs lacks ideal bend, so he needs to win with power or B-gap attacks when operating in tighter alignments. His arms and burst give his power profile a nice floor, but he lacks the mass to generate consistent pressure as a bull rusher.
Josephs uses his length to set the edge temporarily, but he lacks the play strength to anchor the line at the point of attack consistently. He easily discards blocking tight ends with his physicality, but NFL-caliber offensive tackles provide a greater challenge. Josephs punches above his weight in the run game, but he might be better long-term as a slashing run defender than an edge-setter.
Josephs is still a developmental player with a mix of Day 2 and Day 3 traits. However, his standout performance in Week 1 against Syracuse suggests he could earn a top 75 selection in the 2026 NFL draft.