A very Merry Draftmas to you!
We continue our tradition of profiling an NFL Draft prospect every day in April, leading up to the NFL Draft on April 29th. Every day, you’ll get a prospect profile that includes how they would fit with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs need a short and long-term solution at the defensive end position. Steve Spagnuolo has historically preferred dense, powerful, versatile defensive ends. Here is one that is a prototypical player that meets the criteria:
Carlos Basham, defensive end
6’3” | 274 lbs | Wake Forest
Roanoake, VA
Expected draft range: Day two
Pro Day: 4.62 40-yard dash, 34” vertical jump, 122” broad jump, 4.31 short shuttle, 7.13 three-cone
One-sentence bio: Former First-team All-ACC and 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl participant who is cousins with Dallas Cowboy defensive end Tarell Basham.
One-sentence scouting report: Dense, powerful defensive end with a great deal of promise as an interior pass rusher.
One play:
Another big matchup this weekend, Carlos Basham (WF) vs Jackson Carman (Clem).
— Matt Lane (@ChiefinCarolina) September 11, 2020
Basham is a prototypical big bodied, base DE that plays the run incredibly well and brings an explosive 1st step. Power vs power against Carman, Basham needs to flash high end pass rush vs top comp pic.twitter.com/k1RN59S97g
How he fits in Kansas City: Basham has a skill set that Brett Veach has shown a desire to acquire for his defensive coordinator. Spagnuolo and Veach believe the pass rush starts with power players and Basham is just that. He is dense and stout at the point of attack in the run game.
Basham hasn’t always shown enough juice or flexibility to win up the arc, he showed a lot more promise inside at the Senior Bowl. While in Mobile, Basham looked more explosive than he did his final year with the Demon Deacons. He was a handful for just about any interior offensive lineman he matched up against. He won with quickness, a surprising first step and was able to operate through the chest of a lot of linemen as well.
That versatility should really intrigue the Chiefs — who love to kick a bigger base end inside on rushing downs. Basham affords them that flexibility and could add some much-needed juice to the pass rush rotation. There’s a clear path to success for Basham in the NFL — pairing good effort and power to set a good edge on early downs and trying to disrupt next to Chris Jones inside. It would not surprise me if it’s the Chiefs — and while I would disagree with the value it could be as early as pick 31.
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