Why the Chiefs acquired Neil Farrell and Darius Rush

On Tuesday, the Kansas City Chiefs made a flurry of moves to finalize their 53-man roster. Among them were two outside additions to the team: one through a trade for defensive lineman Neil Farrell Jr. and another through a waiver claim for cornerback Darius Rush. Chiefs general manager Brett Veach discussed these moves during his press conference on Wednesday.

“Certainly, liked both those players coming out,” Veach told members of the media on Wednesday, “and the tape was — it seems like we just watched the tape yesterday on Rush, and then [Farrell] just came out last year — he was a fourth-round pick last year. Again, two young guys we get to add to our roster along with the draft picks — I think all of them earned their way on the roster this year, as well as one undrafted free agent.”

Farrell was the big addition to the team on Tuesday after the Chiefs traded a sixth-round pick to acquire him from divisional rival Las Vegas Raiders. As a fourth-round rookie in last year’s draft, Farrell appeared in nine Raiders’ games last season and played 158 total snaps. In that limited time, he flashed potential as a run-stuffing, lane-clogging big man along the defensive line due to his massive size at 6 feet 4 and 325 pounds.

Veach says the team was always intrigued by Farrell’s size and hopes he could develop into more than just an early-down player for the team.

“That’s always the goal and the plan for anytime you add someone on the defensive line that they can be a complete player,” Veach responded when asked about Farrell eventually playing on third downs. “But right off the bat, just a bigger body, that was one of the things we put an emphasis on. [Farrell] is 6-4 and change. He’s just a bigger, longer body, and as you guys know, Steve (Spagnuolo) like’s that prototype and we certainly do as well. [We] liked him coming out of college. That thing (the trade) picked up late yesterday; [we] worked through it pretty quickly.”

Being vital to Spagnuolo also led to the team’s waiver claim for Rush. The Colts drafted Rush out of South Carolina in the fifth round of this year’s draft but cut him after injuries to his hamstring and hip contributed to up-and-down performances throughout training camp and the preseason.

Still, at 6 feet 2, 198 pounds — with a 4.36 40 time and 33 3/8-inch wingspan, Veach sees the measurables for what could potentially be a productive player on the team.

“Going into this thing we were looking for a bigger, longer defensive end,” Veach said. “We had one of those at the tackle, we were looking for an athletic corner that has size length and speed. Just in the last two days, we were able to get two of those guys — a longer DT and an athletic corner that fits the measurables that we’re looking for.”