Omarr Norman-Lott Gives the Chiefs Something They Needed
Examining the plans and needs for the Chiefs' newest defensive tackle
Part of what makes the NFL Draft great is watching teams approach the process entirely different, and seeing them all clash throughout the weekend.
Sure, sometimes it is as simple as taking the best player available (and the good ones don’t just stay on the board most of the time), but you can see logical processes for individual selections and at times whole drafts.
The Jaguars were seeking “intangibly rich” players to change the culture of their organization. The New England Patriots prioritized building the offense around quarterback Drake Maye with all four of their top-100 picks on the offensive side of the ball. The Cardinals took major swings on talent with red flags with their first two picks to try and secure more blue chip players.
The Chiefs are much more settled than the aforementioned teams. They are the model of success in the league and aren’t looking to build as much as they are focused on sustaining for the short and long term. They aren’t chasing blue chips the way other teams might be. They have established superstars on both sides of the ball that need to be accentuated with the right fits.
The Chiefs believe they have the right fit for their defensive line with the selection of Omarr Norman-Lott — the Tennessee defensive tackle. Opinions on him heading into the draft were all over the place. His grades ranged across the media space from day one to day three. A tricky evaluation with a small sample size on a per game basis, Norman-Lott averaged less than 20 snaps per game in a season. He was was largely utilized on passing downs.
The style and role that Norman-Lott played in Tennessee points to something that I think can be gleaned about the Chiefs — they wanted to find a way to have what Tershawn Wharton provided on the 2025 roster.
Wharton was paid handsomely by the Carolina Panthers with a three year, $45 million deal to provide some pass rush juice along the interior of their defense. A former UDFA, Wharton did not look much like a Steve Spagnuolo defensive lineman when he flashed as a 6’1” 280 pound tackle.
But Wharton found a way onto the roster and played his way into a role as a rookie despite not being the type of player typically employed by Spagnuolo — who historically has preferred bigger interior players and then leaning heavily on his defensive ends on rushing downs.
The Chiefs clearly valued what Wharton did for their defense while breaking the mold of what they’ve prioritized. So they found a little bit of the best of both worlds with Norman-Lott — a player who has some of the traits of Wharton in a little bit bigger frame.
The contract Wharton was given shows the value of what he wound up becoming. The Chiefs got a five year career from him that would likely equate to the value of what you hoped to get out of a second round pick.
The hope is that Norman-Lott can provide something similar. While they aren’t identical players, there are components of Norman-Lott’s game that the Chiefs needed more of on their defensive line. And the hope is they can translate to an impact interior disruptor in 2025.