Kenechi Udeze has been a disappointment so far as a Viking. The team expected him to become at least a consistent pass-rusher when they drafted him 20th overall in 2004, but Udeze has tallied only 6 sacks in three years (one shortened by injury), and recorded none last year despite playing all 16 games. In this week’s OTAs, Udeze, a starter throughout his career, has seen himself relegated to second-team status behind Darrion Scott – not a good omen. But, Udeze remains undaunted. As he told the Pioneer-Press‘s Don Seeholzer:
"Of course, it’s been frustrating for a guy who tries to work hard at everything he does. I just told myself that I’m going to end this thing off better than I started. Hopefully, with this year, I can start a new part of my career."
One expects such optimistic words from players – after all, we want them to be confident, or at least show confidence (when they may in fact be consumed with doubt). But, in Udeze’s case, I’m afraid the happy-talk is especially meaningless. At this point, it’s become obvious that Kenechi will never develop into more than a serviceable player, probably one more suited to a back-up role than starting. Yes, he did record 13 tackles-for-loss last season – after managing to rack up a whopping 1 his first two years. But tackles-for-loss against ball-carriers is not what this team wants from Udeze – it wants quarterback sacks. It needs quarterback sacks. At the very least it needs something resembling quarterback pressure.
It was said numerous times last year: If you’re a starting defensive end in the NFL, you should occasionally at the very least stumble into a sack; you know, when a quarterback trips right next to you and you touch him and get the credit. But Udeze never got close enough to a QB to even get a cheap one. He never had a QB turn around trying to escape someone else and run right into his arms – largely because no QBs ever had anyone chasing them that they had to escape. The only thing that made Udeze’s inability to get pressure from his side look slightly less conspicuous was that there was no pressure from the other side either. It was a balanced attack – neither side did anything. This year, though, at least we have Erasmus James‘s return to look forward to – hopefully he will be able to make good on the flashes of promise he was able to show in his first two, truncated seasons. Funny, but that’s kind of how we felt about Kenechi Udeze last year, as he was coming back from his injury in 2005. Unfortunately, what we hoped to see never materialized, and now we’re looking at a very familiar prospect – having to label yet another first-round draft pick a definitive bust.