Being drafted in the first round already enhances the pressure for any incoming rookie. That is even more so with Kansas City Chiefs DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah, as he is a hometown kid, who played college football just up I-70 at Kansas State.
Speaking to media members after his first training camp practice, Anudike-Uzomah spoke about how his position is different from other rookies, and why his thumb injury and absence from practice earlier in the offseason magnified that.
“They drafted me to play right away, they drafted me in the first round, so all the coaches expect a lot out of me,” Anudike-Uzomah said. “It was very hard, very tough that I couldn’t do everything they wanted me to do right away. It was a lot of mental reps and learning the playbook.”
Mental repetitions have quickly turned into physical repetitions at training camp as Anudike-Uzomah is 100% recovered from the thumb injury. The former Wildcat pass rusher realizes that he has a support group within the locker room to manage the gravity of being both a first-round pick and a hometown kid.
“Personally, I lean back on my teammates, especially the rookies. They all know what my position is, they know how big it is, especially since I am a hometown kid,” Anudike-Uzomah continued. “They always try to preach to me because they know it is very different in my shoes. They always try to keep my head up, try to keep me motivated, keep going, and tell me every day what the goal is.”
Entering his rookie season, Anudike-Uzomah has a lot of expectations for himself, but he believes that it all starts with the fundamentals.
“Bottom line, get through the playbook, just learn from the veterans because obviously, they have won a Super Bowl, “Anudike-Uzomah said. “They have already been in this position, so I need to learn as much as I can from the veterans and coaches.”
Steve Spagnuolo’s defense is a complicated scheme that has given a number of rookies and incoming players an adjustment period. The 21-year-old pass rusher understands how monumental a grasp on the playbook is to his success in 2023.
“I’m just learning the playbook now, so I just need to keep going into the playbook and learning every day,” Anudike-Uzomah said. “We have quite a bit of time, especially this whole camp, so hopefully by then I’ll have this whole playbook down.”
Despite being the Chiefs’ first-round selection in this past draft, Anudike-Uzomah knows that playing time on the field isn’t guaranteed just because of how high he was drafted. He’ll need to earn his keep over the course of the next 1.5 months.
“I still have to impress the coaches, still the same thing day-by-day — impress the coaches,” Anudike-Uzomah emphasized. “At the end of the day, if you don’t impress the coaches, you won’t get on the field. Obviously, learning the playbook, learning my technique, doing everything possible for the coaches to be impressed by what I do will eventually, hopefully, have me on the field.”
