While we’ve already discussed how much the Chiefs would love to add a defensive tackle like Aubrayo Franklin (or at least we’ve said how much we would love it), it seems we’re not the only ones to believe so. Rivers McCown from Football Outsiders is calling the move of Franklin to the Chiefs as one of the “best fits” in the NFL free agent season.
Last year, Franklin had 39 tackles for the 49ers and has still maintained a high level of playing stuffing the middle through eight seasons in the NFL. The 6-1, 320 lineman is good for one last large contract in the NFL, and the Chiefs will have to pay him well in order to win his services given the competition for solid starting defensive tackles. McCown loves the fit when he writes:
After being franchised last season, San Francisco’s giant nose tackle put in another productive season anchoring the middle of the 49ers’ defense. In each of the past two seasons, Franklin has been in the top five for defensive linemen in stop rate, our measure of how successful a player was at keeping the offense from having a productive play. True nose tackles are in high demand these days, but the best fit for him comes in Kansas City, where the Chiefs could stand to do better than 32-year-old Ron Edwards.
Edwards certainly been a serviceable-to-good player for the Chiefs over the last couple of seasons, but most every fan would desire an upgrade if it made sense. Franklin is one such player and it seems that others are noticing that fit as well.