Timing is everything. Well, for Dee Ford it couldn’t be truer. After four seasons with a high overall grade of 63.5 and pass-rush grade of 65.9 in 2016 and only 316 snaps in 2017, Ford dominated in 2018. Playing on the fifth-year option from his rookie contract, Ford had the No. 1 pass-rush grade (91.0) as well as the most total QB pressures among edge defenders (78).
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In seven of 16 games this past season, Ford had at least five QB pressures, including a sack. Thus, the timing of a breakout/elite season could not have been more perfect. However, as PFF’s Mike Renner highlighted a couple of weeks ago, Ford’s previous performance makes him a high risk/high reward player but one still likely to at least be franchise-tagged by the Chiefs to prevent him from hitting the open market.
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