Late in the second round of the NFL Draft, defensive tackles like Tyleik Williams of Ohio State and Alfred Collins of Texas had already come off the board, while Toledo’s Darius Alexander was still available. These were some of the high-profile players that Kansas City Chiefs fans had been expecting the team to acquire to improve its defensive interior.
But Kansas City used the 63rd overall pick to get Tennessee defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott. While he wasn’t the player many fans expected, the Chiefs had been eyeing him.
“His get-off is one of the top in this class,” director of player personnel and college scouting Ryne Nutt said of Norman-Lott on Monday. “He can get up the field and use his hands. He’s got a move array. So as a rusher, [he] was very intriguing.”
As far as the Chiefs’ were concerned, Norman-Lott could replace some of what the team lost with the departure of Tershawn Wharton, who signed a three-year deal with the Carolina Panthers in free agency.
“He’s got some similarities to Turk,” said Nutt. “He’s bigger — [and] he’s not as fast — but their playing style is very similar. This kid was like 99th percentile in terms of rush win rate; he was one of the top defensive tackles in winning one-on-one pass rushes. And that’s what we — first off — need. And that’s what we saw could add value.”
Nutt reminded his listeners that at the NFL Scouting Combine, Norman-Lott checked in at 6 feet 2 and 291 pounds, with 33 3/4-inch arms and 10 3/4-inch hands — and then turned in a 31.5-inch vertical jump and a 9-foot-5 broad jump.
“Those guys go quick,” explained Nutt. “We know they go quick — and an interior guy that can rush as well [will] go even quicker.”
And that put him on general manager Brett Veach’s radar.
“Before the draft — [and] before that round,” recalled Nutt, “Brett was pretty adamant: ‘OK, he’s one of these guys we have to consider.’ We put up a list of four or five guys. He was one of them. He ended up being one of the top guys left — and that was a position of need as well.”
The team is well aware that, unlike some of the other defensive tackles available in the draft, Norman-Lott (who played just 26% of Tennessee’s defensive snaps in 2024, per PFF) was mostly used as a pass rusher in sub-packages. But according to Nutt, that’s just what the Chiefs need.
“We feel like he can come in and help out — [and] help rush the passer,” maintained Nutt. “He didn’t start a ton [during] his career there at Tennessee, but it’s really what you do with snaps — and they rotate a lot. So really, it’s just what he does in those 20 to 25 snaps a game. The kid [has a] high motor. He was highly productive and highly disruptive. And those are the things we look for.”
The team also believes that Norman-Lott is walking into the right situation with defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and defensive line coach Joe Cullens.
“He’ll be with coach Cullens,” noted Nutt, “the best defensive line coach in the NFL, I believe. He’ll be able to get that out of him — and I think more, even, against the run… We’re excited to get this kid and work with him — because we think there’s a ton of potential.”
