According to a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Kansas City Chiefs’ rookie defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott — who left Sunday’s 31-0 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders with a knee injury — has
suffered a torn ACL. This will end his season.
Taken with the 63rd overall selection in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft, Norman-Lott spent three seasons at Arizona State before finishing his college eligibility at Tennesseee. Before the draft, our Caleb James identified the 23-year old as an immediate rotational contributor.
Tennessee played a deep defensive front, with many rotational pieces. By making an effort to keep teams guessing and keep their players fresh, it meant some players would see fewer snaps, allowing them to be more effective in the ones they did play.
This seems to be the box that Lott was put in.
If taken by a team like the Chiefs, Lott would find himself in a similar role and likely be a contributor off the bench early in his career.
That is the way defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has been using him.
As you can see, Norman-Lott has missed two of this season’s games with injuries — an ankle injury in Week 1 and a shoulder injury in Week 5. His use has tended toward passing plays, ranging from 19% to 35% of the total defensive snaps. Through five games, he’s collected five tackles (four solo), a sack, two hurries and three pressures.
Norman-Lott’s injury will undoubtedly increase calls for the Chiefs to acquire a defensive tackle. But we should note the team has of them on the practice squad: Marlon Tuipulotu, Zacch Pickens and Brodric Martin. All three have NFL playing experience — although Tuipulotu (32 games, 2 starts) and Pickens (26 games, 3 starts) have significantly more than Martin (5 games, 1 start).
