Kansas City Chiefs LB Anthony Hitchens Has Embraced Leadership Role Among Linebackers
As the Kansas City Chiefs' defense looks to take another step forward in 2020, linebacker Anthony Hitchens has already reached out to help rookie linebacker Willie Gay Jr. adjust to the NFL.
The seventh-year veteran told reporters in a press conference on Friday that he has texted with Gay on numerous occasions since the NFL Draft. The Chiefs' second-round pick had plenty of questions for Hitchens in their latest exchange.
“He was asking me what he needed to learn,” Hitchens said. “I told him, ‘learn the playbook, you have enough ability to play, obviously. We drafted you and I just can’t wait to work with you. I’m going to give you all of the knowledge that I know to the game so that you can give it to the next guy under you.’ That’s my biggest thing, just giving knowledge to the younger guys so they can keep passing it along, so to speak.”
Hitchens seems to have the same excitement that the Chiefs’ front office has had towards Gay. The former Mississippi State linebacker was known for his vocal leadership throughout his time as a Bulldog. He also ran a 4.46-second 40-yard dash at the combine.
Hitchens said those two factors are similar to Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu and could leave a positive impact on the field.
“If you ever watch for example [Mathieu], every time he makes a play, he’s doing something. He tries to energize the defense letting guys know that I just made a play, everybody else let’s do it. That’s the type of energy [Gay] is going to bring and he’s rangy with his arms and keeping guys off of him, cut block, getting off blocks and then making tackles.”
Gay is expected to step into a weakside linebacker role with the Chiefs. Safety Daniel Sorenson slid into the position at times last season, especially after linebacker Darron Lee seemed to lose the job.
Lee had 31 tackles and did not record a single snap in the postseason.
Hitchens said he is ready to help Gay’s versatility further develop to fill the previous middle linebacker weakness.
“I think it was a good pick,” Hitchens said. “I can’t wait to play with him. I texted him as soon as he got picked. We conversed a couple days ago. Just to let him know, I’m here to help people. I had help when I was young. I’m just here to help him grow and help him be a professional. I’m going on year seven. I’m trying to just help everyone as possible.”
