Felix Anudike-Uzomah was drafted on Thursday by the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft with the 31st overall pick.
Anudike-Uzomah was selected in a draft that took place in his hometown of Kansas City, where he played at Lee’s Summit High School and signed to play at K-State after. Anudike-Uzomah was an unheralded recruit coming out of high school, he was just a two-star defensive end prospect. Now Anudike-Uzomah gets to play for his hometown team after not being sure he would even play college football before getting an offer from Chris Klieman and K-State.
After appearing in just one game during his true freshman season, Anudike-Uzomah blew up and burst onto the scene in college football with a monstrous 2021. He racked up 11 sacks and 52 tackles and was named the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year and made the all-Big 12 first team. His breakout game was a four-sack performance against TCU in 2021, where he also forced two fumbles that were ruled sacks initially, which would have given him the NCAA single-game sacks record at 6.0.
Anudike-Uzomah started appearing in the first round of some mock drafts prior to his junior season at K-State, where he ultimately earned the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award and helped K-State win the Big 12 Championship. Despite more attention from offensive lines, Anudike-Uzomah still put up 8.5 sacks, 46 total tackles and two forced fumbles.
Highlights from 2022 for Anudike-Uzomah included a three-sack game against Texas Tech and taking down Max Duggan in the Big 12 Championship Game for his final sack as a Wildcat. Anudike-Uzomah ended his career with 20.5 sacks and two all-American seasons which will likely put him in the K-State Football Ring of Honor someday with his teammate and roommate at K-State, Deuce Vaughn.
Anudike-Uzomah is the first Wildcat to be drafted in the first round since Josh Freeman was taken 17th overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2009. Anudike-Uzomah is the sixth Wildcat to be taken in the first round.
Kansas State ➡️ Kansas City❗️
The Chiefs chose DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah with the final pick of the first round. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/yzSfMfKvLT
— ESPN (@espn) April 28, 2023
