By DAVE SKRETTA – AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Nobody gave Kendrick Lewis much thought when the Kansas City Chiefs made him their fifth-round draft pick last year.

He wasn’t even the best player out of Ole Miss to be selected by the Chiefs – they also picked versatile running back Dexter McCluster in the third round. But Scott Pioli saw something in
Lewis on video, so the Kansas City general manager called in to make Lewis the 136th overall pick.

Now, plenty of teams are forced to give Lewis a whole lot of thought.

The second-year safety has assumed a much bigger role with the Chiefs, who lost Pro Bowl safety Eric Berry to a season-ending knee injury in the first game of the season.