KANSAS CITY — Shades of Jared Allen?

Chiefs second-year defensive end Turk McBride has a way to go to make Kansas City fans forget Allen, the 2007 NFL sack leader whom the Chiefs traded to Minnesota in the offseason for draft packs.

But McBride is leading the league with three sacks in two preseason games — a statistic he waves off.

“Those stats don’t even count,” McBride said. “I’m not even counting those myself to be honest. If I can just make that turn over into the regular season, I think we’re going to do well.”

Allen missed the first two games of the 2007 season because of a suspension but still logged 15 1/2 sacks. Maybe McBride could keep the NFL sack title in Kansas City.

“I hope so,” McBride said. “That’s definitely a goal of mine, or just to be named among the top defensive ends — basically, to have our whole defensive line be named as one of the best defensive lines out there.”

McBride logged two sacks in Saturday’s 27-17 loss to Arizona, getting to Kurt Warner for a 6-yard loss in the first quarter and taking down Matt Leinart late in the second quarter. He also caused a fumble that the Cardinals recovered.

A second-round pick in 2007, McBride started only one game for the Chiefs as a rookie and recorded a single sack. He admits he was disappointed after starting all 13 games as a senior at Tennessee.

“I don’t think I was mentally ready for the game,” he said, rating his improvement in his second preseason as “over a thousand percent.”

He knew, without prompting from his coaches, what to do after his first season ended.

“I spent two to three hours a day in the offseason watching film, watching Jared, Tamba Hali, watching all the great pass rushers in the NFL right now,” he said. He also watched film of former Chiefs Pro Bowl defensive end Neil Smith.

Could McBride develop into another Jared Allen or Neil Smith?

“I don’t know that,” Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said. “We’ll wait and see. There are not a lot of them. They are hard to find. You never know who they are.

“No one knew who Jared Allen was,” Edwards added. “He was a fourth-round pick. No one knew he was going to be a heckuva pass rusher. It took him four years to develop that skill. Turk is only in his second year.”

McBride believes he knows the key to great pass rushing.

“Just relentless effort,” McBride said. “You rarely beat these great offensive tackles on the first move. It is always the second or third move that gets somebody. Just like Tim (Krumrie, defensive line coach) says, you have to finish, finish every play like it is going to be the last one.”