The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl back in February largely on the back of a dominant defense and last-minute Patrick Mahomes heroics against the San Francisco 49ers.
But, the Chiefs made waves this offseason by trading away star cornerback L’Jarius Sneed in a blockbuster deal with the Tennessee Titans.
As the offseason program gets underway, the Chiefs haven’t made any marquee additions at cornerback, and that might be for good reason.
Perhaps defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, head coach Andy Reid, general manager Brett Veach and the Chiefs believe Joshua Williams is ready for an expanded role in the secondary following Sneed’s departure.
Pro Football Focus NFL Analyst Bradley Locker put together a list of each team’s breakout star for the 2024 season, including Williams taking the title for Kansas City.
“Someone is going to have to help mitigate the loss of L’Jarius Sneed,” Locker writes. “And Williams should assist. Last season, the 2022 fourth-rounder amassed a 74.4 overall grade and four pass breakups while missing only 4.2% of tackles. Steve Spagnuolo has a knack for developing unheralded corners, and Williams is poised to be next in line.”
Last season, Williams appeared in 16 games while producing 18 total tackles and breaking up four passes as opposing quarterbacks posted a meager 78.5 passer rating when throwing his direction and receivers averaged just eight yards per reception.
If Williams can replicate that production in an expanded role, the Chiefs’ cornerback room will be in exceptional hands.
Originally Posted by Rausch:
This D will still be a top 5 unit. What a group of super young players that will only get better. It's an amazingly deep unit as well...
I'm not sure how much of a drop-off there will be without Sneed in there, but Top-5, top-10, top-14 . . . regardless, it will be more than good enough to help the team win in the playoffs.
If there are areas on the team to be concerned about it's definitely not the secondary. [Reply]
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Nazeeh Johnson tracking to start over Sneed (on the outside, anyway) last offseason and leading into training camp before he went down for the year?
I'm a fan of Joshua Williams and Jaylen Watson both, but I can't lie - I'm looking forward to what Nazeeh can bring to the position this year. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bowser:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Nazeeh Johnson tracking to start over Sneed (on the outside, anyway) last offseason and leading into training camp before he went down for the year?
I'm a fan of Joshua Williams and Jaylen Watson both, but I can't lie - I'm looking forward to what Nazeeh can bring to the position this year.
Not sure exacty, but I do remember there was some talk towards the end of last season that Nazeeh was improving to the point that people were saying he should be starting or at least taking a larger number of snaps in games. [Reply]
Originally Posted by InChiefsHeaven:
They lost me at "Blockbuster trade"...
these articles are so dumb and I've been seeing them more lately from shit like msn when I changed browsers. Constant articles popping up about the Chiefs. Like last week, the Chiefs released Anthony Miller. He has never mattered. The title was something like "Chiefs release former 2nd round pick in a drastic move, nobody expected this!" Literally everybody expected that.
