Chiefs cornerbacks are developing at an alarmingly fast rate

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At this stage of the regular season, there is much to like about the Chiefs’ defensive play, particularly their pass coverage.

You don’t have to be a football connoisseur to see that Steve Spagnuolo‘s defense overall has been carrying the Chiefs through much of the season thus far.

The pass rush is one of the best in the league regarding quarterback sacks (31), and overall, they are among the top five defenses in the entire NFL.

Allowing a mere 15.9 points per game and being among the best at creating pressure doesn’t happen by accident.

Those are just a few areas the Chiefs’ defense has excelled at during the 2023 season.

The Chiefs “No Fly Zone”

If you love to see excellent pass coverage, you have to appreciate what the Kansas City secondary has shown this season.

Conceding an average of 176 passing yards per game takes some doing, especially when facing three of the top four passing offenses in the league (Miami, Detroit and Minnesota).

The Chiefs secondary Justin Jefferson to three catches for 28 yards before he was injured while limiting Tyreek Hill to just 62 receiving yards in Frankfurt.

Their achievements in pass coverage are reminiscent of the 2015 Broncos unit, deemed the “No Fly Zone”.

That Super Bowl-winning team included TJ Ward, Chris Harris and Aquib Talib, to name a few, all of whom were First-team All-Pros at some point in their careers.

Kansas City’s secondary is young but is showing a maturity well beyond their years.

Their cornerbacks are holding opponents to the third-lowest average yards-per-attempt and the sixth-fewest passing first downs.

Only one of their defensive backs is over 26, with Mike Edwards currently 27.

Trent McDuffie is 23 and in his second season looks like a 10-year veteran, making 20 stops through nine games, trailing only linebacker Drue Tranquill.

Tranquill, McDuffie, Justin Reid, L’Jarius Sneed and Mike Edwards each have at least four passes defended.

Who needs to step up?

I am being picky with this because no one on the Chiefs has been poor in the cover game this year.

However, second-year cornerbacks Joshua Williams and Jaylen Watson need to find ways to earn more reps.

Watson didn’t play a defensive snap in Week One and was out injured in Week Four, defending two passes thus far with one sack.

Williams has played just 33 defensive snaps, defending one pass.

Altogether, Watson has played 121 defensive snaps, so his body of work is greater, but they are each a work in progress.

Truthfully, I had to grasp at straws to find a flaw for the Chiefs’ secondary overall.

A good problem

The two negatives mentioned previously could easily be seen as positives.

In McDuffie, Sneed, Watson and Williams, KC has four cornerbacks they trust to play meaningful snaps.

And all this while their #3 and #4 corners (Watson and Williams) alternate snaps and continue to grow as professionals.

Six of the Chiefs’ eight defensive backs haven’t even played two full NFL seasons, with Reid and Edwards being the only exceptions.

The scariest part for Chiefs’ opponents is that this unit is seemingly only just getting started.