‘The defections will catch up to him’… NFL expert speaks about pressure on Chiefs’ new starter after star’s departure’

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Concerns about the Kansas City Chiefs’ passing game have been existent since Tyreek Hill’s departure, but the defense has also suffered setbacks.

Kansas City dedicated 90 per cent of the offseason and free agency to filling out the receiving corps and adding young players with the long-term future in mind.

In the Draft, they managed to balance it out and bring in both defenders and offensive rookies.

Unfortunately, in order to be able to focus on the goal of winning the three-peat, the organisation had to make tough choices for financial reasons – you can’t keep everyone.

What L’Jarius Sneed’s departure implies

L’Jarius Sneed was possibly the most painful loss for Chiefs Kingdom. That’s because he put in some excellent performances in the 2023 season and especially in the Super Bowl.

His move to the Tennessee Titans has left concerns about the cornerback position in KC hanging in the air.

Naturally, Trent McDuffie will take over – with a lot of credit and deservedly so. But that doesn’t mean Sneed won’t be missed in the secondary.

Chiefs may feel the absence of Sneed

NFL Network analyst and former Dallas Cowboys player Brian Baldinger appeared on the Green Light with Chris Long podcast in May and was asked how much the Chiefs will feel the effects of not having Sneed running the cornerback group.

“I would worry about it more if Andy Reid wasn’t the coach, right?”. This was the journalist’s first sentence.

Baldinger elaborated about the Chiefs’ head coach: “He just has a way to reset, year to year, and even when they were struggling last year, they were struggling, nobody panics, nobody’s throwing in the towel. Spags (Steve Spagnuolo) is just masterful and using his chess pieces, but LJ will get missed.”

The analyst believes that Sneed has a golden future in the NFL.

“That guy will punk any receiver in this league. I don’t care if it’s Tyreek, you name it. He’s gonna challenge any corner that’s gonna go out there and play that style. You’re gonna get beat. It’s gonna happen.”

“It’s the old amnesia thing… He plays the game the right way, he’s physical. He came out of, you know, a small school in Louisiana, being a fourth round pick. That guy earned that contract that he got.” said, concluding his thoughts on the Titans’ current CB.

The responsibility lies with Trent McDuffie

The former Cowboys player hinted that Trent McDuffie is now carrying a weight on his back that will be hard to bear.

“And so while sometimes you go, ‘Well, they drafted Trent to become the number one corner’, that’s fine, but when you have that guy opposite you that’s taking on the number one and all of a sudden you’re in that position – that’s a different pressure that Trent hadn’t yet,” noted.

Regardless of the fact that the Chiefs are the Chiefs, i.e. favourites for everything, Baldinger thinks the bill will come due.

“At some point the defections will catch up to him. I just don’t know that’s gonna happen right now.