The Kansas City Chiefs added a lot of new faces on the defensive side of the ball this offseason and especially so in the secondary.
A total of four draft picks are expected to play key roles in the defensive secondary for Kansas City, be it in a starting capacity or as depth. With the first week of the 2022 NFL season upon us, Chiefs HC Andy Reid isn’t too concerned about the relative inexperience of players like Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson, Joshua Williams and Bryan Cook.
“Yeah, I like them,” Reid said of the young secondary. “I like the speed they play with. I think Juan (Thornhill) has done a good job of kind of helping everybody out back there and managing that from a player’s standpoint back there. But it looks like we’ve got good speed and range and those type of things.”
It’s not like the group is entirely comprised of rookies. They have Thornhill as Reid mentioned, but there’s also Rashad Fenton, L’Jarius Sneed and Justin Reid for the young players to lean on. Still, Reid expects and plans to live with the growing pains that will come from having a young secondary.
“There are going to be some hiccups here and there when you have young guys,” Reid said. “That’s what happens, but I think in the long haul we’ll be okay with the guys we got there.”
What this group lacks in experience, they make up for in athleticism and speed. That was something that was clearly lacking from the entire Chiefs defense in recent seasons, but it was especially apparent in the 2021 NFL season. If this group can stay assignment sound in Week 1 and rely on their natural gifts, the team should be in good shape as they kick off the regular season.
