Two weeks from today, there will be a Kansas City Chiefs training camp practice to react to!
On Wednesday, July 29, the Chiefs will hold a full-team practice to an exclusive crowd of season-ticket holders. The following day will be the team’s first public practice.
To get ready for camp, let’s take a look at the players competing for an important role in the starting defense: the slot defender, or the “Nickel.” We’ll start with an incumbent who may be starting elsewhere in the secondary this year.
Safety Chamarri Conner
Slot snaps in 2025: 391 (Pro Football Focus)
Conner led the team in slot snaps last season, manning the Nickel position in the Chiefs’ primary defensive personnel. While he certainly looks the part on run downs, flying to the line of scrimmage aggressively to fill run lanes, the role put him in a bad spot on more obvious pass downs. He is a natural safety, and the results back up the notion that he is not as natural as a man-coverage, slot cornerback.
Based on the team’s moves in free agency and the draft, it is ready to move away from relying on Conner in that way. That feeling was further cemented after OTA practices were observed by beat reporters: one major takeaway from many was that Conner appeared to be playing as a strong safety in the defense, leaving the Nickel and slot snaps to others.
There’s a good chance that Conner’s best football is still ahead of him if he is deployed as a true strong safety.
Safety Christian Roland-Wallace
Slot snaps in 2025: 56
After playing 78% of his rookie snaps (153) in the slot during the 2024 season, Roland-Wallace continued to make an impact on the Chiefs’ defense in a limited fashion, but with more alignment diversity.
Roland-Wallace played 56 snaps in the slot, 60 as a free safety and 65 in the box (PFF). When he did see more time in the slot as a rookie, he was sent as a blitzer 20 times, earning two quarterback hits and four other pressures.
The coaching staff’s expanded use of him last season could be a strong indicator of his candidacy to continue playing a role in the defense. The Nickel spot could be where he settles in.
Cornerback Kevin Knowles
Slot snaps in 2025: 74
With a path to the field similar to Roland-Wallace’s as a rookie, Knowles flashed his athleticism and range on special teams in 2025. On defense, he was nearly exclusively used in the slot.
In coverage, Knowles allowed just four receptions over the 12 targets credited to him by PFF, generating a 42.4 passer rating over those passes. He also blitzed eight times, generating one pressure and a batted-down pass.
He may be more focused on making a special teams impact entering Year 2, but Knowles is one that will catch your eye during training camp and the preseason.
Rookie Jadon Canady
Slot snaps in 2025 (at Oregon): 346
Without a third-round pick in this year’s draft, the selection of Canady says a lot about how the team feels about his skillset. He is already set to be a “four-phase” special teams player, according to coordinator Dave Toub.
On defense, the reports out of OTAs indicate Canady is settling into that Nickel position, rather than the traditional safety or cornerback roles. It makes sense: Canady spent 57% of his 2025 snaps in the slot, while also aligning as a true safety at times. That comes a year after he spent the majority of his snaps (275) as an outside cornerback at Ole Miss.
Canady was a shutdown coverage player for the Ducks. He allowed just 17 catches over the 37 targets credited to him, allowing just 104 yards (6.1 per catch) over those plays.
He knows coverage, but will need to be coached up on playmaking as a blitzer if he does man the slot. He was sent after the quarterback just 33 times over 2,451 collegiate snaps.
Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed
Slot snaps in 2024 and 2025 (with the Tennessee Titans): 15
Sneed is the dark-horse candidate to return to a position he once manned as a young, raw playmaker in defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s scheme. Before he evolved into shutting receivers down exclusively on the perimeter in 2023, Sneed played 1,551 snaps in the slot over his first three seasons with Kansas City.
Similar to Conner, Sneed had enough physicality to take on blocks against the run to keep the run defense strong, even when the team had the fifth defensive back on the field instead of a third linebacker. Once he got the coverage part down, he was moved out of the slot in favor of a young Trent McDuffie, who had a similar career path.
Could Sneed’s return, which occurred after weeks of OTA practices had been held, indicate the team’s feelings on the rest of this group? The team’s outside cornerbacks could use the insurance, but there’s a chance Sneed’s return to the Chiefs could include returning to the slot, a move that could prolong his impact in the league.
Who do you think will be the team’s starting, or primary, slot defender in 2026? Let us know in the comments.
