We are 47 days away from the Kansas City Chiefs‘ season-opening game against the Denver Broncos on “Monday Night Football” in Week 1.
The No. 47 jersey will be worn by cornerback Zelmar Vedder, an undrafted rookie looking to stick around Kansas City longer than just training camp.
That uniform is one of the least worn in franchise history:
The few No. 47s in franchise history
Jon McGraw (2007 – 2011)
Darius Harris (2020 – 2022)
After five seasons with the New York Jets and Detroit Lions, safety Jon McGraw joined the Chiefs in 2007, playing a reserve role on defense and contributing on special
teams. By 2010, McGraw was a bigger factor on defense, roaming the secondary with safety Eric Berry for the next two seasons. Over five years in Kansas City, McGraw intercepted seven passes, forced two fumbles, had two sacks and nine tackles for loss.
Linebacker Darius Harris played in all 17 games during the 2022 season, even starting four on defense due to injuries. He played three games in the postseason that year, racking up five tackles and winning Super Bowl LVII.
47: The number of sacks allowed by the Chiefs’ offense last season
Between quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Gardner Minshew and Chris Oladokun, the Chiefs’ quarterbacks were sacked the 11th-most times among all NFL quarterback rooms. Kansas City’s sack rate (7.4%) was the 13th-highest in the league.
Mahomes took 34 of the sacks through 14 games. He was on pace to set a career-high in sacks taken, but fell two short of the 36 times he was sacked in the 2024 regular season.
Prior to that, the most sacks Mahomes faced in one season was 28. On average, Mahomes was sacked 24 times per season as a starter before 2024. The Chiefs need to find a way to creep back to that number, avoiding drive-killing sacks that can be as damaging to offensive rhythm as a turnover sometimes.
