No longer in the playoff hunt after a frustrating 2025 season, the Kansas City Chiefs appear positioned to use their final three games as an evaluation window for younger players.
Before Thursday’s practice, assistant coaches addressed the status of several younger players, offering limited clarity on which players might see expanded roles down the stretch.
1. Wide receiver Jalen Royals
While the team’s fourth-round selection generated early buzz during training camp, he opened the season sidelined with a knee injury. Since starting
wide receiver Rashee Rice returned from suspension in Week 7, Royals has rarely dressed on game days. But as he continues to recover from a concussion, Rice will again be unavailable for Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans, giving Royals an improved chance to play.
“You want to see more time from him if possible,” said offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. “We’ve been in a position where we feel very fortunate with the guys that we’ve had from the middle of the season on when Rashee came back. Some of it’s just a numbers thing for him — and it’s almost like a redshirt year in a way. He’s practicing hard in practice. For him, there’s a lot of good stuff there with him. I think for him, I’m excited to see what he’s going to do — whether it’s these next three games or the future.”
2. Linebacker Jeff Bassa
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and linebackers coach Brendan Daly said the fifth-round pick’s limited defensive snaps are largely a reflection of depth ahead of him — and his growing value to special teams coordinator Dave Toub.
“He’s been playing special teams, obviously,” Spagnuolo said, “and we haven’t seen any reason to pull the other guys out. Hopefully everybody stays healthy and it doesn’t become an injury thing.
“But I’ve got a lot of confidence in Jeff. I was talking to him the other day. The growth process as a weak-side linebacker is just in walkthroughs now. We haven’t seen him in a game. We haven’t seen him since preseason, but I’m real hopeful for Jeff going forward.”
Daly concurred.
“[Bassa’s] role obviously has been more in the kicking game,” he noted, “but he has stayed very dialed into defensively what we’re doing. He does a really good job in terms of communication — [and] has done a nice job understanding the different roles that he could get put into. It’s been fortunate [that] our health at that linebacker position hasn’t required him to get a bunch of game action, but I’ve been really pleased with his development. He’s in here early every day. He’s working hard. He does a really good job of asking questions and watching the guys in front of him who do a great job.”
3. Linebacker Cooper McDonald
While the undrafted rookie has yet to be a factor in the defensive rotation, Daly said the former TCU standout has remained prepared.
“I like Cooper a lot,” he said, “and he’s done some really interesting and positive things. In the preseason, I thought he did a really nice job. Again, you can see what we thought of that in terms of him being able to make our roster — and he’s had some really good play on special teams. I don’t want to speak for Dave Toub and that side of things, but I think he’s done a nice job there.
“Again, he’s been similar to Jeff in a role that he hasn’t been asked to be on the field tremendously defensively, but he’s in there early every day with Jeff. He’s got different roles than Jeff, but has done a really nice job in terms of mentally keeping himself up to speed in multiple different spots that he could be in. It’s been impressive, and I think there’s certainly a bright future for both of those guys.”
4. Cornerback Kevin Knowles
Toub is thrilled with this rookie corner — and would like to keep him on special teams a little longer before he carves out a role on defense.
“I’m really excited about him,” Toub said of the former Florida State player. “It seems like every week, he makes a big play — like he made the tackle on the kickoff. I don’t even know how [the other player] held onto the ball. That was such a good hit.
“He continues to show up — [and] plays fast. He’s tough as nails. He will block the biggest guy like he’s a junkyard dog. I love him. We’re excited about it. He’s got really good speed, and we’re excited for him as a corner and what he’s going to do for us on defense. But I think coming up next year, I’m going to count on him a lot. I’m already counting on him now.”
5. Defensive tackle Zacch Pickens
On Wednesday, the Chiefs activated Pickens from the practice squad to the active roster. A former second-round pick of the Chicago Bears in the 2023 NFL Draft, Pickens could factor into the rotation over the season’s final three games — though Spagnuolo declined to outline a specific plan.
“We’ll see,” Spagnuolo said. “We got him up to the 53. We’ll see if we get him to game day. This is an opportunity — or could be an opportunity — to see somebody that we haven’t seen yet. But again, the focus is going to be to prevent as many points by Tennessee’s offense as possible. That’s our job.”
