In a series of articles published over the summer, I covered the 10 biggest questions facing the Kansas City Chiefs in 2025. During the bye week, I revisited the questions. We’ll look at the other five
in a later article.
1. How well will Jaden Hicks replace Justin Reid?
Before the season, it felt like second-year safety Jaden Hicks was a natural replacement for veteran former Chiefs’ safety Justin Reid. Both are long, dense safeties who are best at playing in the box and helping in run support. However, I underestimated the coverage gap between Reid and Hicks. Reid was smart and generally in the right spots. Hicks doesn’t have that experience yet.
After struggling to start the year, Hicks’ role has lightened. He has been on the field for roughly 50% of snaps, but it changes based on the Chiefs’ need for his skill set. Against the Buffalo Bills, Hicks only saw four snaps while defensive back Christian Roland-Wallace (16 snaps) played in dime personnel alongside starting safeties Bryan Cook and Chamarri Conner.
2. Can the Chiefs improve their pass rush this season?
So far, the answer is no, but it’s not significantly better or worse than last year. Defensive end George Karlaftis has had maybe his best season by getting quick pressure more often, while defensive tackle Chris Jones hasn’t played quite as well this year. In my opinion, Jones is lacking in dominant moments.
After Jones and Karlaftis, the Chiefs’ pass rush has been very poor. Two years removed from injury, I was hoping defensive end Charles Omenihu would bounce back, but he hasn’t regained his form. Defensive end Mike Danna is also less impactful than in previous years. Rookie defensive end Ashton Gillotte has some nice moments, but he’s not ready to really contribute. Rookie defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott was drafted to replace some of what Kansas City had in former defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton, but he tore his ACL before he could get going.
The Chiefs’ pass rush wins with Jones or Karlaftis — or from a designed pressure by defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Over the last two years, it has not been a fruitful strategy for Kansas City to rush four.
3. Which 2022 draft pick will have the best contract year?
When I wrote the original piece, Karlaftis had not yet been extended, so he is now disqualified from a contract year. The team has exercised its fifth-year option on cornerback Trent McDuffie, keeping him under contract next season.
For the rest of the class, cornerback Jaylen Watson is having the best year. He continues to be a very good No. 2 cornerback. He’s smart in zone coverage, defends screens and stops the run. On top of that, his length and ball skills make him a positive factor in man coverage. The former seventh-round pick is a great success story. Hopefully, the Chiefs reward him with an extension this offseason.
4. What will be the Chiefs’ best offensive line?
Before the season, it wasn’t clear what the Chiefs’ best offensive line combination was going to be. Left tackle Josh Simmons was a rookie coming off a major leg injury, veteran tackle Jaylon Moore was signed in free agency and right tackle Jawaan Taylor had competition behind him. In addition, it wasn’t a guarantee that left guard Kingsley Suamataia would play well enough to hold his spot.
Fortunately for the Chiefs, their original starting five of Simmons, Suamataia, center Creed Humphrey, right guard Trey Smith and Taylor proved to be the best. Simmons has been fantastic all season and Suamataia gets better every week. Taylor still has his warts; he continues to have issues with penalties — and with dealing with power — but he’s steadily improved over the course of the year. Simmons’ personal absence is the only reason the starting offensive line has changed at all.
5. Where should Trent McDuffie play this season?
Kansas City’s defensive formation is typically dictated by where McDuffie plays. When he is in the slot, the Chiefs can weaponize him by blitzing him, having him drop to safety or cover a slot receiver one-on-one. The downside is less-effective play from outside cornerbacks; when McDuffie is outside, you have a shutdown corner.
In 2025, it’s been some of both for McDuffie. It typically depends on which opposing receivers are on the field — and on the game situation.
The Chiefs have sometimes put McDuffie in the slot and let rookie cornerback Nohl Williams play on the outside. Williams has played 29% of snaps this season, but recently played 67% snaps against the Bills. The Chiefs put McDuffie in the slot to counter Bills’ receiver Khalil Shakir — and also so he would be in position to blitz quarterback Josh Allen. It wouldn’t be surprising to see this trend continuing after the bye.
When McDuffie is playing outside, safety Chamarri Conner tends to man the slot. Unfortunately, he has struggled to play coverage from that alignment. In Week 1, the Los Angeles Chargers identified Conner as a weakness and picked on him. Since then, Conner has been playing more deep safety — and to his credit, he has held up well.
