2025 was the first real failure of Patrick Mahomes' career.
Despite mostly solid numbers, his offense stagnated. A disappearing run game and lack of viable targets left a perennial Super Bowl favorite to sink to the bottom rungs of the AFC ladder. Histouchdown and success rates dropped to career lows before a torn ACL ended his season after 14 games and only six wins.
He's back at full strength, even if the roster around him is much less reliable than the ones he piloted to world championships. Reigning Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III has the breakaway chops to revitalize the ground game. Rashee Rice is healthy again. Travis Kelce, even with declining foot speed, remains a viable chain-moving target.
That's all great, because the defense will
be replacing most of its starting secondary in a conference loaded with good-to-great quarterbacks. Let's take a closer look at Kansas City's offseason.
Key addition: RB Kenneth Walker III
Mansoor Delane's arrival will boost a needy secondary, but the Chiefs were roughly as efficient against the pass in 2025 as they were in 2024… when they went to the Super Bowl. But as Patrick Mahomes' playmakers have waned, so has the offense.
Kansas City fielded the league's most efficient offense in 2022 even without Tyreek Hill thanks to Mahomes and a top 10-ish run game. They still ranked eighth in 2025 with a healthy Mahomes, but the run game was a mess outside of quarterback scrambles and gadget plays. No tailback averaged better than 3.9 yards per carry.
Enter the reigning Super Bowl MVP. Walker is a bit of a gamble; a player with negative rush yards over expected (RYOE) in half his seasons in the NFL. He's also been part of a high profile platoon his last three seasons, averaging about 13 carries per game… and now his primary running mates in Missouri are Emari Demercado and Brashard Smith.
But he's also a home run hitter whose 67 runs topping at least 15 miles per hour ranked second only to De'Von Achane last fall. His ability to flip a game with one touch should create openings for Kansas City's underwhelming band of targets to thrive.
Key departure: 60 percent of the starting secondary
Trent McDuffie, Bryan Cook and Jaylen Watson all departed this offseason, leaving a roughly league-average passing defense behind for greener pastures. That's a lot of production to backfill with minimal space, so Kansas City opted to trade up and make Mansoor Delane the sixth overall pick of this spring's draft (Jadon Canady followed in round four) while signing Alohi Gilman and L'Jarius Sneed to relatively inexpensive deals (Kader Kohou and Kaiir Elam were there as well but failed to make the 53-man roster). There's a bit of a duct tape feel to this group that will be tasked with shutting down the AFC's top quarterbacks. Squint hard enough and it makes sense.
Potential 2026 breakout player: CB Mansoor Delane
Attrition hit the Chiefs' cornerback trust hard this offseason, making both Jaylen Watson and Trent McDuffie Los Angeles Rams. Fortunately, last year's collapse provided the leverage to select the 2026 NFL Draft's first cornerback — the ultra-smooth Delane.
He's already emerged as a starter across from 2025 third-round choice Nohl Williams. He's a jellyfish tracking deep balls and a pistol shrimp when it comes to closing on in- or out-cutting routes. His rookie season may have some growing pains, but he's got room to stake his claim as a franchise cornerstone.
Position ranks
- QB rank (expected points added per dropback, via RBSDM.com): 8
- WR corps rank: 29
- RB corps rank: 19
- TE corps rank: 11
Will they improve in 2026?
Yes. Maybe not back to contender status -- though anything is possible with Patrick Mahomes -- but departures aside, 2025 will be the likely nadir of the Chiefs' 2020s.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Chiefs 2026 season preview: How will Patrick Mahomes respond to failure?
