The Kansas City Chiefs have several superstars on their roster. With quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce, and head coach Andy Reid, a ton of other talent gets overlooked on how much they mean to the franchise, too.
A ton of fans love the offensive side of the game of football. However, when it’s time to give credit where credit is due, the Kansas City defense deserves to be in the limelight more. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has done nothing but elevate the defense since taking over back in 2019.
The Chiefs’ defense was a key reason for the franchise’s 15-2 regular season record last season. While the Chiefs were winning one-score games, it was the defense making up for the offense’s lack of explosiveness, which just proves how talented the Chiefs are up and down the roster.
That being said, one of the more familiar faces on the Chiefs’ defense is defensive tackle Chris Jones. Jones has become the heart of this Chiefs franchise. Since debuting back in 2016, the former second-round draft pick has turned himself into one of the best players in the National Football League today.
While quarterbacks get talked about most often, it’s important to give love to the other players who make up the football roster. According to analyst Rich Eisen’s recent Top 10 Non-Quarterbacks in the NFL power rankings, Jones ranks fifth in that category in his eyes.
“Chris Jones is on the list. Chris Jones is right there at number five. He cracks the top five,” Eisen said.
Throughout his career, Jones has played in 138 regular season games, has collected 310 total tackles, 207 solo tackles, 87 tackles for loss, and 80.5 quarterback sacks. While his sack totals don’t jump off the page in the playoffs, Jones has collected 43 total tackles and 22 solo tackles in 22 playoff games.
As Jones goes into his age-31 campaign, having turned 31 yesterday (July 3), the Chiefs will have to closely monitor the multi-time Pro Bowler. As we all know, but don’t want to admit, players that make up the roster in 2025 won’t play forever, making Jones’ ranking of the fifth-best non-quarterback player in one analyst’s eyes that much more valuable.
