The Kansas City Chiefs made their big splash before the trade deadline last week when they acquired DeAndre Hopkins from the Tennessee Titans, but as the dust began to settle on that move there was buzz that KC might not be done making moves. That led to a lot of speculation on what other positions KC might be targeting. Popular suggestions included another wide receiver and someone to answer their questions at left tackle, but the most common answer was cornerback.
The Chiefs’ defense took a significant blow a little over a week ago when they lost Jaylen Watson to an injury. Watson was having a breakout year and had locked up KC’s number two corner spot opposite All-Pro Trent McDuffie. Then this past weekend, his replacement Nazeeh Johnson left with a suspected concussion. That left Joshua Williams and undrafted corner Chris Roland-Wallace to fill KC’s other cornerback spots.
Williams has had flashes of reliable play and has the size to be a physical outside corner, but he’s inconsistent and had a couple of costly flags on Sunday. Roland-Wallace has looked promising for an undrafted rookie, but he is just that. Even before Johnson left with his injury, the Raiders were clearly targeting him in coverage. So it made sense to think that Kansas City might target a cornerback before the trade deadline.
The Chiefs didn’t trade for a cornerback, but they may have helped the position anyway
Instead, news broke on Monday that the Chiefs had traded a 2026 sixt-round pick for New England Patriots pass rusher Joshua Uche. It’s possible that the Chiefs could make a third deal before the deadline, but it certainly seems far less likely that they will trade for a corner now than it did before the Uche deal.
Outside pass rush was definitely on the list of areas that needed improvement for the Chiefs. The only reason an edge player was talked about more for the Chiefs before the deadline was because KC is expecting Charles Omenihu back from his injury at some point and that will be a major addition to the defensive line rotation. However, in hindsight, Omenihu typically plays on the edge on early downs but often kicks inside on passing downs. Plus, there is no guarantee he’ll be back at 100% when he does return. So adding a pure outside pass rusher is a smart addition that should help this roster regardless of Omenihu’s status.
The other well-known truth about playing defense is that there is a direct correlation between pass rush and coverage. They go hand and hand. KC has done a great job of smothering receivers the past season and a half. That was good because, outside of Chris Jones, they haven’t really had a plus pass rusher. George Karlaftis is more of a power edge rusher who gets pressure through effort later in the dropback. Tershawn Wharton has also had a nice season so far applying interior pressure next to Jones, but K.C. was lacking a speed rush element off of the edge.
If the Chiefs can get faster pressure off the edge on clear passing downs, it will give opposing quarterbacks less time to target the team’s weaker corners. Players like Joshua Williams or Nazeeh Johnson won’t have to stick to their men as long. So while K.C. may not make an actual addition at cornerback, this move could help alleviate some of those issues. I especially like that idea if they are going to play Williams outside and allow him use his size to be physical early in the route.
So what do you think Chiefs fans? Does the idea of the Chiefs being able to field a defensive front rotation on passing downs with Chris Jones, Tershawn Wharton, George Karlaftis, Joshua Uche, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Charles Omenihu, plus some Steve Spagnuolo’s blitzes mixed in give you enough confidence in their pass rush that they can get by with the cornerbacks they already have on the roster? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below.
