Why Anthony Hitchens is more valuable to the Chiefs than you might think
The Chiefs’ bus rides used to be a bit more conversational in the pre-COVID world. The players and coaches are spread out now, following social distancing protocols. More vehicles are used, and fewer people occupy each one.
But last year, after a week of providing instruction, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo would use the rides to change his role. He listened. He would pay particular attention to how players interacted, and it just so happened that linebacker Anthony Hitchens and defensive lineman Chris Jones would sit in the row behind him.
Their personalities are quite different. Hitchens is calm-natured, quiet even. Jones is loud, the life-of-the-party type, and he enjoys razzing teammates. Their interactions, Spagnuolo concluded, illustrated a larger story.
“Hitch can handle anything,” Spagnuolo said. “He doesn’t let anything rattle him. Look, when you’re in charge, when you’re the leader of any unit offensively or defensively, and you can let things roll of your back and just be solid as a rock, I think that’s a great quality to have in the position he plays.”
In football, it’s a quality that’s difficult to measure with statistics and instead relies on observations and examples. But Hitchens has a certain leadership characteristic that stretches beyond the rah-rah illustrations.
It manifests in the assignments. In the details.
On Thursday, Spagnuolo showed his players something on film the previous day’s practice. The offense had run in motion pre-snap, and Hitchens moved one of the linemen in response. Then he turned to the secondary and barked out coverage instructions.
All before the ball was snapped.
“To me, he’s the glue,” Spagnuolo said. “You don’t have the luxury of seeing the guys like I do and seeing the interaction and the little things that he does. He does a lot.
“I actually made the point that we should all feel fortunate we have Hitch as a Mike linebacker because he does a lot of things before the ball is snapped. And he helps everybody else play better. I’m sure glad we got him.”
Hitchens spent the first two seasons of a five-year, $45-million contract absorbing culpability for not more quickly turning around a defense that struggled before his arrival. In Year Three, he’s found something of a groove, perhaps quietly so.
The metrics show a more adept tackler who is being exposed in the passing game less and less frequently. He’s playing by far his best football in his Chiefs tenure, per Pro Football Focus grading systems.
And there’s a reason for it. The leadership responsibilities come with being the middle linebacker, part of the job for the so-called quarterback of the defense. But they’ve come more naturally in his second year with Spagnuolo.
“My last three years, I was in three different systems. (I’m) finally getting comfortable in one,” Hitchens said, adding, “Just like with everything in life, the more you do it, the more comfortable you get and the better you get at it as long as you work at it. I’ve just been working my tail off these past two years just to try to better myself for my teammates. It’s finally showing.”
The defensive assignments have become second nature. You’ll see him tap a defensive lineman to move over a step, as he did with end Frank Clark last week. You’ll see him turn to fellow linebackers, along with safety Tyrann Mathieu, and emphasize a coverage detail.
Some of it is about making sure players understand the call he receives in his helmet. Other times it’s making adjustments after spotting something in the offense.
Spagnuolo says Hitchens is “as good as I’ve had doing all that.” And he relayed that to Hitchens in a recent conversation.
“That’s a lot of praise coming from the head guy right there,” Hitchens said. “He’s putting a lot of faith in me in getting everybody lined up and making sure we’re getting in and out of trouble downs and situations. Just knowing that, I have to be ready and prepared every week.”