Chiefs position spotlight: defensive back questions, concerns and battles
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Chiefs' defensive back room changed significantly from 2025 to 2026.
- Projected starters at cornerback in the base defense are Mansoor Delane and Nohl Williams.
- Alohi Gilman signed a three-year, $24.75 million deal and is projected to replace Cook.
The Kansas City Chiefs pick up with training camp in a few weeks, with their first full-team practice set for Wednesday, July 29. In the meantime, we’re taking a closer look at each position group.
Last week, we broke down the offensive line — and the position battle brewing at right tackle.
The next-most interesting room to watch is defensive back, as defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has a lot to figure out given the turnover.
The boundary cornerbacks: Who starts opposite Mansoor Delane?
The Chiefs’ defensive backs room has seen significant change ahead of the 2026 season, with three of the team’s top four in snaps from 2025 now playing elsewhere.
Two-time All-Pro Trent McDuffie was traded to the Los Angeles Rams, while his running mate, cornerback Jaylen Watson, joined him there in free agency. Safety Bryan Cook left Kansas City to sign with his hometown Cincinnati Bengals.
At this point, the projected starters at cornerback in the base defense are rookie Mansoor Delane and 2025 third-round pick Nohl Williams.
Believing that Delane was this draft class’s best cornerback, the Chiefs traded from No. 9 to No. 6 to select him.
In his lone season at LSU, Delane was targeted only 9.8% of the time on 358 coverage snaps, and he accumulated 45 tackles, 11 pass breakups and two interceptions. He accomplished this while allowing no touchdowns and drawing no penalties.
Behind McDuffie and Watson, Williams didn’t see consistent defensive snaps until late in the season.
According to Pro Football Focus, opposing quarterbacks targeted Williams 19 times during the final five-game stretch, and he allowed 11 receptions. Williams didn’t have a single interception in 2025, but it should not be forgotten that he led college football in picks with seven before entering the NFL — a trait that could surface in a regular role.
Last offseason, the Chiefs signed veteran cornerback Kristian Fulton to a two-year, $20 million contract, but injuries in training camp and the preseason prevented him from earning a spot in the lineup, and he spent Weeks 6-9 of this past season as a healthy scratch.
The 27-year-old finally saw considerable playing time in Week 17 against the Denver Broncos, the first of his only two starts of the season. Though by that time the Chiefs had nothing to play for, Fulton had two solid individual outings, allowing only two receptions on 10 targets while recording a combined six pass breakups.
If Fulton can stay on the field for this year’s training camp, there is always the chance he emerges as the best option entering Week 1. But that remains to be seen.
In a similar boat, veteran cornerback L’Jarius Sneed’s return to the club following his release from Tennessee throws quite a curveball into the mix. Spagnuolo’s ability to get the most out of Sneed — who during his Chiefs tenure was quietly one of the better cornerbacks in all of football — has never been in question.
Sneed played through an ailing knee injury during his final season in Kansas City, then managed to take the field for only 12 games in two years with the Titans.
Rather than framing him as a true candidate to push Williams, the Chiefs could opt to try Sneed in more of a hybrid role that includes time at safety, where he started during his final season at Louisiana Tech in 2019. If — and it’s a big if — he can stay healthy, Spagnuolo has some options.
In my way-too-early 53-man projection, I did not see Kaiir Elam or Melvin Smith Jr. making the roster.
Looking inside: What happens in the slot?
According to PFF, defensive back Chamarri Conner spent the most time lined up as a slot cornerback (391 snaps) in 2025, followed by McDuffie (134) and Cook (102).
With the latter two no longer on the team, the Chiefs loaded up with slot options this offseason.
In free agency, Kansas City signed veteran cornerback Kader Kohou, who appeared in 47 games for the Miami Dolphins from 2022-24 before missing 2025 due to an ACL injury. When lined up at cornerback in 2024, Kohou spent nearly 69% of his time in the slot, compared to 31% out wide. Kohou has also shown upside as a blitzer.
In the fourth round of the NFL Draft, the Chiefs selected Oregon cornerback Jadon Canady. Complementing Delane, who spent most of his college snaps on the outside, Canady spent the majority of the final two seasons of his college career inside.
Safety Jaden Hicks (98), cornerback Kevin Knowles (74) and cornerback Chris Roland-Wallace (56) all saw snaps inside during 2025’s forgotten season. Of the three, Roland-Wallace seems the most likely to push for time in his third year, but the answer for starter-level snaps probably lies with one of the first three players mentioned.
Sneed did well for the Chiefs inside in 2022, but it’s now been three seasons since he saw any sizable time there.
Rounding out back end: the safeties
Needing a replacement for Cook, the Chiefs signed former Los Angeles Chargers and Baltimore Ravens safety Alohi Gilman to a three-year, $24.75 million contract. Based on his usage in Baltimore, he projects as a natural positional replacement for Cook at free safety.
Early this offseason, Gilman was candid in describing the challenges of learning Spagnuolo’s multifaceted defense, but between the offseason program and training camp, the defensive coordinator hopes to have him in position to start Week 1.
The other safety position is where it gets interesting. Now in his third year, Jaden Hicks had been expected to take a step forward after a flash-filled rookie season in 2024, but he never seemed to earn Spagnuolo’s trust as a full-time starter in 2025.
“I think if you asked Jaden, he would tell you he’s kind of had an up-and-down season,” Spagnuolo said in mid-December. “But there’s been flashes of good football play there, and we’re going to need him now as we get down the stretch here.
“I’ve brought him in a couple times, and he’s made some mistakes that I thought he would not have made in his second season, but I like the way he gets himself ready for games, and hopefully we get some good play out of him.”
As mentioned, the Chiefs made an obvious effort to acquire multiple options at slot cornerback, which could push Conner into a more traditional safety role and perhaps leave Hicks on the outside looking in for a starting position.
Hicks shouldn’t be completely eliminated from the conversation, but his path to significant snaps is murky entering camp.
