Chiefs position spotlight: Defensive line questions, concerns and battles
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The Kansas City Chiefs lost Leo Chenal in addition to Danna, Omenihu and Tillery.
- Kansas City signed Khyiris Tonga to a three-year, $21 million deal to boost run defense.
- Chris Jones turns 32 as the defensive line engine. How much longer will he be in KC?
In the lead up to Kansas City Chiefs training camp later this month, we have been previewing the team’s most interesting position groups.
The No. 1 position battle of training camp lives along the offensive line. The defensive backfield needs to be sorted out. And the Chiefs hope Rashee Rice can finally become the unquestioned guy at wide receiver.
The next-most interesting position group is defensive line, which saw the departures of Mike Danna, Charles Omenihu and Jerry Tillery in the offseason. While he’s not technically a lineman, the Chiefs also lost Leo Chenal, whom defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo liked to use as a fifth man on the left edge without having to change packages.
Over the years, Spagnuolo and line coach Joe Cullen have shown a preference for heavy early down fronts and player versatility on passing downs. Once again in 2026, Chris Jones projects as the engine, even entering his age-32 season.
As we take a look at the line, let’s start with the additions:
New faces: Khyiris Tonga, Peter Woods and R Mason Thomas
Eleven months ago, the Chiefs made some surprising moves inside, releasing defensive tackle Mike Pennel during final cuts and bringing back Derrick Nnadi via trade with the New York Jets. Between Nnadi, Tillery and Pennel, who eventually returned, Kansas City had options at nose tackle but clearly felt the need to upgrade this offseason.
Enter Khyiris Tonga, who after single-season stints with four different clubs signed a three-year, $21 million deal with the Chiefs in March.
At 6-foot-2 and 335 pounds, Tonga should be an upgrade next to Jones on early downs. According to Pro Football Focus, the 30-year-old had 17 run stops for the New England Patriots last season, good for a 7.8% run-stop rate. By comparison, Pennel and Nnadi were each below 5%.
In the NFL Draft, for the second consecutive year, the Chiefs selected a defensive tackle and a defensive end with back-to-back picks, taking Clemson’s Peter Woods at No. 29 in the first round and Oklahoma’s R Mason Thomas at No. 40 in the second round.
After a 2024 college season highlighted by 8.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks, Woods was thought to have top-10-pick potential. But a down season by Clemson’s standards gave way to less production, allowing him to slip into Kansas City’s range.
Woods could be capable of playing early downs for the Chiefs but is unlikely to do so right away as he develops. However, with experience at left, right, nose and defensive end, he’s likely to be in the rotation as an option in overloaded fronts.
A Dontari Poeian footnote: Tonga had 14 offensive snaps as a fullback for New England; Woods logged 15, including two touchdowns, at Clemson.
For the first time in a while, Kansas City has a pure speed rusher in Thomas, and he should be an immediate option on passing downs after recording 15.5 sacks during his final two seasons at Oklahoma. His 4.67-second 40-yard dash, ninth among defensive ends at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine, backs up the speed-rush profile.
Returners: Chris Jones, George Karlaftis and the rest
While Jones hasn’t hit the 10-sack mark since 2023, that does not mean he was ineffective in 2025.
Per PFF, among defensive tackles with at least 300 pass-rush snaps, Jones finished second in win percentage (16.1%), only behind the Tennessee Titans’ Jefferey Simmons (19.4%). He accomplished this while being double-teamed 63% of the time.
Jones had just one sack through six games last season but still finished with 7.0, including three in the final two matchups of the season. During the offseason, he told reporters his focus is to start faster in 2026.
Like Jones, Karlaftis hasn’t had a 10-sack season since 2023, and he also anticipates a rebound in 2026 after compiling just 6.0 sacks in 2025. This offseason, Cullen revealed that Karlaftis broke his hand, which required surgery during the Week 10 bye and hindered him for the rest of the season.
The departures of Omenihu and Danna open up a combined 957 defensive snaps, which should lead to a full-season uptick in playing time for second-year defensive end Ashton Gillotte, who admitted that he didn’t like what he saw when he looked back at the 2025 film. Gillotte’s mentor, Karlaftis, said he anticipates a “jump” for Gillotte in his second season, just like what happened for him from 2022 to 2023.
With another year in Spagnuolo’s system, Gillotte expects to be past the overthinking that came with learning the scheme during his rookie season. His Louisville tenure included an 11-sack season in 2023.
My way-too-early 53-man roster projection included three additional linemen: Omarr Norman-Lott, Felix Anudike-Uzomah and Ethan Downs.
Norman-Lott came into the league with the top pass-rush win rate among FBS interior linemen, but his season never really got off the ground because of a preseason ankle injury and torn ACL. In late April, general manager Brett Veach was optimistic about his availability for training camp.
The Chiefs predictably declined Anudike-Uzomah’s fifth-year option after he suffered a season-ending hamstring injury last August. The former first-rounder faces an uphill battle for playing time, given the development of Gillotte and the addition of Thomas. And it feels like his last chance to stick, at least in Kansas City.
From a special-teams standpoint, coordinator Dave Toub mentioned Downs among the best options to replace Chenal in the third phase. That was enough for me to give him the nod over a competition that includes seven additional defensive linemen on the roster.
Uncomfortable question: Is this Jones’ final season as a Chief?
With a three-peat at the forefront of their mind in 2024, the Chiefs gave Jones a five-year contract that included $95 million guaranteed. As mentioned, Jones was still productive in 2025, and the structure of the deal would have made a breakup untenable, anyway.
That changes after this season, according to Spotrac. A post-June 1 release or trade next offseason would save the Chiefs $28.35 million in 2027 cap space, with the club taking on $9.75 million in dead cap.
It’s never fun to think about the club moving on from a future Pro Football Hall of Famer and surefire member of the Chiefs’ Ring of Honor, but it’s all too common in today’s NFL. Without a restructure or pay cut next offseason, this could very well be Jones’ last season in a Chiefs uniform.
