Kansas City Chiefs rookie fourth-round defensive back Chamarri Conner seems to be on a familiar path. In 2020, the Chiefs used a fourth-round pick on L'Jarius Sneed, who had most recently played safety in college. In 2022, Kansas City used a fourth-rounder and seventh-rounder on cornerbacks Joshua Williams and Jaylen Watson, respectively. All three of those players have already overachieved for their draft slot, with Sneed becoming one of the league's best corners. Now, nearly done with his rookie campaign, Conner is making plays and earning praise from his coaches.
Defensive backs coach Dave Merritt, in his fifth year as KC's DBs coach and his 27th year in the NFL (including four years as a player in the '90s), delivered some glowing praise of Conner's versatility this season before later delivering a memorable backhanded compliment.
"Chamarri is, number one, a quiet young man, but at the same time, he has some bite to him," Merritt said. "One day, I remember talking to him, and I made a comment and he made a little mumble up under his breath and I said, 'What's that? What did you say?' He repeated it, which is good because a lot of time, a child would be like, 'Nothing, nothing.' He repeated it. But he is a young man who has been playing multiple roles for us, I'm talking from safety, free and strong, to nickel, to dime. He's probably the only rookie that I've ever had that has played four different positions, because that is what he is doing. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I've had another guy that has done that. A super smart young man, quiet, but at the same time, like I said, he has some bite to him. He's developing, he's growing where we would like him to grow."
After discussing Conner's "bite" and versatility, Merritt was asked about when and where he saw Conner's potential. Did that extend back to OTAs?
"No, not at all. OTAs, I was like, 'Man, this guy stinks, he can't go in the slot, there's no way,'" Merritt said, resulting in a chuckle from reporters. "Then all of a sudden, he started just climbing. I think it was moreso once you started putting him in the game and he started feeling comfortable, early part of the preseason games, and then you started seeing that, 'OK, he has some explosiveness, he has some movement skills that can be used, and let's see if we can use this.' We had a package back when Spags and I were back a long time ago at the Giants, we called it a 'three safety package,' and that's what road he's in right now is that 'three safety package,' so he's doing a good job."
Merritt's comments reveal two things: First, Conner is being tested in a way very, very few NFL defensive backs are ever challenged, and he's passing those tests as a rookie. Secondly, Merritt's candidness about how far Conner has come reflects on the team's confidence in him now. Merritt could be exaggerating how much Conner "stunk" in OTAs, but if they truly doubted a player's ability, I wouldn't expect to hear a team refer back to his slow start if the hope was to build him up going forward.
Merritt provides some of the most interesting press conferences of any Chiefs coach every time he takes the podium, and I'm taking him at face value here: Conner is on a path to be the Chiefs' next Day 3 draft pick who carves out a major role in the KC defensive backfield, and he's doing it with a range and variety that Merritt has never seen before. No matter how bad OTAs were for the rookie, that's high praise.
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