Chiefs 4th-Round Pick Jaden Hicks Could Break Out in Season 2

The Kansas City Chiefs lost veteran safety Justin Reid to the New Orleans Saints in free agency earlier this offseason, so the team would definitely love somebody to step up and take his place.

In a recent article by PFF's Bradley Locker, he puts together a team full of guys who he thinks could break out in 2025. And one of the players he picks is Chiefs safety Jaden Hicks.

"Hicks’ advanced PFF metrics are wildly impressive, such as his 91^stpercentile run stop rate and 74^th percentile forced incompletion rate," Locker wrote. "Steve Spagnuolo has earned a reputation for drafting and developing top defensive backs, from Trent McDuffie to Charvarius Ward to Jaylen Watson and more. Hicks seems to check all the boxes of the next great Chiefs late-round find."

The reigning AFC champions selected Hicks with the 133rd pick in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. If he can step up and play a role in 2025, it would be hard to dispute that the Chiefs got one of the steals of that draft.

Hicks only started in one game in his rookie season, but he was able to make his impact felt. He tallied 29 total tackles, 23 of them being solo, and three of them being for a loss. But perhaps most impressive was his ball-hawk skills, as he finished with five passes defended and three interceptions.

Kansas City was in the bottom half of the league this past season in passing yards allowed, so Hicks will be looking to step in and help them with that problem.