Chiefs' Secondary Among the Most Physical in NFL

There's a lot to be excited about when it comes to the Kansas City Chiefs' defense. With an excellent secondary, big things are sure to come in 2025, but what makes the secondary so dominant? Physicality.

According to John Kosko of Pro Football Focus, 4 Chiefs' cornerbacks ranked amongst the top-10 most physical defenders in 2024. The most physical of them all was none other than star corner Trent McDuffie (4th), with a PFF Physical Coverage score of 43.6%.

"After logging 300 'physical' coverage snaps across 2022 and 2023, McDuffie tallied 327 in 2024 alone," wrote Kosko. "As a result, he allowed just a 47.5% completion rate while forcing nine incompletions.

"McDuffie has been one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL since entering the league in 2022, but it hasn’t been due to making contact with opposing receivers, as he grades better without contact."

Next up was Joshua Williams. While he meant well, his physical play style didn't exactly work out the way he'd hoped.

"A theme is developing in which a few teams are dominating this list; the Lions, Jaguars, and Chiefs clearly were coached to make life difficult for opposing receivers. The Chiefs upping the ante on their physicality hurt Williams’ grade, as he posted a 54.1 PFF coverage grade when making contact with receivers in 2024."

Chiefs' defender Nazeeh Johnson also snuck in here at No. 8, with his first on-field action coming in 2024.

"Drafted in the 2022 seventh round, Johnson saw the first action of his career in 2024 and did so with a ton of physicality. His play wasn’t entirely helped by the contact, as he allowed a 60% completion rate while earning just a 49.9 PFF coverage grade on such plays. He allowed 1.63 yards per coverage snap when making contact with receivers."

Last but not least, Jaylen Watson rounded out PFF's list at 10th.

"Despite missing most of the 2024 season due to injuries, Watson is the fourth Chiefs player to make this list," Kosko concluded. "He allowed a paltry 35.7% completion rate and just 0.88 yards per coverage snap when making contact with receivers this past season. His 28.6% forced completion rate on such plays ranked sixth in the NFL.

"Watson has been excellent the past two years when physical, as his 81.4 PFF coverage grade ranks sixth and he has let up just a 26.5% completion rate."

Be sure to follow us on X (Twitter) @KCChiefsOnSI and @Domminchella to never miss another breaking news story again.

Click here to let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.