How Many of the Chiefs’ Best Players Are on Defense?

Ja’Marr Chase had one person to thank for the worst game of his historic 2024 season: Trent McDuffie.

On Sept. 15 in Kansas City, the Chiefs’ cornerback limited the triple crown wide receiver, who wound up leading the NFL in receptions, yards and TD catches, to a season-low 35 yards. Even more revealing, McDuffie covered Chase so well that Joe Burrow only targeted him five times, another season low.

Two years ago, opposing offensive coordinators might’ve been the only group that truly respected McDuffie. But after performances like that 26-25 win over Cincinnati, he can’t hide anymore. That’s one reason why Pro Football Focus on Tuesday named him one of Kansas City’s three best players entering the 2025 season.

“McDuffie finished second among all cornerbacks in WAR behind only Patrick Surtain II,” wrote PFF’s Trevor Sikkema, “with his lowest individual grade — 79.2 in coverage — still among the best for any corner with significant snaps.”

When McDuffie gets significant snaps, the Chiefs get significant results. And they hope to continue to get those results for many years to come. Exercising the fifth-year option on his 2022 rookie contract was a slam dunk for Brett Veach and Andy Reid, and bought them time to focus on clearing the bigger obstacle, a long-term extension.

Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones might help the Chiefs get there. Just before the league year in March, the quarterback and defensive tackle made contract adjustments to lower their combined salary-cap hits from $101 million to $50 million.

That allowed Veach to not only get under the cap but also secure the return of Trey Smith while also working on a long-term deal for his Pro Bowl guard.

Incidentally, but to no one’s surprise, Mahomes and Jones are the other two Chiefs PFF listed as most important on Kansas City’s roster. Sikkema didn’t need many words to describe the indescribable value those two stalwarts provide the Chiefs.

“Mahomes continues to rank among the best in the NFL,” he wrote, “with only Joe Burrow posting a higher cumulative (10.72) and per-season average (3.75) WAR over the past three years. Jones earned a 91.5 pass-rush grade in 2024, his third consecutive elite season and sixth in the last seven years.”

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