Veteran Has High Hopes for Jaden Hicks in Year 2

The Kansas City Chiefs have high hopes going into the new season. After winning their ninth consecutive AFC West division title and punching their ticket to their third straight Super Bowl, the expectations for the Chiefs are that they will be right back in those positions in 2025.

This training camp will prove whether the franchise has the pieces to win another championship or if they need extra depth in certain areas. One area that the Chiefs are hopeful will remain the same in terms of production is the safety position.

Yes, losing veteran safety Justin Reid in the offseason makes that position look weaker on paper for the Chiefs, but there are still young players with high hopes of development in the system. One player whose name has been thrown around as a potential breakout star in 2025 is safety Jaden Hicks.

Hicks is stepping into the role that Reid filled last season, which is a tall task for the second-year player. However, veteran safety Bryan Cook was asked whether or not he believes Hicks is ready for the challenge this upcoming season, to which he responded confidently.

"His capacity to learn. He's learning at a very rapid rate, which is pretty good," Cook told the media on Wednesday. "And as well as the fact that he's always high energy, things like that. So, sometimes if some of our vets are a little low that day, he will bring the energy, bring the juice. And as I said before, he's always ready to learn."

As a rookie, Hicks earned an overall grade of 72.2 according to Pro Football Focus. Through 17 games last season, Hicks totaled 29 combined tackles, 23 of which were solos, had three interceptions, and had five passes defended. His biggest strength area was his coverage.

If Cook is confident in Hicks, then Chiefs Kingdom should be confident in Hicks. It's too early in the training camp period to count out a young talent, and seeing that he wants to be a leader on the defense should prove to his doubters that he is dedicated to helping the franchise win.

"I think we all got a voice in this room, and we're all leaders out there. But at the end of the day, I got to step up and be a voice out there and lead the defense," Hicks said.

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