The Chiefs’ hidden gems: 3 secret superstars on the 2025 roster

Identifying three secret superstars who can help Kansas City bounce back from its Super Bowl embarrassment.

The first time a defense bollixed up the Kansas City Chiefs in a championship game, it was in Super Bowl LV after the 2020 season, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers set head coach Andy Reid’s high-flying offense on its ear in a 31-9 cakewalk.

After that, Kansas City’s reaction was swift and severe. The team completely re-tooled its offensive line with five new starters, setting a course for the future with a younger, more dynamic defense.

As we know, it’s worked out pretty well. What happened in Super Bowl LIX against the Philadelphia Eagles was a severe statistical oddity (it’s exceedingly rare to get that much pressure on a quarterback without blitzing even once), but the sting of that 40-22 loss wasn’t exactly minimized by its outlier status.

This time around, the post-loss reformations were more subtle. They had to be. The Chiefs weren’t armed with a boatload of cap space, and the free-agent acquisitions were mostly second-tier players — important people when you’re stacking your roster, but not necessarily field-tilters.

Not that the Chiefs needed to go whole-hog like they did a few years ago. The defense is far more consistent and established than it was back then — and with the addition of first-round pick Josh Simmons, the franchise may well have its left tackle of the future. Were it not for the torn patellar tendon he suffered last October, there was no way Simmons would have been available with the 32nd overall pick. In a class full of tackles whose NFL futures were less than certain, Simmons had the fewest question marks.

Meanwhile, Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo should have lots of fun with second-round pick Omarr Norman-Lott, because the Tennessee defensive lineman is a pure bully. He should do well as he replaces the departed Tershawn Wharton.

Are there short-term questions about the Chiefs’ ability to get beyond their lost three-peat? Sure. But there’s a reason this franchise was on the precipice of three straight NFL championships. Staying on top for that long is damn near impossible. Dynasties must be able to wait out an occasional stumble.

The team has made a good start. The 2025 draft class looks very strong, with a group of players who could fit in right away on both sides of the ball.

But the 2025 Chiefs could come all the way back from that fall down the mountain. They have three hidden gems who could help them do it: an underrated veteran, a free-agent signing and a draft pick.

Underrated veteran: Safety Jaden Hicks

Before the 2024 draft, my scouting report on this Washington State safety specified that Hicks was at his best as a box/slot enforcer. After selecting him with the 133rd overall pick of the fourth round, the Chiefs played him all over the place in training camp and the preseason. But Spagnuolo (and defensive backs coach Dave Merritt) eventually saw Hicks as more of a deep-third player.

That worked very well. (That’s why those guys are NFL coaches — and I’m not).

In his rookie campaign, Hicks played split safety on 35% of his snaps and middle-of-the-field safety on 31%. Overall, he allowed 12 catches on 20 targets for 144 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions, five passes defensed and an opponent passer rating of only 59.2. Hicks collected two quarterback pressures, 23 solo tackles, 13 stops and three tackles-for-loss. He also proved to be a valuable special-teams contributor.

“He’s a good player,” Reid said of Hicks in early December, “so him working in there, I think, is a positive. He’s a young guy [who] keeps progressing and challenging himself that way. I know the coaches have trust in him, so we’ll just see how things go moving forward. He’s earned that right to play more; he’s got the confidence of Spags that way — and Dave.”

Cornerback Trent McDuffie saw Hicks’ potential back in July.

“Jaden’s doing great,” he told reporters. “They have him playing a few different positions — which I know as a safety can be difficult in this playbook — but he’s asking all the right questions. You can tell each and every day he’s coming in and taking notes, focusing in and trying to do everything the correct way — which you love to see on the back end, because doing what he is doing is pretty difficult. Just seeing his growth from spring to now has been huge — so I’m excited for him.”

When you factor in all of the crazy-quilt coverage switches Spagnuolo asks his safeties to execute, it would be easy for a rookie to lose the plot. Hicks didn’t. He made it clear that he’s an ascending player in a secondary that has cornered the market (pun intended) on talent and development.

Underrated free-agent signing: WR Elijhah Badger

I’m cheating a little bit here. A “hidden gem” usually describes the signing of an underrated free-agent veteran. But when this former Florida wide receiver somehow went undrafted — and the Chiefs snapped him up — well, this became Officially Interesting.

You don’t need me to tell you that in 2024, Kansas City’s deep passing game was basically non-existent. The offensive line couldn’t block long enough for quarterback Patrick Mahomes to find his deep targets — let alone throw to them consistently — and outside of Xavier Worthy, those deep targets were generally underwhelming.

Badger could well provide a much-needed upgrade. In his first season after transferring from Arizona State, he caught 39 passes for 806 yards and four touchdowns — a whopping 20.7 yards per catch. That ranked ninth in the FBS among receivers who played at least 20% of their teams’ offensive snaps. On passes of 20 or more air yards, Badger caught nine passes on 20 targets for 351 yards and two touchdowns. 82.5% of his 2024 catches resulted in a first down or a touchdown — and he didn’t drop a single pass.

And let’s just say that Badger’s average depth of target was a bit higher than it had been in 2023.

Yes… the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Badger could stand to improve his route palette, but it looks like the Chiefs grabbed a big gift when he went undrafted. After watching his tape before the draft, I figured he’d be a Day 3 steal.

Underrated draft pick: CB Nohl Williams

There’s not a lot of mystery about the requirements Spagnuolo has for his cornerbacks. In 2024, the Chiefs had no corners in press coverage on 12% of their snaps — the league’s lowest rate. (The Jacksonville Jaguars were second-lowest at 21%). On the other hand, Spagnuolo called plays with two cornerbacks in press coverage 54% of the time. That was the NFL’s highest rate. (The New Orleans Saints ranked second with 33%). With 482 snaps in press coverage, McDuffie led the NFL — and it’s not as if that was a one-year thing.

In fact, the Chiefs have had no cornerbacks in press coverage at the NFL’s lowest rate in every one of Spagnuolo’s six seasons as Kansas City’s defensive coordinator. So if you want to play cornerback for Spagnuolo, you’d better be able to play all kinds of press. Whether it’s press-man (where the corner follows the receiver right from from the first step of their route) or press-match (where the cornerback lines up in the receiver’s face, waits for him to declare his route and clamps down), it’s a major part of how Spagnuolo has made Kansas City’s defense great.

This is where Williams comes in. The Chiefs acquired him out of California with the 85th overall pick in the third round. Watching his tape before the draft, it was easy to see he would be a perfect fit for Spagnuolo. In college, press coverage is often a projection, because the nature of passing games at that level dictates a more passive approach. But there are still college teams that are all about press — and Cal is one of them.

In 2024, Williams aligned in press on 212 of his 543 coverage snaps, which was third-most among FBS cornerbacks behind Pitt’s Ryland Gandy and Washington State’s Stephen Hall. When targeted in press, Williams allowed 15 catches on 38 targets for 136 yards, two touchdowns, four interceptions, five pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of just 27.9.

By the way… Williams led the FBS with seven interceptions last season — and had nine pass breakups overall. So it’s not as if he can’t also play off-coverage.

Yes… Williams will occasionally give up a big play while playing aggressive press coverage. It’s one of the reasons he lasted until the third round: there are concerns about his top-end speed. To compensate, he will occasionally give up too much ground at the top of a route. This is, of course, the nature of the beast when you’re risking it all so often. But more often than not, Williams has been exactly the kind of clampdown defender Spagnuolo loves.

So if you see Williams become the Chiefs’ newest out-of-nowhere secondary star in 2025… don’t be surprised.