Steve Spagnuolo Addresses Progress of KC Chiefs’ Young Defensive Players
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The Kansas City Chiefs finished their second of three organized team activity (OTA) sessions on Thursday afternoon, capping off yet another week of progress as the NFL offseason continues to unfold.
Coming off a Super Bowl LVII win that was fueled by an impressive 2022 draft class, the Chiefs are tasked with finding ways to follow that up with another impressive rookie crop moving forward. Of general manager Brett Veach's seven picks in April's 2023 NFL Draft, five of them were defensive players. Those selections gave defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo more ammo to work with on his side of the ball, but it also provided him with a familiar challenge: get them ready to play.
While OTAs don't permit live contact to take place, they do leave the door open for teams to continue working with their players on drills and helping them get back in the swing of things for the offseason. For rookies, this is a busy time filled with learning on the fly and adjusting to life as professionals. Spagnuolo was complimentary of his first-year group when speaking on Thursday, but he also admitted that it's still very early in the process.
“They’re all young, they don’t know anything right now," Spagnuolo said. "So, obviously, you’re asking about Felix (Anudike-Uzomah). We haven’t seen a lot on him because he’s been dinged up a little bit so it’s hard to tell. We’ve had Chamarri (Conner) out there, he’s slowly progressing, he made a really good play today. Nic Jones, right? Nic’s playing some nickel for us, fittingly. He’s done some good things coming from a small school, Ball State.
"BJ (Thompson), I know I’m going to miss one but BJ Thompson – BJ’s been pretty impressive. He’s done some good things. He’s a young, raw guy (but) we knew that going in. He stuck out today, made a play. Who’s my fifth? Keondre (Coburn). KC, I call him KC. (He does a) great job. (He’s) just an energetic, passionate guy. He reminds me a lot of Khalen Saunders, really. Same body type and hopefully he can be the same kind of player so that’s a little bit of a wrap-up on those five draft picks."
Drafting five rookies on any one side requires a lot of trust and faith that the players will fit, but also a great deal of optimism surrounding the coaching staff's ability to put those players in the best possible positions to succeed. Spagnuolo has historically erred on the side of caution and opted to play proven veterans rather than first-year players, but last offseason essentially forced his hand. Kansas City witnessed some turnover on defense and instead of investing heavily in the free agent market, Veach and company went to the draft to find suitable replacements.
The Chiefs selected seven defensive players in the 2022 draft, and five of those prospects ended up playing significant roles at various points in the ensuing season. In the secondary, specifically, Veach invested in cornerbacks Trent McDuffie (first round), Joshua Williams (fourth round) and Jaylen Watson (seventh round) while also spending picks on safeties Bryan Cook (second round) and Nazeeh Johnson (seventh round). When asked about how comfortable his second-year defensive backs looked in OTAs, Spagnuolo gave a resoundingly positive review.
“You can just ask them, Trent (McDuffie) included, right?" Spagnuolo said. "The five of them — NJ (Nazeeh Johnson) is out there doing a great job. I sat with them or was somewhere with them a week ago and they’re like lightyears ahead. They feel it and it’s different and they’re confident. The first day that we went out there for a walkthrough, the communication and the talking – now, I’m including Justin Reid in that because last year was all new for him, too, even though he was a vet the system was new. And those guys just from a verbal and being kind of tied in from that standpoint, they were just jelling.”
With the second session of OTAs now in the books, the Chiefs have one more scheduled from June 6-9 and then a mandatory all-team minicamp that is slated to span from June 13-15. This phase of the offseason still requires no contact, but the importance of these stretches can't be overlooked when considering the multitude of young players Kansas City has on defense. Playing for Spagnuolo is a difficult job to fulfill, and there will inevitably be some adversity along the way. With that said, according to the defensive coordinator himself this week, the Chiefs' youth is far more of a benefit than a roadblock.
