Chiefs Stock Watch: Multiple Defensive Linemen on the Rise After Week 9

You can only play who's in front of you on the schedule, which is precisely the conundrum the Kansas City Chiefs found themselves experiencing in Week 9. Although a blowout win over the lowly New York Jets doesn't mean anything is fixed, it was still a heck of a way to respond to consecutive losses.

Within that 35-12 outcome, several players made statements with their play. The defensive side of the ball, for instance, started a bit slow but surged over the course of the afternoon. Elsewhere, even in a comfortable victory, there were some reasons for concern if improvement doesn't occur.

Let's dive into the good and bad from the Chiefs' Week 9 win against New York and single out three players whose stock is trending up, as well as three who could use a better showing in Week 10 and down the stretch of the year.

Chiefs Stock Up After Week 9

These players stood out for positive reasons on Sunday, potentially changing the trajectory of their seasons in the process.

Chris Jones

Prior to Week 9, there was plenty of chatter about the floor and ceiling of the Chiefs' pass rush if defensive tackle Chris Jones wasn't himself. There was no reason to believe that wasn't the case, either, as the seven-time Pro Bowler had just half a sack through seven games and wasn't winning as quickly — or as often — as he had in the past.

Jones extinguished every ounce of those doubts, at least for one weekend.

The CEO of 'Sack Nation' terrorized the New York offensive line, recording his first two full sacks of the year. Both of them were on third down, serving as a glimpse of the Jones of old. It was a historic outing for one of the club's best players, and one that saw him look and grade out like someone who was fresh and firing on all cylinders.

George Karlaftis

There's a serious case to be made that along the Chiefs' defensive front, edge rusher George Karlaftis has been their best player in 2026. That was likely true before the Jets game, and even Jones' strong performance may not have been enough to change it considering Karlaftis matched him with a tremendous showing of his own.

The first sack for "Furious George" came on a second-and-5 play on the opening drive of the second half. His last was on a fourth-and-3 in the final frame to force a turnover on downs with the game out of reach. The sack department wasn't the only place he stood out, however, as he had a nice run stop on New York's third drive and also a batted pass on a free rush in the second quarter.

Karlaftis is enjoying a career season in Kansas City. Now he has some more sacks to further justify that.

Kingsley Suamataia

In any scenario where you get benched twice in a four-game span, you simply have to be a "stock down" player in general. Whenever you respond by getting back in the starting lineup and you come up with a nice performance in response, there's no way you can't be a "stock up" Chief!

Left guard Kingsley Suamataia tied for a team-high in snaps on Sunday, making the most of it with Pro Football Focus grades of 82.7 for run blocking and 80.9 for overall offense. The former second-round pick looked comfortable, but at the same time, he played with a mean streak and intensity that made it glaringly obvious he wanted to send a message.

Sent and received, even with head coach Andy Reid still not explaining why he benched the BYU product in the first place.

Take a look at #76 here on this Kenneth Walker TD. That's #Chiefs G Kingsley Suamataia.

That will be on film in every building this week. 💪💪pic.twitter.com/tDHq5Z0s81
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) November 8, 2026

Chiefs Stock Down After Week 9

These three players didn't meet the bar in Week 9 and desperately need to recover moving forward.

Jaylon Moore

It's been a whirlwind of a year for Jaylon Moore. Entering the offseason, he seemed to be the unquestioned starter at the right tackle spot. Throughout the summer and into training camp and the preseason, though, undrafted rookie free agent Kahlil Benson was given competitive reps. Benson then wound up being the starting left tackle due to Josh Simmons not being available, leaving Moore to assume his normal post and conduct business as usual.

With that said, the standard norm hasn't been good enough for Kansas City.

Moore's surrendered 16 pressures on the year in 231 opportunities, with Week 9 being one of his worst games to date. The former San Francisco 49ers standout ceded four pressures on Sunday, marking the third time he's done so this campaign. He also appeared to sustain some sort of lower-body injury, which doesn't bode well considering he already was in the NFL's concussion protocol earlier this season.

Jadon Canady

With L'Jarius Sneed going on the injured reserve list, that left the door open for fourth-round rookie Jadon Canady to earn some snaps in the slot and find a role in Steve Spagnuolo's defense. He took the opportunity and ran with it in Week 8's loss to the Denver Broncos, playing seven snaps but maximizing them by way of impact. That trend didn't hold this time around, primarily due to shortcomings in the other phase of the game.

In an expanded workload, the Oregon product was a non-factor in coverage and also flopped twice on special teams. The first mishap came on a punt return by Jets wide receiver Isaiah Williams, as Canady missed a tackle and effectively got his ankles broken on an 18-yard bring-back. Later on, he committed a holding infraction on a 69-yard return from Chiefs receiver Nikko Remigio that wiped out the play entirely.

Oftentimes, the way to more playing time on offense or defense in Kansas City is special teams. Canady will have to keep that in mind and shape up his play if he wants to earn continued reps.

Cyrus Allen

This inclusion is twofold. Fifth-round rookie receiver Cyrus Allen has long been praised by those in Chiefs circles as a potential answer at the wide receiver spot, and he started to generate some momentum in his last three pre-Week 9 games when he combined for five receptions and 65 yards. Unfortunately, both his snap count and level of output decreased on Sunday against the Jets.

A week removed from logging a career-high 31 snaps, Allen's total fell to just 19, and that's even with Xavier Worthy going down with a hamstring ailment. The Cincinnati man was targeted only once in the passing game and committed a special teams error when he coughed up the first kickoff to Kansas City. The team is still confident in his ability to affect the game in multiple aspects, although he took a step back here.

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