Is Chris Jones Still Elite Entering What Could Be His Last Year With the Chiefs?

There's no covering up the fact that the Kansas City Chiefs' defense lacked adequate personnel a season ago. There were far more — and far more significant — things that went wrong for the team, but a failure to stop play-action on early downs or get off the field on late downs partially doomed them.

A major reason for that was a poorly constructed defensive line. On both the interior and the edge, coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was left with a collective centered around Chris Jones, George Karlaftis and the friends they made along the way. After some offseason investment from general manager Brett Veach, the tackle group should be in a better position to succeed.

What about Jones, though, as he enters his 11th season in Kansas City and his age-32 effort overall? Can he continue to fight off Father Time, or has the inevitable already started to creep in? Chiefs On SI is ranking the top 25 Chiefs for the upcoming season, with the CEO of "Sack Nation" checking in at the No. 3 spot.

Why Jones Is So Important

Although the Chiefs undoubtedly do have some solid pieces to support Jones, he remains the heart and soul of the larger crop. He's been the team's best defender and the influencer behind countless high-impact plays for as long as anyone can remember.

Last season, K.C. ranked in the bottom third of the NFL in sacks while being 10th in ESPN's pass rush win rate before the playoffs began. Spagnuolo's third-down defense, which ranked 26th in 2024 and 10th in 2023, was 29th — fourth-worst — in 2025-26. Things have been trending in the wrong direction for a while.

Now, Veach and his staff are hoping there won't be a complete collapse despite numerous changes being made to the secondary and no high-end edge rusher being brought in. In the middle of it all is Jones, the elder statesman of the defense's leaders and the ceiling-raiser for everyone.

Similar to quarterback Patrick Mahomes on offense, Jones' side of the ball will only go as far as he can take it.

3 tiers of IDL:

Chris Jones and Jeffrey Simmons in a world of their own

Not the flashiest, but Odighizuwa will really help this SF defense

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Gervon Dexter, Kobie Turner, Byron Murphy, Moro Ojomo set to get PAIIIDD

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The rest pic.twitter.com/KMdhjStGOT
— Stick to the Model (@StickToTheModel) May 22, 2026

Jones' Strengths and Weaknesses

Multiple things can be true regarding Jones, a multi-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro, at this stage of his career. Reports of his demise have been overstated, but assertions of him still being the single-best interior lineman in the sport are also probably incorrect.

Let's start with the good, as there remains plenty of it. Even without premier sack production in recent seasons, it's impossible to deny that the former second-round pick is a game-wrecker against the pass. In the same aforementioned pass rush win rate metric, he led all defensive tackles at 20% to end last year. He also ranked second in Pro Football Focus pass rush grade at 90.7 and was third in logged pressures with 63.

Jones has certainly taken a dip in production, sure, but he "fell" from insane heights. NFL Pro charts his respective pressure and sack rates as down 4.2% and 0.8% from 2023's tremendous output. With that said, his time-to-pressure and time-to-sack marks were 0.19 and 0.05 seconds quicker. "Stone Cold" can get after the quarterback. That much is known.

We've acknowledged every angle of Jones' arc as a pass rusher. What about run support? That's where he's never been much of a stopper, and last year saw the bottom fall out. His 43.4 PFF run defense grade was 108th of 134 qualified interior men, easily the worst he's earned. Missed tackles were also an issue, and on-field examples of his questionable effort persisted.

Having a much more reliable nose guard like Khyiris Tonga may help the latter area rebound some. Being fresher (Jones played 73% of available snaps last season) could also benefit Jones as he ages.

What Happens If Jones Gets Hurt?

On one hand, Jones will be the most important player on the Kansas City defense until he's no longer great. Losing him for a long period would certainly have an adverse effect on the team. On the other hand, this might be the best defensive tackle room he's played on this decade.

Tonga, signed to a multiyear deal this offseason, is a massive improvement over Derrick Nnadi and should play close to the latter man's peak form. First-round NFL Draft pickup Peter Woods, labeled by many as a potential heir apparent to Jones, injects an intriguing floor and fun upside into the group. Don't forget about 2025 second-rounder Omarr Norman-Lott as he recovers from a torn ACL.

Last year's Chiefs tackle cluster would've easily been the sport's worst without Jones. Perhaps that'd remain true in 2026-27, but there's infinitely more reason to believe. Maybe the only silver lining of a Jones injury is that it could give Veach and company a glimpse into the future, even if it hurts.

Speaking of which...

Why We Ranked Jones Here

Jones is quietly in a pivotal spot right now. Many consider Tennessee Titans star Jeffrey Simmons as having passed him, and that's reflected in salary. Is being a likely top-two player at his position bad? For someone of his status and tenure, absolutely not.

But keep an eye on whether Jones experiences a mini-slip like he did in 2025 or finally succumbs to the aging curve. Should he have a steeper decline or someone like Woods flash star potential, there's a world where moving on from Jones next offseason makes some sense.

Doing so pre-June 1 would save $18.6 million against the cap while incurring $19.5M in dead money. A post-June 1 cut of Jones saves $27.35M with just $9.75M in dead funds.

It's this writer's opinion that Jones will turn in another quality season and remain a Chief in 2027. He deserves praise for what he's done. He must continue to do it, though, to make that an open-and-shut case.

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