On Friday, the football analytics site Pro Football Focus published its annual list of the NFL’s Top 101 players. Seven members of the Kansas City Chiefs made this year’s list, which is based solely on 2023 play — including the postseason:
4. QB Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Given the fog that the rest of the Chiefs’ offense seemed to be in for most of the season, what Mahomes achieved this season was just another embellishment to his already formidable career legacy. He was phenomenal all season outside of a disaster of a performance against the Raiders in Week 16, and he played his best football in the playoffs with everything on the line, culminating in another ring.
27. DI Chris Jones, Kansas City Chiefs
Including the Super Bowl run, Jones notched 91 quarterback pressures, more than any other interior defender. He is one of the most destructive pass rushers in the game and has a genuine knack for making the biggest plays on the biggest occasions, dialing up his best moves or his edge alignments for critical third downs or game-defining situations.
39. CB Trent McDuffie, Kansas City Chiefs
The second-year cornerback had an exceptional year for the Chiefs, culminating in being one of the best players in the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers. McDuffie moved principally to the slot this season, allowing him to affect more areas of the game. Including the postseason, he recorded five forced fumbles and 19 quarterback pressures on the blitz.
49. TE Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
Despite a slow start to his season, and more uncharacteristic mistakes than you typically associate with Travis Kelce, he was still able to turn it on when it mattered most and was a big factor in the team reaching and winning yet another Super Bowl. Kelce caught 125 passes through the postseason and remained virtually impossible to stop.
56. CB L’Jarius Sneed, Kansas City Chiefs
Sneed kept a who’s who of top-tier wideouts quiet this season as part of one of the league’s best defenses. Sneed didn’t allow 100 yards in coverage in any game and didn’t surrender a receiving touchdown in the regular season.
69. G Joe Thuney, Kansas City Chiefs
Sometimes you don’t notice the impact of a player until they are not in the lineup, and despite filling in admirably, Nick Allegretti wasn’t able to emulate Thuney’s excellent play at guard for the Chiefs. Thuney allowed two sacks in 19 games and was penalized only two times all year.
81. C Creed Humphrey, Kansas City Chiefs
Humphrey has been one of the best linemen in the game since the moment he stepped foot on an NFL field. He earned PFF grades of at least 74.3 in each facet of play this season, and the only negative on his tape was some wayward snaps that he needs to tidy up to get back to his very best grades in 2024.
Considering that by most statistical measures, Kansas City was better on defense than they were on offense in 2023, it’s interesting that more offensive players made this list (4) than defensive players (3) — suggesting that the defensive unit as a whole was greater than the sum of its parts. (Having said that, it’s hard to imagine how linebacker Nick Bolton didn’t make the list — but that’s a different story). And significantly, two of these Kansas City defenders are now free agents: cornerback L’Jarius Sneed and defensive tackle Chris Jones.
We expect, of course, that in the next few days, Sneed (who has now been franchise-tagged) is expected to be traded away, while Jones is expected to be signed to a new contract. Based on what we know, it seems likely the team will find a trade partner for Sneed — but we’re less certain that Jones will be retained. If both are gone in 2024, how much will that affect the team’s defensive fortunes?
