The Kansas City Chiefs are about a week away from beginning offseason OTAs.
Like they do every few years, the Chiefs have injected a lot of youth into their roster. They will be counting on players developing quickly and returning the organization to being Super Bowl contenders. Kansas City already has plenty of big names on its roster, and hope to churn out a few more.
CB Nohl Williams Named Kansas City Chiefs’ ‘Best Kept Secret’
GettyChiefs CB Nohl Williams
As teams start to ramp up for the season during offseason activities, Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report named one “best kept secret” for every NFL team. The criteria is having not been a first-round draft pick, or not yet been selected as an All-Pro or Pro Bowler. Here is why he landed on Williams for Kansas City:
“The Kansas City Chiefs have a successful history of drafting mid-round defensive backs, developing them and eventually featuring them in the secondary. Nohl Williams is next in line after a promising rookie campaign. The Chiefs had a plan this offseason. They traded Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams. Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams left in free agency. Then, Kansas City traded up to the sixth overall pick in April’s draft to select LSU’s Mansoor Delane. Delane and Williams are now slotted to be the Chiefs’ starting outside corners, with last year’s third-round pick likely finding himself in an interesting position with one year under his belt. Some teams will certainly challenge him in coverage rather than testing the rookie.”
Williams’ stock has been rising quite a bit lately, as he was also recently named to Pro Football Focus’ 2026 All-Breakout Team. Here’s what Bradley Locker had to say about Williams’ performance as a rookie in 2025:
“Playing 458 total snaps, Williams registered a 74.5 overall PFF grade with a 75.6 PFF coverage mark, which placed 15th among corners with at least 250 coverage snaps. Impressively, Williams placed in the 93rd percentile in single coverage grade and the 89th percentile at outside corner.”
Williams recorded 48 total tackles (four for loss), seven passes defensed, and one sack on 457 defensive snaps played last season.
Chiefs’ 2026 Defense Drawing Comparisons to 2022’s Unit
GettyChiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo
Kansas City has been in this position with its defense before. In 2022 the Chiefs spent high draft picks at cornerback (Trent McDuffie) and defensive end (George Karlaftis). Fast forward to 2026, they spent a first-round selection on CB Mansoor Delane, and a second-rounder on DE R Mason Thomas.
K.C. also replaced a veteran safety (Tyrann Mathieu) with another (Justin Reid) in 2022. Similarly this offseason, the Chiefs brought in Alohi Gilman to take the place of Bryan Cook. The moves they made in 2022 paid off in a huge way, as the team went 14-3 during the regular season and went on to win Super Bowl LVII.
Although Williams isn’t new to the defense, he’ll play an important role in the secondary. He and Delane will replace McDuffie and Jaylen Watson — a gem K.C. found in the seventh round in 2022. If Williams and Delane can even come close to duplicating that success, the Chiefs will be contenders again sooner rather than later.
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