The Kansas City Chiefs put an emphasis on improving their secondary during the offseason, and a recent rankings list from Pro Football Focus could help shed some light as to why.

PFF identified the 10 most physical coverage defenders from the 2024 season, and four Chiefs cornerbacks made the list. However, it wasn't necessarily a good thing for all of them. Let's examine below. . .

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No. 4: Trent McDuffie

From PFF: "After logging 300 “physical” coverage snaps across 2022 and 2023, McDuffie tallied 327 in 2024 alone. As a result, he allowed just a 47.5% completion rate while forcing nine incompletions. McDuffie has been one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL since entering the league in 2022, but it hasn’t been due to making contact with opposing receivers, as he grades better without contact."

McDuffie played out on the boundary much more in 2024, resulting in him being more physical against opposing wide receivers. He is a shutdown CB regardless of whether or not he makes contact, and being a great tackler is an underrated part of his game. McDuffie could return to playing in the slot more in 2025 with the new additions of Kristian Fulton and Nohl Williams.

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No. 7: Joshua Williams

From PFF: "A theme is developing in which a few teams are dominating this list; the Lions, Jaguars and Chiefs clearly were coached to make life difficult for opposing receivers. The Chiefs upping the ante on their physicality hurt Williams’ grade, as he posted a 54.1 PFF coverage grade when making contact with receivers in 2024."

After showing some promise during his rookie year in 2022, Williams hasn't quite been able to evolve his game. At 6-foot-3, he should have benefitted from playing physically, but he struggled in six starts filling in for Jaylen Watson last season. With Fulton and Nohl Williams in the mix, Joshua could find himself buried on the depth chart in 2025.

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No. 8: Nazeeh Johnson

From PFF: "Drafted in the 2022 seventh round, Johnson saw the first action of his career in 2024 and did so with a ton of physicality. His play wasn’t entirely helped by the contact, as he allowed a 60% completion rate while earning just a 49.9 PFF coverage grade on such plays. He allowed 1.63 yards per coverage snap when making contact with receivers."

Johnson also struggled last season despite the hefty number of contact snaps. However, 2024 was his first year playing on defense after missing all of 2023 with a torn ACL and only playing on special teams as a rookie in 2022. Johnson is a smaller player at 5-foot-10, so perhaps playing physical just doesn't suit his skillset. Like Joshua Williams, Johnson will be jockeying for position on the CB depth chart.

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No. 10: Jaylen Watson

From PFF: "Despite missing most of the 2024 season due to injuries, Watson is the fourth Chiefs player to make this list. He allowed a paltry 35.7% completion rate and just 0.88 yards per coverage snap when making contact with receivers this past season. His 28.6% forced completion rate on such plays ranked sixth in the NFL. Watson has been excellent the past two years when physical, as his 81.4 PFF coverage grade ranks sixth and he has let up just a 26.5% completion rate."

It is very impressive that Watson cracked the top 10 despite missing 11 games with an ankle injury last season. He has been one of the Chiefs' best value draft picks in recent memory, selected in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Watson will play another major role in Kansas City's secondary in 2025, and hopefully he has his best seasons yet as he enters a contact year.

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