Steven Nelson will be an important factor for the Chiefs secondary in 2018

Steven Nelson is critical to the success of the Kansas City Chiefs secondary as he looks to build on a strong playoff performance.

Steven Nelson might not recognize the room these days.

The Kansas City Chiefs decided on wholesale changes in the secondary this offseason, leaving a scant few holdovers from the 2017 season on the active roster. In case you need a quick rundown, here’s a list of defensive backs who were with the Chiefs only months ago who are now either unemployed or working for another team:

Darrelle Revis
Marcus Peters
Kenneth Acker
Terrance Mitchell
Steven Terrell
Ron Parker
Phillip Gaines

Since then, David Amerson has been signed to a one-year deal. Kendall Fuller was brought in from the Alex Smith trade to Washington. Tremon Smith was drafted late. Brett Veach has mentioned Will Redmond and Keith Reaser by name as if we should already know them, as if they weren’t readily available for any team to sign all during last season.

And then there’s Nelson, the lone holdover worth mentioning among the cornerbacks. Somehow he withstood the seismic changes, yet even then he’s entering a contract year. This could be Nelson’s last year as well. At this point, anything is on the table.

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According to Nelson, those things on the table are all good. He’s looking forward to the new season, as Eric Berry returns to the secondary and the new talent looks solid. Nelson recently spoke out about his upcoming year and sounded confident, saying he was ready to make a greater impact than ever and that he believed the team was capable of good things.

"“I’m finally healthy and I’m going to bring it. People can say whatever they want to say, but I’m going to bring it for this organization, and we’re going to win.”"

Nelson’s mention of what others might say refers to last season, when Nelson was only healthy for half of the season. He started only seven games last season after beginning the year on injured reserve with a core muscle injury. He also endured some hits after he returned even as he continued to play. It sounds like the rest and recovery available in an offseason is what he needed.

Unfortunately, on paper, the cornerback position looks quite thin. Amerson was let go by the Oakland Raiders for a reason. The loss of Peters removed the greatest playmaker in the secondary. Fuller seems like the real deal, but even then he only broke out just last season and that was primarily in the slot (Nelson’s primary turf). Everything is interchangeable on the Chiefs defense, so no player plays his position in such a black-and-white sort of way, but suffice it to say, there’s no proven lockdown outside cornerback option on the entire roster.

That seems problematic.

If the Chiefs are going to enjoy a successful year in the secondary, it will likely be because Nelson is a major part of the story. There simply aren’t enough options elsewhere in case something goes awry.

Fortunately there’s reason to believe that Nelson is right. The Oregon State product looked better and better as the season wore on and was one of the few highlights for K.C. in their playoff loss to the Tennessee Titans. As Pro Football Focus noticed, Nelson only allowed 2 catches on 6 targets for 11 total yards against Marcus Mariota.

Nelson has yet to record an interception at the NFL level, but that sort of lockdown effort will impact a game for sure. If Nelson can mirror that performance on a regular basis, the Chiefs might be much better off than any of us realize.

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