Five Kansas City Chiefs players who deserve an apology

Daniel Sorensen

The sixth-year pro, who shares his alma mater (BYU) with head coach Andy Reid, is one of the longest tenured players on the Chiefs’ roster. He’s also one of the highest paid, with the ninth-largest cap number on the 2019 books.

Entering the season, it appeared that the writing was on the wall for Daniel Sorensen. The team had severed ties with other big-money defensive pieces. The acquisitions of Tyrann Mathieu and Juan Thornhill seemed to indicate that Sorensen could be a cap casualty. However, the new defensive staff decided that they could put him to good use in this year’s version of the Chiefs’ defense.

Over his career, “Dirty Dan” has served as a contributor as a reserve safety, playing primarily in a robber role. He has shown flashes as a blitzer and has always been a serviceable tackler. He’s been a liability in coverage through the years, but his proclivity to make a clutch play has kept him on the field. And he’s coming on strong at the best possible time; no Chiefs fan will forget Sorensen’s end zone interception to seal the Chiefs’ Week 11 victory over the Chargers in Mexico, or his sequence of plays in the divisional round against the Texans in which he sniffed out a fake punt and then forced a fumble on the next play in which the Texans touched the football.

In 2019, Spagnuolo has frequently utilized three-safety nickel formations that have allowed Sorensen to play to his strengths. When Thornhill was lost for the season with a torn ACL, Sorensen was asked to step in, and he has answered the call. Dirty Dan has not missed one defensive snap since the Thornhill injury.

Once a perceived weakness in coverage, Sorensen has thrived under Spagnuolo, who (unlike his predecessor, Bob Sutton) has not put Sorensen in one-on-one coverage on the boundary. While many fans [myself included] once thought “Dirty Dan has got to go,” no one in Chiefs Kingdom feels that way entering the Super Bowl.