Linebacker
Players currently under contract:
Anthony Hitchens
Damien Wilson
Ben Niemann
Dorian O’Daniel
Darius Harris
Emmanuel Smith
Need for a starter: 10
Need for depth: 3
While Anthony Hitchens, Damien Wilson, and Ben Niemann played a lot of the snaps at linebacker in the Super Bowl, I still believe the Chiefs need to add a starter at the position. That is partly because Reggie Ragland is set to become a free agent and partly because linebacker was by far the weakest position on the defense last season. The Chiefs linebackers were basically just good enough to get by and the Chiefs need to aim for more than that.
I actually think they have some decent depth with guys like Niemann, Dorian O’Daniel, and Darius Harris if they had another quality starting linebacker. I think adding one upgrade at starting linebacker would be enough for this group this offseason.
Now let’s move to the secondary.