KC Chiefs have several young defensive blossoming in 2021
By Matt Conner
L’Jarius Sneed
Is it too early to fawn over L’Jarius Sneed? Maybe so, but we’re going to do so anyway.
If you’ve watched the Chiefs closely this season, you’ll know that Sneed has made a number of impact plays to alter the course of multiple games in a variety of ways. It’s the sack against the Philadelphia Eagles and the interception against the Green Bay Packers. It was the multiple tackles that kept the Las Vegas Raiders from converting first downs and the three deflections against the Dallas Cowboys.
Sneed is only in his second season and he even missed several games during his rookie campaign due to injury, but Sneed has proven to be a very quick study in the Chiefs secondary as a do-it-all chess piece, the ultimate versatile defender upon whom the team can depend in a number of situations. While they’re not the same player, it is the same traits that make Tyrann Mathieu such a valuable asset and the Chiefs have two such players in the defensive backfield.
It’s amazing to see the leap that Sneed has made for this defense given that he was essentially a fifth round pick (taken near the very end of the fourth in 2020). While Sneed had plenty of experience at Louisiana Tech and even entered the NFL with versatility as both a starting corner and safety, scouts were down on his instincts and recognition despite the obvious physical talents. The level of competition didn’t help, but the Chiefs clearly saw the upside.
After his first season, Sneed was “re-drafted” at No. 7 overall by Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports to the Carolina Panthers and called the best rookie corner in his class. This year, he’s taken another big leap forward and is a dynamic player with a penchant for making the big play who is still clearly growing week by week.