KC Chiefs have several young defensive blossoming in 2021

Rashad Fenton

The reviews were not good when Brett Veach submitted a draft card when Rashad Fenton’s name on it—even in the sixth round in 2019. Nearly every single scout who makes his or her judgments known about players eligible for the first-year player draft that year had labeled Fenton as an undrafted free agent—a player with a nice enough skill set to start in college, even at a high level in the SEC at South Carolina. Beyond that, however, Fenton was a man out of his league.

Coming into his rookie season, Fenton didn’t bring anything to the table that was exciting but he also lacked some of the glaring weaknesses that other prospects projected. A bit higher floor for a much lower ceiling was the determination. Boy was everyone wrong or what?

Fenton earned his active roster spot by showing up strong on special teams units in his rookie season but still managed to earn a decent amount of reps as a corner in pass-heavy sub packages. Last year, he played in all 16 games and made his first starts and looked like he could be a real asset inside in the slot. Coming into this year, the Chiefs brought in Will Parks to compete as well but gave Fenton every chance to be the starting slot corner.

So far this season, Fenton has made a leap that no one could have seen coming. In the wake of an injury to Charvarius Ward and frustrating play from other corners on the roster, Fenton has showed his skills on the boundary this year as well as playing inside and the results are astounding. He’s come up big on several plays as a sticky defender who has come up with some very important deflections or plays on the ball. There’s also the fact that he’s a strong pass defender in general who just so happens to be one of PFF’s most highly-rated corners—a position he’s held for most of the season.

https://twitter.com/PFF_Chiefs/status/1458509767693926402

For a corner that no one believed would ever turn into anything more than special teams fodder, it’s amazing to see how far he’s come. Fenton is a true testament to the team’s front office, coaching staff, as well as his own determination and talent. What an incredible story.