The future of leadership for the KC Chiefs defense

Over the course of about 100 hours in March of 2019, the Kansas City Chiefs gutted the core of their defense, releasing linebacker Justin Houston, trading pass rusher Dee Ford, and then releasing safety Eric Berry. Each transaction was its own painful (and primary fiscal) decision, as general manager Brett Veach was cleaning up messes left behind by his predecessor.

The play on the field was only part of the story for Houston, Ford, and Berry; moreover, it was their leadership on the field and in the locker room that would be missed. In the moment, it seemed alarming to remove the three best players from what was a putrid defense in the 2018 season. But in order to execute the makeover, Veach had to build from the ground up.

In hindsight, the story had a happy ending. The Chiefs managed to replace their defensive leaders with newcomers Frank Clark and Tyrann Mathieu and went on to win the Super Bowl.

Fast forward to 2022.

The Chiefs once again find themselves in a bit of an identity crisis on defense. After letting go of linebacker Anthony Hitchens, the Chiefs entered Monday’s legal tampering period with a hole in the lineup, but more importantly, a gaping hole in terms of defensive leadership. Compound that with the likely departure of Mathieu, the unquestioned leader of the defense over the past three seasons, and the Chiefs have a very important question to answer this spring: Who is going to step up as the leader on this defense?

Needless to say, things look very different in the defensive huddle. Without Hitchens’ and Mathieu’s leadership, Veach and his staff are not so much tasked with replacing their play on the field—that job appears to be complete, with the 2020 draft selection of linebacker Nick Bolton and the free agency signing of Justin Reid on Monday—but the leadership of those two players who are still looking for a new team.

Mathieu was an inspiring leader in the huddle and on the field during his tenure in Kansas City. And it’s possible that Reid could fill some of the leadership void. He’s done it once before, when Mathieu departed the Texans and Reid stepped into his shoes. Check out this tweet from 2019.

There’s a strong case to be made that the vocal leader of your defense should be in the front seven. That begs the question: is it Chris Jones? The 6’6″ 290-lb. defensive tackle has the pedigree, with multiple Pro Bowls and All-Pro nods. But Jones is 28 years old and thus far hasn’t displayed the characteristics of a player who wears the green dot.

This doesn’t mean he can’t develop into that leader. Just look on the other side of the ball, where the Chiefs have a veteran leader who used to be a young, flamboyant maverick that was once penalized for throwing his own “flag” at a referee. Can Jones take the same pathway of development that tight end Travis Kelce has? Perhaps not every leader is developed in high school and college, and Jones will evolve into the leader this unit needs. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like a scenario that the Chiefs can rely on in 2022.

It’s possible that Bolton could be the answer. The just-turned-22-year-old has all the traits, but is he ready? The Missouri product led the team with 112 tackles while playing a limited role in 2021. Entrusting Bolton with the green dot could be the next step in developing him as one of the better middle linebackers in the league. The million-dollar question there is whether players like Clark and Jones are willing to receive his leadership.

Or does Veach have his eyes on another defender still on the free-agent market who can step into that role? Hopefully, Veach can make another splash today and the team will enter this new era with another Super Bowl run, just like the last time they revamped their defense.