KC Chiefs: Best bets for 2022 Defensive MVP
While Patrick Mahomes feels like a forgone conclusion as the Chiefs Offensive MVP, the defensive award has several potential suitors entering 2022.
The Kansas City Chiefs hand out several team awards at the end of each season, and while the “Defensive MVP” award does not truly exist within the organization, that should not stop that person from being recognized or talked about.
What’s more, defensive players are often named the awarded the Derrick Thomas Award, given to the team’s MVP as voted on by the players and coaches. In fact, despite his obvious dominance and the ease with which one could always vote for him, Chiefs All-Pro quarterback Patrick Mahomes has won the award just once, perhaps not surprisingly it was in 2018 when he was also the NFL MVP.
Over the past three years, safety Tyrann Mathieu won the Derrick Thomas Award, and prior to him doing so, other defensive players who earned the honor since the year 2000 have included: safety Eric Berry, edge rusher Justin Houston, linebacker Derrick Johnson, and edge rusher Jared Allen.
Who are the most likely candidates to be Kansas City’s Defensive MVP in 2022? Here we look at options that include a Pro Bowl veteran, a rising second-year star, and a rookie standout.
The Veteran Choice: Chris Jones, Defensive Tackle
Despite notching a 15.5 sack season in his career, defensive tackle Chris Jones has never earned the honor of the team’s MVP award. Unfortunately for him, he happened to reach that mark in the same year that quarterback Patrick Mahomes passed for 50 touchdowns. (Jones also failed to make the Pro Bowl or be named to the 1st Team All-Pro list that season, but that’s a different article entirely.)
This could be the year we see Jones return to 2018 form, and there are myriad reasons why one might believe that is the case. First, he’s going to play defensive tackle all season, rather than playing the first few weeks at defensive end. Last year, despite the failed positional transition, Jones notched nine sacks for the Chiefs, a mark that ranked him in the top five defensive tackles across the NFL.
In addition, Jones got essentially no help from the other defensive lineman around him last season, meaning that he was forced to take on double and triple teams regularly. This year, with the (hopeful) reemergence of edge rusher Frank Clark, the growth of defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton, and the additions of edge rushers Carlos Dunlap and rookie George Karlaftis, Jones see more one-on-one matchups and subsequently, see his production increase.
With such a young back seven for the Chiefs defense, the success of the unit is likely to depend largely on the pass rushers’ ability to get to the quarterback. As such, it will be vital that Chris Jones has an excellent year which justifies his ranking as one of the top interior defensive linemen in football.