What we learned from Chiefs snap counts in Week 4

Turk Wharton

Lost in the shuffle of the defensive front, Turk Wharton has been a steadily improving presence for the Chiefs—whether the Kingdom has noticed much or not. Chris Jones gets the mainstream spotlight as he should. Derrick Nnadi is always referenced in the team’s base defense. Khalen Saunders even made a splash last week and had folks talking. But very few mention Wharton on a week to week basis despite his increasing production.

Steve Spagnuolo and company clearly trust Wharton more than ever these days, as illustrated by his 42 defensive snaps in Week 4. That’s 66 percent of all defensive reps, which was more than Nnadi or Saunders played. Wharton is also versatile and can slide inside or out, which helps those rotations as well in the wake of injuries to Mike Danna and Josh Kaindoh.

Wharton already has four quarterback hits, matching his career high in only four games, and he had two on Brady in Week 4. He’s not a major contributor, but ascending role players like this are the glue that allow the Chiefs to be so good for four quarters.

Frank Clark

Speaking of the defensive line, the Chiefs are squeezing everything they can from Frank Clark in recent days, and it could be a sign that he’s healthier than ever. Coming into the season, Clark played only 54 percent of defensive reps in Week 1. From there, it’s grown 9 percent and then 7 percent before climbing all the way to 88 percent of snaps on Sunday night—or 56 total reps.

Clark restructured his deal to return to Kansas City for one more run, and the Chiefs came into the season leaning on him for starter’s reps. The Chiefs are getting that volume from Clark at the present moment. It’s not likely to continue when Danna comes back, but it’s nice to see Clark taking on more of the load in the face of other injuries and staying productive.