Everyone in the Kansas City Chiefs organization is trying to change the conversation. Washing away the stains of an unforeseen 6-11 collapse is hard to do—just ask franchises like the New York Jets or Cleveland Browns about shedding the loser franchise label—which is why the Chiefs spent the offseason retooling an aging roster.
Shifting the narrative is a team goal, but specific players will also benefit—especially those entering contract seasons. And of all of the players on the Chiefs' roster, the one who stands for the greatest reputation change is Chamarri Conner.
Conner enters the '26 season as a fourth-year defensive back ready to hit the open market next spring. He's going to have as much motivation as ever to leverage the Chiefs' (hopeful) return to prominence for his own gain, as a (hopeful) reliable performer for a remade secondary. In doing so, Conner is also hoping that an ability to "stay in his lane" could reframe the way he's viewed as teams consider their shopping lists.
The irresponsible demands placed on Chamarri Conner
The Chiefs selected Conner in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and he's earned an increasing amount of trust every year from Steve Spagnuolo. From playing 28 percent of defensive snaps in his rookie season to 61 percent in '24 to 98 percent a year ago, Conner has become an indispensable part of the Chiefs' secondary. That will hold in '26 as well, as the scenery has changed so much around him.
While Conner has proven to be a reliable performer, with 49 games played in the last three seasons, the problem is where those snaps are allocated. When allowed to stay within the comforts of his skill set at safety, Conner is an above-average safety who is a physically disruptive presence with strong read-and-react instincts. He's also a plus asset against the run.
The problem is that Spags likes to lean on Conner for more than he can reasonably handle. Lauding a player for his versatility implies he is adept at the range of tasks involved, and that's simply not true for Conner. In fact, teams tend to target him in man coverage inside, and the results are frustrating for fans who clearly see he's overmatched in those instances. Before diving into the numbers, let's look at Conner's positional snap counts (per Pro Football Focus).
Year | Box | Slot Corner | Free Safety | Slot % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | 86 | 145 | 208 | 31% |
2024 | 187 | 469 | 32 | 64% |
2025 | 405 | 391 | 175 | 38% |
Here we already see that Spagnuolo and company were already learning not to lean on Conner as much inside in '25 after giving him the majority of snaps at slot corner in '24. Even then, asking Conner to play in the slot for nearly 40 percent of his snaps (and nearly 400 of them) when a team already had Trent McDuffie, the best slot defender in the game, felt outrageous, which is why fans were crying foul over Conner's usage all season long.
In 2024, Conner allowed a 98.4 passer rating for opposing quarterbacks and 9.6 yards/reception with an 85.5 percent reception rate (59 of 69 targets). Those numbers are not good, but things looked even worse last year, when Conner allowed a 114.6 passer rating and 11.5 yards/reception. What's even more demoralizing is that Conner allowed 395 yards after the catch in 2024 and 343 in 2025 despite spending less time in the slot, where the YAC-heavy underneath throws typically live.
Asking Conner to play so much in the slot in '24 makes sense in retrospect when considering the massive loss of L'Jarius Sneed to the Tennessee Titans. The Chiefs had a lot of reps to fill on the boundary, and McDuffie sliding outside made sense given the roster makeup. But for the Chiefs to continue to lean on a clearly struggling Conner week after week and then over the course of consecutive seasons was irresponsible.
The good news going forward
The good news is that the Chiefs have learned their lessons on the personnel front. Even after trading away McDuffie to the L.A. Rams, they drafted Oregon's Jadon Canady in the fourth round in April after signing Kader Kohou from the Miami Dolphins in March. Chris Roland-Wallace is also competing for the slot corner role, giving K.C. three very real options that aren't Chamarri Conner. Meanwhile, an already thin safety unit swapped out Bryan Cook for Alohi Gilman, so there's every opportunity for Conner to play max snaps at a comfortable position.
All of this is what makes Conner an obvious candidate to rehabilitate his image in '26. A year removed from the taxing demands of slot coverage should allow those memories to fade while making new ones centered in his wheelhouse.
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